First, you’ll find no real Dark of Night spoilers here, though you should stop reading now if you truly don’t want to know anything. And, just to get it on the table, I know what happens in the book since I was sent an early copy.
And I loved it. Seriously.
Truth is, I’ve been out of the Suzanne Brockmann loop for a while. A few books ago I was s-o-o-o-o totally turned off by those manly men running around pointlessly in the woods while talking like teenagers that I checked out for a while. Then, I tried again with Into the Fire and it just failed to grab me.
I was in a definite – and, for all I knew, permanent – Brockmann lull.
Then this one arrived in the mail. With no other books really sounding the “read me” alarm, I sat down to read it…and zap! For this reader, anyway, the old Brockmann magic was back again. Seriously.
In case you haven’t been following the saga, a whole lot of readers are mighty pissed at Brockmann right now. Based on spoilers that have leaked out, they’re expressing themselves at Amazon and in multiple threads at AAR. They think – and I’m vastly simplifying things here – that Brockmann has betrayed the trust of her readers by…well, taking things in a different direction then the author led them to expect.
Color me clueless because I just didn’t anticipate that kind of reaction from so many readers. Seriously. Hey, I think I’m a smart woman (I graduated from college and everything), but considering my Brockmann break, I didn’t share the heavy investment many obviously feel in the continuing couple storyline that may – or may not – be the centerpiece here. To further explain my bafflement, this couple – let’s call them Dophia and Secker – never really caught my imagination the way that Max and Gina did. (Me love Max. Me didn’t love Max’s book.)
So, imagine my surprised pleasure when almost from the very first page I got caught up in the kind of terrific storytelling that Brockmann – when she is on her game – does so very well. I just went with it and let the author take me where she would. And I loved it. Seriously.
But, undeniably, based on all that early reader outrage, those who make up Brockmann’s core audience probably aren’t going to see it that way. Which makes me wonder – and not for the first time – just what authors who extend storylines over multiple books owe their readers. Whatever kind of “suspense” angle the publisher tries to put on it, when romance authors reach the level of success that Brockmann has, the truth is that she still writes…well, romance. When readers pick up a book by Brockmann, they know they are guaranteed a main couple HEA and – reasonably enough – that the author’s patented extended couple storylines will also end happily. That’s the deal and both the writer and her readers know it.
But I can’t escape the fact that this book worked for me – far better than anything I’ve read by the author in the last four or five years. And, considering that I fully believed Brockmann had well and truly dropped off my list, that is saying something.
Still, there’s no getting around the harsh truth that expectations – especially when nurtured by the author over multiple books – can be a bitch. And Brockmann may well be about to find that out.
But I’ll say it again because it bears repeating: As a reader who approached Dark of Night with few – if any – preconceptions, I found it to be a great ride. Seriously.
-Sandy AAR
I am glad that you enjoyed the book. And honestly, if I had taken a break from her also, then I might be in your shoes. Seriously. However, my anticipation has been fueled by glimpses of a certain couple over the last four years and 9 months. Not only did I have scenes that I interpreted as as concern, jealousy, and love, but I have had reader’s extras from the author showing this couple’s names linked. So, I do feel that my expectations have been nutured over almost five years by Brockmann. just so she could have a surprise ending and do something different. , I don’t like being upset over a book, and its characters. And once the author has provided clues that certain individuals are couples their HEA is not interchangeable with another person. I don’t read romance so I can figure out who is who in a love triangle. I read knowing who the couples are, so I can live vicarously through their ups and downs and then rejoice when their true love endures. So yes I do expect from Brockmann that her main extended couple storyline end in a HEA. My disappointment would have been so much less if this happened within a book. But when you factor in almost five years of anticipation the disillusionment has gone up exponentially. I haven’t read the book, but I feel just like the boy from the book “”The Christmas Sweater”” who just knew that he was going to get his Huffy bike, but instead he got a home made sweater.
I’m among the crowd that’s really upset I’ll try and explain why. I truly feel that Suz has violated the trust in the writer/reader relationship. She likes to write long story arcs and no matter how long they have dragged out we hung on because we knew the couple would get their HEA.
There was never a doubt that Alyssa and Sam would end up together, same for Max and Gina, Tom and Kelly etc. Well I don’t feel that way anymore. I have to wonder if I’m only setting myself up for future disappointment if I continue to read and buy her books. Why get invested in Izzy and Eden to have them end up with other people at the end of the story arc??
I no longer believe her when she says she ended the story arc the way she intended. There is no way anyone read Flashpoint and predicted this outcome. I think she was swayed by some fans on her board and simply changed her mind halfway through the story arc. What really upsets most of us is that she created and posted a poll on her website listing Decker and Sophia as a couple!! Twice!! And again in her troubleshooters guides. This is really where I feel the violation of my trust – why jerk us around like this?
I’m not into bed hopping between main characters and this is what is happening within the troublshooters world. As others have said it’s taking on a very soap opera ‘Desperate Housewives’ kind of vibe and that’s not what I want to read in my romance novels.
As Leigh said, what is most upsetting is that this has transpired over 5 years!!! That’s a lot of money for all the hardcovers in between. If she wanted to write a novel where you don’t know who ends up with who, why not do it within one book? Maybe two. But don’t string us along for 5 years! To me it’s a gimmick and I’ve lost a lot of respect for Suz I’m sad to say.
Sandy I have to ask, how would would your opinion of the book changed if you HAD been really invested in Decker and Sophia? If you hadn’t taken a break from Brockmann but had been buying her hardcovers every year diligently waiting for the expected ending?
I’m glad you enjoyed the book and have a feeling many of her fans will as well. You weren‘t particularly attached to the characters in question and that distance allowed you to enjoy the book. Fans who wanted the couple(s) to end up the way they have will be pleased and no doubt think the book is good. As a former fan of Brockmann’s I am happy for those readers.
I say former fan because I am not a reader who will blindly follow an author ANYWHERE they go. As someone whose imagination was caught by the couple in question, I feel a sense of betrayal regarding the way the characters in DON will apparently align themselves. I believe Brockmann purposely misled her readers. You are correct – “there’s no getting around the harsh truth that expectations – especially when nurtured by the author over multiple books – can be a bitch.”
I won’t restate all the reasons I and many readers feel this way. There are those multiple threads here at AAR, Amazon, and various other boards that spell out the reasons for anyone who cares to read them.
Obviously I haven’t read the book either and some fans may find fault with my judging a book that I haven’t read. There’s simply no way I can approach this book as you did, without preconceptions. So we’ll have to agree to disagree that Brockmann in fact still writes “romance.” The characters in a romance are not interchangeable to me. So the fact that “Dophia and Secker” don’t receive their long awaited HEA means the book won’t work for me, regardless of how well it is written.
As Scout asks, I wonder what your reaction would have been had you been captivated by this couple? And even though you didn’t like Max’s book, what would your reaction have been if Gina and Max had ended up with other people? Or another couple you were actually attached to didn’t end the way you’d been led to expect for so long?
I’m glad you enjoyed the book although I do think taking a break contributed to that. I can remember reading a sci-fi/fantasy series where each book was a stand alone but the character changed partners and people were p*ssed. I wasn’t cause I had come in on the back end and worked my way forward, which meant I had little emotional investment with the whole thing.
You know, I don’t think authors *owe* readers anything. The reverse also holds true though and I think that is where the situation gets sticky. Sometimes, an author, like Brockmann or Garwood, reach such popularity heights that they can afford to lose a reader here or there. Other times it isn’t that easy. I can remember when the mid-list authors were losing publishing contracts and many blamed fans because the fans had been doing a lot of UBS buying and had, in several authors minds, caused the problem. That hoopla changed the way I buy and now in romance my new authors and those not on best sellers are more likely to get a purchase than Nora Roberts (who I love but seems to have a pretty stable career) or others that make the NY Times bestseller list. I do this for the author, myself and others. For others because unless people who read these authors buy, others may never get a chance too 😉 Erin Grady for example writes some really good books but you rarely hear about her. When she publishes, I buy –even if they sit on my TBR pile for awhile before I get to them. I just feel it is important to support her. I always buy Robyn Carr — before the Virgin River books I was literally the only fan of her work I knew about. It has been wonderful to see others gain an interest in her! So I think many authors see a debt in the different direction, that we *owe* it to them to buy the books that enable them to keep telling us their stories.
Some fans begin with an author, do what I do for Grady and Carr, and feel they are betrayed when the author switches and I get that. While there is no real debt, there is the sense that you helped make this person big and they suddenly have no interest in. It’s like dating a med student who ditches you once he passes his licensing boards 😉 You can’t help but feel a bit used and betrayed, even if that isn’t what happened.
So I don’t think authors owe us anything. But they have to understand that works both ways. And while I may lose a good read if they don’t get that next contract, romance publishes a ridiculous 500 books a year. I’ll find someone to replace them. The question is, will they find something to replace that career?
maggie b.
I’ve got to say I’ve been kind of shocked by the rather loud reaction from some of the fans. First and foremost because some seem to be assuming control over the storylines (although I fully acknowledge that that isn’t the case of those that have commented here already).
Also, while many have sighted Into the Storm as feeding those expectations, it’s exactly the same book where I started to get the feeling that maybe HEA wasn’t going to be Sophia & Decker. I know it’s not enough to build a full romance on, but I really loved Deck and Tracey’s exchange in the book. I also loved that we started to see Dave acknowledging his own feelings a little.
I always understood Sophia’s feelings for Decker to be based on this survival instinct, and Decker’s feelings for Sophia based on guilt. I figured Brockmann would have a hell of a task reconciling these emotions enough before they could actually be happy together. And I guess that brings me to my third point.
I really like the drawn out, realistic romances that Brockmann’s stories include. I also like that, as with real life, maybe you don’t end up with the guy you thought you had an all-consuming, tragic love for. Maybe you end up with the guy who loves you 200% and who you’ve grown to love 200% yourself.
Anyway, just thought I’d pipe up for those who are happy about this coupling. I respect that everyone is entitled to their opinions (and different interpretations of a book :)). I also understand how it can be disappointing when a relationship you’ve routed for doesn’t come through (I was totally on the Decker/Sophia ship for several books there). But still, I’m very excited to read Dark of Night and super glad it’s coming out so soon. 🙂
To answer the question posed by Scout: If I was more invested, my feelings might have been different. I can say that if Brockmann hadn’t delivered an HEA for Max and Gina I would have been pissed. Flat out pissed.
I think this is a really interesting discussion about reader expectations and the author-reader deal. Because there IS a deal.
(I haven’t read other people’s comments, because I’m still in spoiler avoidance mode – so if I repeat or contradict someone, it’s not intentional.)
I’d count myself core audience, and I think what I’m owed is a HEA. I buy these books as romance, so I think that’s required. However, I don’t think I’m owed any particular HEA – if Sam had found a way to be happy with Mary Lou, and Alyssa had ended up with Max, and Gina with Ric – as long as the author had sold those endings to me, that would have been fine.
Given the choice, I wouldn’t have had Jules marry Robin – as someone with experience of alcoholism, I’d have sworn that nothing could make me root for an alcoholic hero – but Brockmann convinced me they’d be happy, and those two books are complete comfort rereads for me.
Perhaps I’m easy. I know I’ve enjoyed long pieces of fanfic where I’ve been rooting for Harry to have a HEA with Draco, or Miles to find his HEA with Gregor. What matters to me is that I believe in the relationship in the story I’m reading, and that the characters I’m invested in end up happy.
I’m now wondering if that’s just a lack of imagination on my part – I’m 100% reader and I wouldn’t think about characters outside of their books, the way that fanfic writers obviously must. Perhaps people with more active imaginations invest differently in characters – because, in a way, this isn’t a Brockmann thing – plenty of Rowling readers felt betrayed by that series, and plenty of Twilight readers hated the direction of the final book. It’s clearly something that happens with series.
(Brockmann must be an old hand at dealing with thwarted reader expectations – the old AAR boards had long, long threads around GTF, with people feeling very betrayed by what she did to Sam. I didn’t like Sam, but I loved the subversion of the romance cliche; because in Romance, when the Hero gets the Heroine pregnant and marries her, it always works out.)
Personally, I never was into the Sophia/Decker relationship. It always seemed to be too much high drama and not rooted enough in day to day interactions.
This is how Scout put it: “”I no longer believe her when she says she ended the story arc the way she intended. There is no way anyone read Flashpoint and predicted this outcome. I think she was swayed by some fans on her board and simply changed her mind halfway through the story arc. What really upsets most of us is that she created and posted a poll on her website listing Decker and Sophia as a couple!! Twice!! And again in her troubleshooters guides. This is really where I feel the violation of my trust – why jerk us around like this?””
I remember the day on the board when someone analyzed a convention — a certainty — of an HEA in the Brockmann world. Call it an If/Then if you will — IF a character has POV sex, THEN that coupling with eventually end up in an HEA. The couple used as an example was Izzy/Tracy — but guess what? They don’t have an HEA. Nor does the couple of the polls after Flashpoint. I’ll read the book from the library but this style of writing needs a new descriptor because it doesn’t fit my definition of romance. Romance to me is being able, eventually, to count on an HEA between a couple that is initially presented to me as having a relationship. And HEAs are not interchangeable — I’m not just looking when I read a book for HEAs in themselves to be the outcome — not after a 5 year investment. A little understanding for how people feel would go a long way here. Do I think all the publicity will result in a hugely successful book? I really don’t know. I will say that word of mouth and the feelings of the community probably factor in too … and I suppose that goes both ways.
Of course opinions may differ — glad you liked it Sandy. But thanks for your honesty is saying how you’d feel had something similar happened to Max and Gina. Lastly, above I’m reading how Brockmann dissolved the Romance cliche of pregnant Heroine gets married and HEA ensues … and that’s pretty cool. How about the cliche of Receptionist marries company Principal — isn’t that rather a throwback to books that are let’s just say not exactly 21st century?
Again, really like your new AAR blog … thanks a lot!
I quit reading Brockmann a long while ago. But this discussion reminds me a lot of how Karin Slaughter handled one of her recent books, “”Beyond Reach.”” It was not an expected ending and most people didn’t see it coming. But this question is really, why did we feel that way as readers? As an author, she has the right to begin and end her books exactly the way she wants. She takes a risk that way in that consumers may not purchase more of her stuff, but still it’s her prerogative. If this had been a romance fiction, then an HEA should have been expected; but Slaughter doesn’t write in that genre. And I don’t think Brockmann does anymore either–does she? I thought she abandoned that field and is classified as general fiction. I may be wrong on that.
Tee,
If I remember correctly from your post just recently on the boards, you said you were upset too, with Karin Slaughter. After reading ITF, I would have been hard pressed to call her a romance writer. So during one of SB’s visits to her board, I asked her “”Do you still consider yourself a romance writer?”” And she replied yes, one who likes to push the envelope .
I really don’t understand people who say that we as readers shouldn’t have opinions. So we should just blindly hand over our money and shut our mouths? Not dare to criticize or critique an author who we’ve probably spent hundreds of dollars on?
Of course an author has the right to start and end a book or series they way he/she wants. However as a reader, when I feel that I’ve been jerked around by said author who posted polls listing characters as a couple, I feel I have the right to be upset and to be vocal about it.
When an author intentionally drags a story out over 5 years of course fans are going to become invested in those characters. And we have the right to speak out when we feel we were intentionally mislead.
And Karin Slaughter lost a lot of fans by doing what she did, whatever genre you want to call her.
Sandy, I think this is a great discussion and I want to say thank you for acknowledging our pain while still liking DON. Are you the AAR reviewer for DON by chance?
Sandy, if Max and Gina didnt get thier HEA I would be livid. (me love Max too) At the same time, I believe Sophia / Decker should be the HEA. I am Ok with after the first encounter, they never interact again (ala Izzy / Tracy) but thier were about 5 books in between where things were discussed that should have lead to Decker / Sophia. And I feel like the rug has been pulled out from under me. At the end of ITF, even though things were leading towards Dave, I was 1,000% sure that it would Decker / Sophia in the end.
That being said, I do believe Brockmann is a great writer. I went back to previous books to see if I could decifer where I went wrong in my beliefs, and found myself being sucked into the stories. So I am not going to say, I will never read her again. Because honestly I will be first in line on Jan 27th to buy DON. But I will try my best to never get sucked into one of her arcs until the final book.
Leigh wrote: Tee, If I remember correctly from your post just recently on the boards, you said you were upset too, with Karin Slaughter. After reading ITF, I would have been hard pressed to call her a romance writer. So during one of SB’s visits to her board, I asked her “Do you still consider yourself a romance writer?” And she replied yes, one who likes to push the envelope.
My response: Leigh, yes, I was upset with the way Slaughter ended “”Beyond Reach.”” I thought, at that time, I wouldn’t read any more books by her. But as I rethought that, I realized that she can do this. She had other ideas in mind, it appears, for future books. I even knew that I would read those stories in that same series, just to see how she would handle them. I read “”Fractured”” (which is the second book of another series of hers) and thought it was terrific. It’s difficult to abandon an author whom you love that writes well–and she does. I don’t know what it would take at this point to abandon her, but apparently “”Beyond Reach”” wasn’t “”beyond”” the limit for me. But then, Slaughter does not write romance fiction, even though she has romantic relationships within her stories.
Interesting what you said about Brockmann though. I just assumed, I guess, that she was more general fiction than romance these days. Maybe I have her confused with Gabaldon. Whatever. Pushing the envelope in writing is good, but risky for the author, especially in the romance genre. But we only go thru this life once (well, that’s my opinion on that) and if that’s what she wants to do, then I say go for it. There are consequences with these risky leaps, but it’s theirs to take.
Janet W said: but this style of writing needs a new descriptor because it doesn’t fit my definition of romance. Romance to me is being able, eventually, to count on an HEA between a couple that is initially presented to me as having a relationship. And HEAs are not interchangeable — I’m not just looking when I read a book for HEAs in themselves to be the outcome
Janet, yes this is how I feel exactly. It’s the equivalent to me of having your h/h split up mid book and get with other people. That’s not a romance novel. It *might* qualify as women’s fiction but not romance.
Just my .02 but that is how I feel right now.
maggie b.
Scout wrote: I really don’t understand people who say that we as readers shouldn’t have opinions. So we should just blindly hand over our money and shut our mouths? Not dare to criticize or critique an author who we’ve probably spent hundreds of dollars on?
My response: Scout, I hope you didn’t interpret my post as saying that we shouldn’t have opinions about books. Absolutely we should–and do. And we have the right to vocalize them, especially as consumers. However, at the same time, the author has that same right. If authors don’t care that they will possibly lose some readers because of a new direction they’ve taken, that’s their risk to take. We may not like it, so we don’t buy any more books by them. That’s about all we can do, plus, of course, send letters and/or criticize publicly.
I agree with you that Slaughter did lose a lot of fans following the conclusion of “”Beyond Reach.”” Temporarily, I was one of them. I’m glad I’m back in her camp, though. She’s really a terrific writer and I would be denying myself some great future stuff, I believe, if I stayed with that attitude. And I can stop reading her whenever I choose. She may have lost some readers; but, on the other hand, who knows how many she gained by turning the wheel. In any event, she’s following her personal instincts in what and how she wants to write and how can that really be wrong for her?
Scout, we like to mix things up and let different people review authors, so somebody else (and I don’t honestly know who) will be reviewing DON.
panthercrawl, yes, I am a BIG Max fan. Especially in Over the Edge. He totally took over that book for me.
Tee,
I guess my point is that of course an author has the right to take the story where he/she wants. But all I ask is not to jerk their readers around….i.e. putting up a poll about a couple that she would never end up pairing.
The Decker/Sophia crowd, speaking for the majority 🙂 we feel like we’ve been mislead and deceived intentionally. And again it goes to loosing trust in an author.
I would love to be able to say, oh well, I don’t have to buy anymore of her books. But it really bothers me – we’ve been invested in this story for 5 years and we’ve come to care about these characters and I feel like I was a part of some sort of gimmick.
Thanks for the review. I am sure it is a great story. I was betting for a good suspense ride with the whole “”Agency”” storyline and friends believing Nash is dead, etc. (Thank God he is NOT!-that would have really pushed me OVER the EDGE!) However, no matter how well it is written or how great the plot is, it does not change the heartbreaking news that Deck and Soph do not get their HEA after all this time! I am completely baffled that S.B. did this after sucking her readers into this couple over 5 books. Does not make sense to me!
So the story is great, remind me of all the movies that win Oscars despite the fact that a major character dies. (Although this seems to be a required critea for a nomination these days) However, no matter how great the movie is, I always hate it when one of the characters dies. This is ALMOST how I feel about DON. By Suz not giving Deck and Soph their HEA, it ALMOST feels this bad. I know it may sound silly, but that is how I feel-heartbroken. I say ALMOST because I will still read it, and MAYBE, just MAYBE Suz can pull off a miracle for me and mend my heart. However, if she killed a major character off (like I intially thought in ITF with Nash) then I would defintely stop reading!
Well, at least it sounds like a good story-so it will hold my interest while my stomach clenches when Dave gets Soph instead of Deck!
Poor Deck! (WHY? WHY? WHY?)
Okay, I am moving on with my life now-(ggg)
MMCA wrote:but I loved the subversion of the romance cliche; because in Romance, when the Hero gets the Heroine pregnant and marries her, it always works out.
This is where those five hundred books a year in the romance world work against us ;-0
See, I’ve read the book where the pregnant heroine finds herself a single mom so often I could almost write the story in my sleep. I ‘ve read the book where she meets an Ibrahim who is kind to her and the kid and who is compassionate to her many, many times. I know Nora Roberts has done the single mom thing at least ten times all on her own. And where Le Nora goes, others follow. What was different was reading the story from the dad angle, hearing him talk about how he just couldn’t make his marriage work yada yada yada. I’ll be honest, it didn’t work for me. I have an unnatural reaction to deadbeat dads, which is what Sam was described as in “”Into the Night””.
Anyway, just wanted to point out that in the vast universe that it is hard to break a cliche because chances are somebody beat you to it.
maggie b.
Thank you AAR Sandy for the preview. I’m one of those disappointed Sophia and Decker fans. I have to agree with those readers who feel “”jerked”” around after waiting 5 years for their story.
But I have to ask even though you didn’t see a connection between Sophia and Decker, is the Decker and Tracy pairing the same magic as Max and Gina? And do we get an explanation of why Decker never went for Sophia?
Thanks again for the preview, but I think I will get this one from the library…too disappointed about the pairings for this book.
I’m surprised that everyone is so surprised. After enjoying Brockmann’s earlier titles, I stopped reading her after Over the Edge. When she didn’t conclude the Sam-Alyssa story in that book, I felt that she was playing games with her readers. I also felt that she was attempting to break out of the romance market and attract a mainstream audience. Since only romance demands a HEA ending, and Brockmann was moving away from romance into subjects that held no interest for me, I simply ignored her books from then on.
The difference with the sam/alyssa storyline is that they eventually GOT their HEA….not gonna happen with deck/sophia. Although I can dream..sigh..
I too feel jerked around absolutely with the HEA for dave/sophia…have an exciting storyline sure, have the couple (deck/sophia) go through pain, trauma and misunderstandings yes. It all adds to the conflict & the excitement. Have the red herrings as it were, ie-daves continual infatuation. BUT then resolve it the way we were led to believe in the previous 4 books & 5yr wait..This is a romance genre after all. If there was to be no deck/sophia to come, finish up their storyline, have them be friends only & make it clear. I could’ve accepted it if that had happened books ago. Its the 5 yr wait and continual storyline that got me hooked on them and then to have it come to nothing….my disappointment & disillusion runs very deep…Its a shame because your review would have made me want to read the book (and I still will), however I cant look forward to it and wont enjoy reading anything about dave/sophia, It’ll spoil it for me no matter how good the writing. This resolution has also robbed me of going back & rereading some of the old books, knowing the sparks I saw between deck/sophia mean nothing & come to nothing…
Sandy,
I think it would be interesting to have two different reviews. One from you since you have already read it, and had taken a hiatus from Ms. Brockmann, and then one from a reviewer that has been following the series.
For me, the Sam and Alyssa arc is a different animal altogether. They interacted, although not in a particular healthy way at times. They had actual conversations. They acted on their attraction, then fought their attraction then accepted and embraced their attraction.
Like Sandy, I am on the fence as far as Deck/Sophia vs Dave/Sophia goes. Sexual tension and repressed love is not jumping off the page for me whenever Deck and Sophia are in the same scene. Nor is chemistry obvious to me between Dave and Sophia. Even the scene in ITS when Deck charges out to read the Seals the riot act where Sophia is concerned I don’t interpret the same as others. The other thing for me is if Sophia was so in love with Deck, why didn’t she just ask out? I mean, she had Dave telling her that Deck was in love with her, didn’t she.
I am going to read Dark of Night with an open mind and will judge the book and its content after I have read it. We are likely talking about probably between 400 – 500 pages of text in which a good author can weave a fascinating tale, that by the time the reader gets to the last page, should leave readers thinking it all makes sense. A lot of ground can be covered in 400 pages. I have started novels where I was hard pressed to believe the author could, through dialogue and action, convince me that the HEA as written was as it should be, but, more often than not, I have been pleasantly surprised.
I am sorry that the Decker/Sophia fans are hurting. Who knows, maybe I will be commiserating with the rest of you after I finish reading DON.
Sandy,
Carol posed two great questions that are also weighing heavily on my mind as well. Could you please give us some insight into this-I don’t feel as if it will give the plot away and we all (here) know the couple result. So will you please answer if we get an explanation why Deck never went for sophia and did you see any great sparks with Deck and Tracy like you felt with Max and Gina? Maybe if we know if these type of issues are addressed it may take a bit of the sting out! Thanks!
I too would like to know if we get Decker’s POV on his relationship w/ Sophia. And does Decker/Tracy have chemistry or is it just another bed hopping soap opera that is “”to be continued””?
Hi Cawm,
I came to the Sam and Alyssa story late and read GTF first and then played catch up. But I have to agree with you, I should have seen this one coming, given what happend with Max and Gina and Molly and Jones, there is a pattern.:-) But even with the long wait, I still knew they were getting a HEA…eventually.
I remember when Lisa Kleypas wrote Devil in Winter, we got a scene with Cam and Daisy. But when LK went to write Daisy’s story next, she found their chemistry wasn’t right and paired Daisy with Matthew. This is what I love about LK, she was honest about this and explained in advance…none of these “”games”” about wouldn’t it be great if we didn’t know who the H/H were going to be.
Thanks Jacqueline and Arrowboxer, I hope Sandy answers our questions, I think it would help a lot of readers understand.
I’m 100% in support of an author writing what they want to write, telling the story they want to tell, but to me this really isn’t an issue about that. I think you get into some shakey ground with your readers when you start a storyline that you drag on for years then change at the end. As an author, especially as an author of multiple book storylines and series, you ask your readers to invest, and invest heavily, in your characters and your storyline – why else would they bother to buy your books and keep following along? There is most definitely a covenant between author and reader, and once you break with that as an author, I think you cross a line that I’m not sure you can uncross. I have a real feeling of “”betrayal”” with this – it’s not a matter of getting what I want, or getting my way – it’s got nothing to do with that. I didn’t start out particularly “wanting” Decker or Sophia to be or do anything. It’s about expectations being met. I have been invested in these characters for a long time now, and I was led to believe that they were a couple – I didn’t couple them up, Suz Brockmann did. I didn’t throw them together, or create a bond between them – she did. When I picked up Flashpoint, I had no expectations of anything. But over the course of 5 years, I’ve built expectations based on the story the author has told me. Granted, I may have received it differently than someone else, but it seems to be in a way that a great many other people received it. In my mind, discussing those two things – an author having the right to write the story their way, and readers being pissed off over the way DON apparently unfolds – is comparing apples and oranges. They’re two different subject altogether. All along, I thought the author WAS writing her story her way (who the hecks story was it, if not Suz Brockmanns?), and I was happy to be along for the ride – after all, I didn’t create the characters of Decker and Sophia, nor did I couple ’em up, I just followed along and was stupid enough to get attached to them. Now you want me to buy that I was delusional, that I saw things that didn’t exist, and that what was never was? But in the meantime, what did exist was what? Written in invisible ink? I needed a super spy decoder ring to decipher it? And you’re doing this because you want to give me a surprise that I never asked for nor wanted? You decided, in your infinite wisdom, that I needed to feel jerked around? Why on earth would an author do that? And, quite frankly, how dare you do it and try to make me feel bad for objecting? If there was never a desire on the part of the author to pair Sophia and Decker, why not make that obvious from the get go? To keep the main characters of a book 5 years in the future a “”secret””? That’s ridiculous, and if that was the sole reason, then I think I’m even more annoyed than I was before. I feel, as a reader who’s invested a lot of my time and money into this series, completely screwed over. It’s not a feeling I like, nor one I was expecting from an author I’d previously had a lot of respect for.
I don’t think I’ve read anything, anywhere that’s saying that people want to control who or how Suzanne Brockmann writes. What I have seen an awful lot of people saying is “”Hey, wait a minute – where did that come from?”” And it’s a good question – where did it come from? I’ve reread the entire story arc that began with Flashpoint twice, and there is no way anyone can convince me that all roads led to Sophia and Dave and Decker and Tracy as couples. Right. Where would that have been written in the stars? Was it when Decker and Tracy had one weird exchange while she sat on her vibrator? Because that always spells happily ever after to me. Or would it have been obvious when Sophia cast Dave in the roll of best friend and confidant and spent hours and hours and days and days over lunch after lunch (Dave himself said something about this in one of the many books that make up this long story arc) discussing her deep feelings for Decker? Because again, that so obviously says she’s in love with Dave. Sorry, but I’m just not buying it. And the preview I read that gave details of Dave and Sophia together creeped me out – not something I thought I’d ever say about a Suz Brockmann love scene. A good point was made here too that, for an author who supposedly wants to push the envelope, pairing the ditzy company receptionist with a big wig in the company isn’t exactly breaking new ground – I have about a hundred Harlequin Romances from the 80s with exactly that same storyline. I can understand that other readers are happy with this pairing, and it’s nothing against any of the characters – in and of themselves, I like Dave (I actually like him a lot and I think he’s been cheated), I like Tracy (of course, I already liked Tracy with Izzy when they slept together in Into the Storm, but that’s another issue altogether), but to throw them all into a blender and see what comes out? How inspired. All that’s needed to make the soap opera complete is a long lost missing twin with amnesia.
I’m just one reader, and this is just my opinion. If I wasn’t invested in the storyline, perhaps I’d be able to buy the book, read it, and sit back and say it was well written. But I’m not that reader. I’m the reader who got invested in the story Suz Brockmann was telling, and I think DON will be a betrayal of that. The story it tells is not one I’m interested in hearing, because it’s not one I was lead to believe would be told. I read for enjoyment, and this author has crossed the line into annoying me beyond belief with this little trick (and that’s what it feels like to me – a trick). What reason she could have for wanting to do things this way escapes me. I had been anticipating this book and the long awaited end to the Decker and Sophia story arc for a long time. I’m no longer even remotely anticipating reading the switcheroo. The responsibility for that lies with the author. I don’t tell her how to write her story, but I do expect her to finish what she’s started. I don’t buy used books, I don’t borrow books, and I don’t take books out of the library. I purchase pretty much every one of the books I read, because I want the authors I enjoy to continue to write and prosper and tell more stories that I’ll fall in love with. I want them to be successful and to be able to grow in their craft. But there are hundreds of great authors out there who I don’t feel are playing games with me and jerking me around. Those will be the ones I support going forward.
Carol et all, here are my thoughts.
Yes, there is some resolution between Decker and Sophia in that they have a really honest conversation.
And, no, I didn’t feel that the Decker/Tracy pairing was on a level with Max and Gina, but I understand it and like them together. Really.
I agree with somebody (not sure who) who posted that the Decker/Sophia pairing was all very high drama. What you have here feels more real to me and more like the kind of relationship you can sustain in real life considering all the high drama that goes along with daily living.
But, keep in mind, my Brockmann lull. As others here have pointed out, I really think that made a BIG difference in my reaction to this book.
I actually like untrustworthy narrators. Never a dull moment!
I would go even further than saying that Decker and Sophia were high drama – they felt really unhealthy to me. Too many issues between them! In the end of the book were they meet, I felt that what Sophia needed was therapy, not a job…. so I never rooted for them either.
Avalon sums things up quite eloquently.
Avalon says: Now you want me to buy that I was delusional, that I saw things that didn’t exist, and that what was never was? But in the meantime, what did exist was what? Written in invisible ink? I needed a super spy decoder ring to decipher it?
I would still be upset if there was ONLY the books. Because I still firmly believe the connection between Sophia & Decker IS there, on the pages of the books Suzanne Brockmann wrote.
Though it would have been a tough sell, I could maybe buy that listing “Sophia and Decker’s story arc” info under ‘Secondary Relationship’ rather than ‘Secondary Romance’ in her guide to the series could be a clue. [Though I would argue why link their names together at all if Decker only ever felt guilt and Sophia’s love was all in her imagination? And why not list it as Decker, Sophia, and Dave’s story arc? Or just Dave and Sophia’s story arc? As I said, a tough sell].
Suz went undeniably over the line is listing Sophia & Decker as a couple, not just once, but twice in the poll she set up (as Scout pointed out earlier in these blog comments). That same poll has Adam listed with Jules and Robin, so if she truly wanted us to buy Dave’s love for Sophia was real, she could have had the poll read Decker/Sophia/Dave under the “multi-book story arcs” question and left Sophia & Decker off the “favorite secondary (subplot) couple” all together.
But even without the Readers’ Guide and the poll, the books themselves did make Decker and Sophia a couple.
Sorry, my point was the readers didn’t “”dream up”” Sophia and Decker as a couple destined for a HEA. Suzanne Brockmann did.
I’m wondering when Jenk is going to dump Lindsay and get with Izzy. I mean, Izzy and Jenk were listed as a secondary relationship as well. That book should be interesting.
stella_kSya:
thats fair enough what you posted, and you’re right. However does this mean there will also be an official TS poll listing izzy/jenk as a contenders for favourite (secondary) couple??? does this mean I will find 4 books (that state they are izzy/jenk arcs), written over 5yrs with various longing/wanting/sexually tense scenes between them??? If no I have zero problem giving up the dream of a little boy on boy action, if yes I expect them to meander off into the sunset brokeback mountain style like every other long arced & written as romantic couple SB has ever written..
LOL, yeah I don’t figure that Jenk will leave Lindsey to run off with Izzy.
It’s just that in the guide, every other COUPLE that is listed as having a “”arc”” is an actual romantic couple regardless if their names are listed under “”Secondary Romance”” or not.
My point was why list them in any of the extras as a couple at all if we’re meant to now believe they never were? It’s not as if Dave & Sophia were given equal mention. It was done deliberately on the author’s part to mislead her readers.
Hi Sandy,
I have read all of suz’s books. and to be honest I wasn’t going to buy this one. Not because of the hero or herione, but because of all the drama surrounding suz herself and her board and politics. I kinda got tired of it. But I am seriously rethinking that decision. Is there any way you would email me more spoilers…I know I ask a lot…pretty pls…
Hi Avalon and Library Addict,
I totally see where the both of you are coming from and it is very frustrating for a reader to have the expectatin that Sophia and Decker would eventually get “”their”” story…only to have it be something else entirely.
Maybe Suz initally did want to give them a HEA, but for some reason when she started to write the book…it just didn’t work out…chemistry wise, story wise…something.
She mentioned before in Over the Edge that she orginally planned to have Gina killed, but Gina “”spoke”” to her and would not be killed off. Maybe this is what happend with Decker and Sophia…no matter…its still very disappointing. I totally commiserate with you all.
I think this is the start of Brockmann lull for me and maybe in a few years, I will come back…or not.
Carol,
I would like to believe that. But Suz has said multiple times this is the ending for these characters she always envisioned. So, either I believe her and she deliberately misled us or she changed her mind mid-story, in which case why insist otherwise?
library addict wrote: So, either I believe her and she deliberately misled us or she changed her mind mid-story, in which case why insist otherwise?
My response: Exactly!
Sorry library addict and Tee, I forgot that point. You are right, I guess she really is the TEAS.
But you guys are right, maybe if only she was a bit more honest about Decker and Sophia and acknowledged some fans would be disappointed earlier things wouldn’t be so bad.
I stopped buying the hardcovers after Hot Target, couldn’t take the teasing. But then we got ITS and then I thought…finally…but no.
Since this book has generated so much contoversy before its even been released, I think it’s a great idea like the poster who suggested you have an additional reviewer, review the book. I’d like to hear what someone who hasn’t followed the series has to say about it and also someone who was into the Sophia/Decker possibility, what they have to say. I haven’t read SB since before Flashpoint so I’m really curious!
I honestly would prefer an objective review, one that is written by, as you suggested, someone who has not followed the series. I would not want to read a review written by either someone who was into the Decker/Sophia possibility or the Dave/Sophia possibility. I thought Sandy wrote a very thoughtful and balanced review, which may have been aided by her having taken a break from the series for awhile. I want to read a review that is based on the book’s content, not preconceived expectations of how the book should have unfolded and the story should have concluded. I am in neither the Decker/Sophia nor the Dave/Sophia camp. I will decide if I, as a reader, am satisfied that the right guy got the girl when I close the book.
How is it objective, when the individual doesn’t know the history of the character? That is why I suggested both type of reviews. Sandy has already said that she is not writing the review. I thought it would be a nice balance to have someone who didn’t know the characters, didn’t know the history, judging the book as a stand alone. However this book isn’t a stand alone, since we have had five years building this story arc.
I agree with Leigh, I would like to see a review by someone who has been following the series and the characters all along. There will be plenty of ‘objective’ type of reviews i.e Publishers Weekly.
Although for those of us who have been following the series, how helpful or useful is a review that states “”well if you haven’t been reading the series or aren’t invested in the characters you will like this book””
I gave up on Brockmann a few books ago, for reasons I won’t go into here. I’ve been reading some of the DON threads just for curiosity. I must say, I don’t regret giving up on her based on what I’ve read.
The biggest problem is the promise that Brockmann seemingly made to the readers. Not just in the books themselves, but in the other online/extra content. THAT seems to be what makes people so angry. To be promised something and then at the last minute not getting it, with nothing but a “”I really planned this all along”” really smacks of deception.
I compare this to Eloisa James, who also has some long multi-book arcs (though not as long as Brockmann). She is very sly about whom will end up with whom, and she makes no promises to her fans. There is a lot of speculation on her boards, but even a couple who seemingly MUST end up together (i.e. Jemma and Elijah), she is able to cast a shadow of a doubt. Will many of her fans be mad if Jemma and Elijah don’t end up together? Sure. But she has never promised it, either, and that I think makes all the difference. I think this is the smarter way to go. Not only does it give her room to change her mind over the course of the books – which IS an author’s perogative – but it can’t come back to bite her in the end like this kerfluffle is with Brockmann.
So, in other words, an author doesn’t necessarily “”owe”” anything to her fans, and she should write the book, the couple she wants. But she needs to be careful that she doesn’t promise something that she then can’t/won’t deliver. If you’re not 110% positive that a particular couple will get their HEA, then DON’T promise fans that.
I never did like Sophia and Decker together. Given their beginning and all of the drama, it seemed way too much to overcome without a lot of work that neither of them seemed to want to do. Besides, over time the drama became tedious. Both of them need to move on. Writers should write what they feel and what their characters feel, and if the fans don’t like it, the fans should move on. I will keep purchasing her books because as one earlier person said, they are her comfort books. I keep going back to these books and read them repeatedly because I take comfort in them and I don’t care what genre they are categorized in.
I’ve been very vocal about my opinion on this subject elsewhere. 😉 I never did see Decker and Sophia together. What did everyone else base SoDeck on? One encounter in a foreign country in which Sophia was fighting for her life? Love is based on affection, shared experiences, and a lot of talking. When did Decker and Sophia ever talk? They spent as much time as possible avoiding each other and being uncomfortable. That doesn’t sell me on the “”love fated in the stars”” idea at all.
I love Dave, and I have ever since “”ITS””. He was easily overlooked, but he definitely has all the qualities of any good hero. I love it that he entered the fray between Decker and Nash, because he couldn’t stand to see Sophia get hurt. He couldn’t choose not to protect her. His appeal is understated, but he’s far from being a wimp, and I think this will become even more clear in DON. He and Sophia had sexual tension in the cave during “”ITS””, so this is not coming from completely out of the blue.
I admit that I never saw the Decker/Tracy pairing, but I’m interested to see how that will work. If anyone can pull that off, I’m sure that Suz can do it.
I also don’t think it’s necessary for a POV character to only have sex with the person they’re going to have their HEA with. In the TS world as in the real world, people make mistakes, and these characters need to do that and then grow into their full potential. I can’t wait to read DON, and I’m sorry that so many of you are feeling betrayed. To me, the result was obvious, and has been for quite some time.
I flat out stole this list from another post on another bulletin board where a lively discussion is raging about DON. This is in response to Sandy C’s Question: “”What did everyone else base SoDeck on?”” Easy answer: we based it on Suz’s Troubleshooters Guide and the many incidents (too many to list, where there was tension/definite interest between Sophia and Decker). What I can’t understand is how this question can continue to be asked: look at the list of couples and relationships that Suz provided to her readers — how were they expected to react? What relationships would they obviously be anticipating?
And in regards to your last paragraph, maybe — but this is Romance and that has to be handled pretty carefully, imo. Clearly a gal who has made the rounds of a group of people, that’s in most people’s eyes, somewhat unromantic … but then I wonder how all these couples were cobbled together given our early intros to everyone.
So, below: the info most of us were working from —
Here is the info from Suz’s Troubleshooters Guide:
Who is your favorite secondary
(subplot) couple?
Max and Gina (22%)
Jones and Molly (20%)
Jules and Robin (18%)
Sam and Alyssa (17%)
Decker and Sophia (11%)
David and Mallory (7%)
Ihbraham and Mary Lou (1%)
(2826 total votes)
This series includes many
multi-book story arcs—stories
like that of Sam and Alyssa,
that continued over the course
of many books. Which story
arc was your favorite?
Sam and Alyssa (45%)
Max and Gina (22%)
Jules and Robin/Adam/??? (11%)
Tom and Kelly (8%)
Molly and Jones (8%)
Sophia and Decker (4%)
(2823 total votes)
Which character do you
most want to see more of
in future books? (listed
in alphabetical order)
Jules Cassidy (49%)
Larry Decker (18%)
Sophia Ghaffari (8%)
Jay Lopez (6%)
Other (4%)
Vinh Murphy (3%)
Izzy Zanella (3%)
Dave Malkoff (1%)
Danny Gillman (1%)
Robin Chadwick (1%)
PJ Prescott (0%)
(2788 total votes)
SandyC, you asked “When did Decker and Sophia ever talk?”
They actually talked quite a lot in Flashpoint. There was the scene in which they were stranded during the sand storm as well as their conversation at the bar in Germany at the end of the book.
We based “”SoDeck”” on the many scenes Suz wrote, not just between the two of them, but also the other main characters’ thoughts about them. Their relationship was never based on how they met, but how they have acted and interacted since that time. Suz could have easily written a conversation between them at the FP or HT that made clear they weren‘t ever going to be couple. Instead in the subsequent books she repeatedly states how Sophia is in love with Decker and other characters – including Dave – believe Decker to return her feelings. We never get Decker’s POV to disprove this and his actions seem to indicate it’s not only possible, but probable. So why wouldn’t we have thought all the rest of it was just obstacles they needed to overcome to get their hard-earned HEA?
Suz herself now says she wanted the ending of DON, and who Sophia ends up with, to be a surprise. If she didn’t mean us to think Sophia and Decker would have a HEA, how is the fact she ends up with Dave supposed to have been a surprise?
I get that Dave is hero material. I actually quite like Dave and think he’s getting the short straw here. And most Sophia/Decker fans haven’t denied there was the possibility of a Dave & Sophia HEA since ITS. But to say there was never at the very least an equal chance that it would be Sophia & Decker is not a valid argument IMO.
Since the poll results from Troubleshooters Guide Janet W posted were from early August 2006, I think the more recent results prove quite interesting:
Who is your favorite secondary (subplot) couple?
30% (1437) Jones and Molly
26% (1236) Jules and Robin
20% (933) Decker and Sophia
10% (496) Max and Gina
8% (404) Sam and Alyssa
2% (117) David and Mallory
0% (33) Ihbraham and Mary Lou
4656 voters have answered this question.
This series includes many multi-book story arcs — stories like that of Sam and Alyssa,
that continued over the course of many books. Which story arc was your favorite?
28% (1300) Sam and Alyssa
24% (1156) Tom and Kelly
16% (745) Jules and Robin/Adam/???
13% (630) Sophia and Decker
11% (531) Max and Gina
5% (274) Molly and Jones
4636 voters have answered this question.
Which character do you most want to see more of in future books?
38% (1810) Larry Decker
19% (889) Izzy Zanella
18% (848) Jules Cassidy
8% (412) Sophia Ghaffari
4% (192) Other
3% (168) Jay Lopez
2% (127) Dave Malkoff
1% (69) Robin Chadwick
1% (59) Vinh Murphy
1% (49) Danny Gillman
0% (19) PJ Prescott
4642 voters have answered this question.
And as we’ve said, if she had simply left “Sophia & Decker” as an option off in the secondary couple’s category and either left them out or included Dave in the multi-book story category (as she did with Jules & Robin by including Adam)…
And with the Readers Guide, she could have easily listed Sophia and Decker separately or with Dave instead of continually referring to it as the “Sophia and Decker story arc” the same as she did with every other eventual HEA couple.
I do have to wonder why she clearly marketed Decker & Sophia as a romantic couple when she apparently never meant to write them a HEA together.
This is driving me crazy. Sophia and Deck seemed to have chemistry in Flashpoint. It has been completely missing since then. The poll that everyone takes as god’s own evidence was written in 2004 which was 4 years ago. At that time, it was still possible that Sophia and Deck would end up together, Sophia and Dave were just getting to know each other. To add Sophia and Decker/Dave/Gillman to the poll just would have been stupid. As someone who has read ALL her Q&As since then, the poll is the only place she lists “”Deck and Sophia”” – who, yes, did (past tense) have a sub-plot relationship in Flahpoint. In all her Q&A’s she’s never once said “”Decker and Sophia””. I think that’s telling. And it’s kind of like looking at archeaological evidence that says “”we found 95 eagle skeletons after we first found one ptarmigan so clearly ptarmigans were the dominant bird””.
Since 2004 though, as some of you have said – all of the “”of course Deck and Sophia will get togther”” words have come from someone’s POV who is NOT Deck or Sophia. From Sophia’s POV, we have Deck dismissing her in ITF, her starting to notice Dave, her telling Dave that Decker was a “”safe fantasy”” while she got herself sorted out. After ITF there should be no question that Sophia and Deck are out as a couple, although over on the Suz board it seems split about 50/50 from people who cannot/willnot give up their fantasy ending from Flashpoint. Yes, that was really, really hot. But since then? Not so much. There is mounds of interaction showing that Deck and Sophia both are resisting what *everyone else* is expecting. What the initial expectation was has had time and text to show that it has changed. If this outrages you, then it does, but geez, I’d hate to be your kid and actually grow up in your house expected to always be like I was as a toddler, even as a teen.
Personally, I mostly want their threads to end so we can move on to other characters and not have all the dangling threads. (Jazz anyone?) Though when I asked Suz about why all the dangling threads, she explained that she just thinks of S/D/D/T/N as the “”flashpoint arc”” not as the various and sundry couple arcs, and my head has felt less cluttered when I think of them that way too. I’m also looking for more hot hot heat like there seemed to be with Deck/Sophia in Flashpoint. If it takes someone else coupling up with them to get the heat, I’ll take it.
But it kind of confuses me to see people take the basis in flashpoint and a 2004 poll and hold it against several subsequent books where OTHER STUFF has happened and refuse absolutely the possibility that there might be some other outcome. I don’t get it.
Wow, I better get all of these books out of my TBR pile and start reading them.
CrankyOtter Said: The poll that everyone takes as god’s own evidence was written in 2004 which was 4 years ago. At that time, it was still possible that Sophia and Deck would end up together
Actually the poll was created in March 2006.
No, the poll is not the be-all-end-all.
My point is that Suz marketed Sophia & Decker as a couple when she says she NEVER intended for them to be a couple. So there was no possibility they would end up together. She could have just left them off the poll altogether (there’s no Annebet & Herschel, Tracy, or several other characters). So, why include them as couple? If she hadn’t, none of this would be an issue.
She knew full well fans would take it as a sign of them getting a HEA. It all goes back to the issue of trust of the author. I feel she was deliberately misleading in order to have her “surprise” twist. So, I no longer feel that trust. You don’t see it that way and I understand and respect that.
These are just books. There’s no need to make accusations about how we raise our children.
I haven’t read everyone’s comments, but I have to pipe up and say, as someone who has religiously bought ALL of Suz’s books since I stumbled onto her, I’m not upset over the change in couples. While I liked the idea of Sophia & Deck when we first met them, once she introduced Dave into the mix, I haven’t been as much of a fan. So, I’m not ready to scream over whether or not she changed her mind mid-stride. If she did, well, writer’s perogative, I guess. It doesn’t bother me and I’m not sure why it’s bugging everyone else so badly. It’s a book. Suz writes a lot of what she writes with some basis in reality and let’s face it, what we’re seeing with the Deck/Sophia/Dave story arc fits with real life. It’s not that big a deal. Enjoy or don’t enjoy what she writes. It’s your choice. Fact is, whoever she loses over this bruhaha, she’ll probably more than make up for in new fans.
Julie,
You haven’t read the comments but yet you wonder why we are so upset?? Why don’t you try reading the posts first, that might help you out a bit.
And there are very few readers who read romance novels because they want them to fit with ‘real life’ Great for you that the book is meeting the requirements of what YOU like to read, the fact is, for the rest of us it doesn’t.
Julie, I have to envy your life. I honestly don’t know any people like the Troubleshooters and the only characters I’ve read of that even come close to resembling Sophia are Mata Hari and Aline Romanos. Can’t say these characters resemble anything like real life to me 😉
Added to the unreality of characters I have to go with Scout on the issue of romance and real life. I read romance opposed to women’s fiction for the specific reason of not wanting to deal with messy relationships. Are they reality? Of course they are. But if we are to buy that two people with extremely time consuming careers (Tom/Kelly, Ken/Savanah, Mike/Joan) can make their relationship work then we should get the rest of the fantasy too. If SB wants to resemble “”real life”” she needs to start with the divorces. Given that “”The CDC said that 43 percent of all first marriages end in divorce within 10 years.”” we need to start seeing divorces among the TS squad. That is, if she is going with the reality based model.
maggie b.
I can’t speak for Julie, but there’s fictional “”reality”” and real reality. Real reality obviously would include divorces, spousal abuse, etc. No, thanks! However, certain fictional realities do work for me – i.e. an HEA isn’t automatically guaranteed just because a POV character had sex with someone for all the wrong reasons. You can’t have character growth if that person doesn’t make any mistakes, after all. Then again, I haven’t been all that invested in the “”Flashpoint”” arc, although I started seriously rooting for Dave during “”Into the Fire””.
I could better understand this outcry if Suz had killed off Robin at the end of “”Force of Nature”” and then had Jules find someone new for his HEA. However, Jules and Robin had a true emotional connection. I always thought that was missing between Decker and Sophia.
We’ll have to agree to disagree 😉 I never felt the Jules/Robin connection. During both Hot Target and Forces of Nature Robin spent a lot of his time seriously drunk. I agreed with Mercedes that he was an unsafe person to leave a child with, which to me is not a positive character endorsement. So I never saw the emotional connection you must have seen. Robin was also on the promiscuous side and I never saw the after effects of that addressed either. I just didn’t see them as being that great a couple but that is solely my own .02.
I get that people make mistakes and I certainly don’t want perfect, virginal h/h’s who make Mother Teresa look bad. But when I watch those mistakes be made, when I am dragged through the mud with them so to speak, I mind them more than in the traditional romance where the accidents and regrets tend to happen off page.
I also think that the reality issue is a tough one. It’s like the old historical question of accuracy. Should accuracy include smell? Personal hygiene? Mores and custom difficult for a 21st century person to relate to such as slave ownership? With reality a part of me says that if we are going to see unlikely couples hook up having watched them get to the so called HEA with every mistake duly noted shouldn’t we stick with the reality formula through the whole thing and watch them then degenerate to unhappy and divorced? Or do we stick with the reality model only to a certain point and then tack on the even more impossible to believe than usual HEA? This to me is not an issue of one book but of genre standards as a whole. In my own opinion, speaking strictly for myself, the so-called reality model makes the books teeter from unrealistic to ridiculous. It makes the HEA that much harder to believe and look that much more tacked on. But that is just my opinion. Others clearly have a different one.
maggie b.
Okay, first of all, I have to apologize to everyone who wrote after me. My post came across as a bit more sarcastic than I intended. I reread it before I posted it, but obviously not from a POV of someone who didn’t know me 🙂
My thought was that while some, okay, A LOT, of Suz’s characters are over the top, she does try to throw a dose of reality into her books. I like the difference SandyC mentioned when she said real reality and fictional reality. Have I met anybody like the characters Suz creates? No. Especially men & women of TS, Team 16 and the FBI. However, I think throughout all of her books, she does deal with issues that real people deal with and that’s part of why I like her. Robin’s alcoholism is one of those things. Is it pretty? No. Is it real? Absolutely. Especially for someone young in Hollywood. Does that make him, or any people who really do live that life, any less lovable? Absolutely not. I like that Suz wrote his HEA. I like that he & Jules had that instant connection that she writes for her other characters, but she then made them work for it.
Romance as a genre is pretty much the “”same old, same old””. I hear people, both readers and reviewers alike, complain about that all the time. Like there’s a cookie cutter mold for what romance HAS to be and everybody writes the exact same thing. I think, for me at least, that’s why I don’t like a lot of romance authors out there. My book shelf does have quite a few romance authors on it, but I also have quite a bit that’s not. Suz is a great mix of both romance and non-romance for me.
As for the Deck/Sophia/Dave/Tracy/Izzy/Eden mess…from everything I’ve read, it seems most people’s problem isn’t that she’s switching from Deck/Sophia to Dave/Sophia, but that she had things outside the book saying Deck/Sophia and inside the books, she’s saying Dave/Sophia. Is that right? If so, I still say my earlier point stands. It’s her books. She can write whatever she wants. Should she have done the polls differently? Yeah. I don’t think anyone can argue about that. How much do you want to bet she won’t be specific like that again? But why let something that’s outside of the book stop you from enjoying what’s IN the book? If you legitimately don’t like the story, that’s fine. You’re allowed to not like it. It’s your money to spend. I haven’t liked everything Suz’s written either. To this day, I still don’t understand why we were supposed to care about Ric & Annie, but that’s my problem. But if the only reason you dislike the D/S/D/T/I/E mess is b/c of what was said outside of the book, I don’t understand. Again, its your choice to like or dislike whatever you want. It’s just my opinion.
Back to the reality issue…I’m staring at the last paragraph of Maggie’s post and have to comment on it. Yes, inserting reality into books is a tough issue. I definitely agree. But I think it’s important to a point. Maybe I’m just different. I like seeing the struggles people go through to become the person they are today. One of my favorite fairy tales is Cinderella. But part of why I like Cinderella so much is that I can see the “”slave”” she was before. Cinderella wouldn’t be half the story it is w/o seeing her life before. I think that’s why Robin/Jules, Sam/Alyssa, Max/Gina, et al, work so well for me. The whole idea behind the romance novel is “”I was a mess before I met you, but (to quote Jerry McGuire) you complete me. You make me a better person than I ever could’ve been w/o you.”” That includes Robin’s alcoholism, Kelly’s divorce, Nils sleeping w/ married women, Sam making a huge mess of his first marriage, etc.
Okay, now I am going to get off my soapbox. I hope everyone had/has a great holiday!
Julie
Wow, I can’t even figure out how to start typing what I want to say. I guess for lack of a better word I am amazed when people say that SB’s writes real life in rebuttal to other poster’s concerns about the Dave/Sophia pair up. Just addressing the Sophia/Decker/Dave issue and not percentage of divorces, broken romances etc, to me it doesn’t come close to real life. One, in real life, Decker or Sophia would have addressed the issue of the bj long before five years. If they had been unable to address the issue then one of them would have left. Two, no manager waits three years before bringing in a grief counselor. Three, I doubt very seriously that most men would still be pushing the woman they loved towards another man for five years. Four, I don’t know any CIA agents, however, I doubt that the character Dave would pass the pyschological testing. Low self esteem, inability to form long term relationships, are just a few things that come to mind. You can use the rebuttal that Decker is not much healthier and I would have to agree based on what we know right now. The thing is that we haven’t gotten Decker’s point of view. So, unrealistic situation of how Sophia & Decker met, unrealistic characterization of a CIA agent, unrealistic work environment (Sophia/Decker not talking, and Tom not taking care of his people for three years), but we have to throw in realistic view point that not all romances work out? Sorry, this was just done for effect, and not realism. It was a plot devise.
Julie, you stated: But why let something that’s outside of the book stop you from enjoying what’s IN the book?
I think that all of us have stated this 100 different ways. The hero and heroine are not interchangeable to us. Maybe we read differently then you do. You liked Robin & Jules. I am not sure if you really got attached to Robin from the beginning. But if you did, I think that you would have a problem if out of the blue, SB decided to bring Adam back into the picture, and Jules and Adam became a couple.
So the polls are just an external piece of this whole process. We (or I) was lead to believe by the dialogue, the tension between Decker/Sophia, the jealousy that Decker showed, the concern he showed that they were a couple. We believed this for five years. I know that other people have mentioned it too, but five years it a lot different than a book with two men vying for the same heroine’s love. I personally continued to read stories that I wasn’t really interested in for just a glimpse of Decker & Sophia story arc. And after four years, we get a wake up call that it might not be Sophia & Decker but Sophia & Dave. So, we all a little worried, but we pour over back over all the books, looking for hints, and we look at SB polls & reader’s information and we think, no she just doing what she did before with Sam & Alyssa & Max & Gina.
I don’t know if was intentional or not, but Ms. Brockmann underwrote Dave & Sophia relationship. Not until four years after they were introduced did most of realize that it was a triangle.
I feel that I was mislead by omission & by the polls and readers guides, and so SB could have a big controversy or surprise ending. I have no interest at all in reading about Sophia & Dave.
Leigh, really great post. You said a lot of what I was trying to say and bumbled. Your insight re Dave I think is especially pertinent. I don’t know any CIA operatives but I have read biographies enough to know that he does not meet the description of any of them I have ever read. I can remember reading Flashpoint and thinking “”Do these people WANT to get caught? None of them are doing the job they went to that country to do (I think Tess did on the day Murphy was hurt but that was one day). The bulk of their time was spent in suspicious meetings with suspicious people. It was like a bad spy thriller, for sure not a realistic look at that particular kind of job (which sounds like extreme amounts of boredom broken up by terrifying moments of action).
I also think the relationships don’t touch on reality. It is not that I am such a cynic that I think four out of ten romances should end in a divorce — it is that SB’s characters often stand the LEAST chance of any romance characters I’ve read making a relationship work. If nothing else they make the extreme scrutiny and pressure Hollywood stars use as an excuse for their divorces seem mild. Bi-coastal relationships??? With one of them having a job where he can be sent off on a moment’s notice??? Pressure anyone?
Robin is like a male Lindsay Lohan so I can believe in the reality of him but LL isn’t working much right now. If even Tinsel Town thinks she is too unhealthy/in the wrong place to work I don’t think that is a rousing endorsement of where she is in life. I could see Robin existing — I can’t see him making work, relationship and recovery all work. And AA advises you don’t get involved with anyone till you are at least two years sober. That Jules and Robin worked for Julie I can respect. I get that. I can even understand it — hey, Bella and Edward from Twilight worked for me and they were a vampire and an overly dramatic teenage girl. But I wouldn’t have excused all their relationship problems by calling it fictional reality 😉 and I don’t think it works in this case either. Again, just my opinion so I totally get it if others don’t agree.
In the end I just can’t see the “”reality”” excuse for what SB does. It’s a gimmick. It’s a well done gimmick and she writes a really fun, unrealistic thriller that just sucks you in and keeps you reading in spite of it. But she doesn’t write “”real””.
Of course that’s just the opinion of one former fan 😉
maggie b.
Wow, this is becoming way more serious than I thought it was or meant it to be 🙂 But it’s still fun to talk to people about stuff like this.
Leigh, I get what you’re all saying about the h/h being unchangeable. And, for me, if it was within 1 book, I would agree completely. But since it’s been stretched out over 5 years, it doesn’t bother me. Yes, 5 years is a bit extreme, but people change over time. You realize your expectations might not be realistic and that what is right for you has actually been staring you in the face but you never saw it. That’s how I look at the D/S/D triangle. I think as long as Suz does a good job of explaining it in DON and gives all 3 of them closure, that I’ll continue to be okay with it. But we’re all entitled to our own opinions and what works for one of us may not work for somebody else. Nothing wrong with that. That’s what allows so many authors to be successful.
As for the reality portion of my post…I stink at getting my point across when I’m not talking directly to someone. I’m not a writer 🙂 I’m going to try one more time to get it across. If I can’t, does anybody really care what I think? 😉 I’m not saying Suz writes 100% reality, fictional or otherwise. What I’m saying is, I think she adds elements of reality to her writing and that’s what makes it work for me. Yes, Robin is a mess. He’s a recovering alcoholic. But what makes Robin okay for me is he’s a genuinely nice person who really wants to make something of his life. He wants to make Jules happy. That’s the beauty of reading a book. You can see all sides of a person from that “”all-knowing, omniscient”” POV. I thought Suz did a good job of redeeming him by showing other sides of him. Having said that, would I personally marry a recovering alcoholic? Doubtful. The reality in this storyline is Robin’s alcoholism. The “”non-reality””, for lack of a better term, of the story is that he was ready to be a responsible adult that quickly.
Oh, and one last comment before I sign off:
Leigh, you mentioned in your post that “”You (me) liked Robin & Jules. I am not sure if you really got attached to Robin from the beginning. But if you did, I think that you would have a problem if out of the blue, SB decided to bring Adam back into the picture, and Jules and Adam became a couple.””
Yes, you’re right. I would have a problem if Suz brought Adam back into the picture. Now. With the way it stands today. (w/ R&J being married.) Since I didn’t get attached to the idea of Robin & Jules until FON, if Suz found a way to redeem Adam before that, I would’ve been okay with it either way. Relating that back to the D/S/D storyline, Suz never explicitly stated, at least not that I can remember, in any book, that Deck & Sophia were a couple. Yes, she alluded to them wanting to get together, but never once (again, not that I can remember) did they have a conversation about anything resembling a relationship on any level, even friendship. They talked to Dave about it. IMO, Suz started building that strong friendship between Sophia & Dave several books ago. Which goes back to my comment above that sometimes you just don’t know that what’s staring you in the face is the best thing you could ever ask for.
I hope that clears up my thoughts. If not, like I said, nobody really cares what I think anyway, right? 🙂 We’ll just have to agree to disagree, but that’s the beauty of forums like these. We can 🙂
Hope everyone has a happy new year!
Julie
Maggie, responding to what you said in your post about SB not writing real. I completely agree. A poster on Amazon (Lauren Sophie) stated: She really does whatever she wants from book to book, often favoring twists and turns and surprises. And that’s fine. I’d call that jarring, while another reader may find it exciting.
Personally I think SB enjoys the challenge of making a character unlikeable to elicit reader’s reactions, and then she writes it away. You mentioned how she made Sam so unlikeable by being a horrible father who never took care of his baby. Then in his story, he states that Haley fell asleep on his chest most nights while he was home. She made Mary Lou a bigot, and everyone hated her, but then in the next book, it was written away. Same with Robin. One thing that she doesn’t really factor in, is how the vilified first impression lingers. In making the characters larger than life, she makes it impossible for some readers to suspend belief that they have reformed. With Sam bad Dad to good Dad was not that big of a stretch for me. Mary Lou from bigot to non bigot and marrying a person of middle eastern descent was a stretch, but she was a minor character so no big deal. I don’t remember her treating Max the way she did Sam, unless it was his pushing Gina away. But with Robin, she tried to invent him too fast, and it didn’t stick for me. Same with Dave. That first impression stuck, and then she continued to characterized him as a loser with the 38 year old virgin talk with Sophia. So, in one book, he is going from someone with no self esteem, to really only dated and slept with one person, to someone who gets the girl that all the other men have wanted. Because he is nice, and they either talked every day on the telephone or had lunch together.
For many of us Eden is unreformable. Too many bigger than life problems, like treating sex like a monetary exchange, youth, inability to tell the truth. And I am sure in her story, it will all be explained away. She did this also to Gilman in this last book and again, in his book his behavior will be written away. To me this is not characterization. It is writing the character in the most attention getting way, to exact the maximum emotional response, and then this part of the characterization miraculously disappears. But the reader has to be able to suspend belief in this miracle. And for Dave (like Robin) I am unable to do so.
After finishing Into the Fire, the friend who got me hooked on the books and I went back and reread all the books with the Flashpoint gang and made a list (yes as corny as that sounds, I’m a list maker 😆 ) of the Decker/Sophia/Dave stuff.
And, yes, even though there was evidence supporting a Dave & Sophia HEA in ITS and ITF, there was more evidence (or so we thought) to suggest it would be Decker & Sophia from all 4 books featuring these particular characters. And many other scenes that could be interpreted to support either Deck or Dave depending upon how readers interpreted certain “facts.” Even the “clues” in ITS and ITF didn’t rule out that it would be Decker. We felt Suz was just teasing/tormenting us with the kiss between Dave and Sophia and that she and Decker would finally talk and get together in DON. Yes, going back now, knowing it will be Dave, it’s easy to spot the Dave clues were real. But if we didn’t know, I would still think it would be Decker. Because there is ample evidence to support both relationships IN the books.
Realistically speaking, as others have said, Dave and Sophia don’t have any healthier of a starting point for their relationship than Decker and Sophia. Sophia is feeling sad in the bar at the end of ITF and decides she wants kids. In the prologue for DON, Dave is wondering of Sophia is even thinking about him when they are having sex, or if she is thinking about Decker or Dimitri. How is Dave ever to really believe Sophia loves him for the man he is and not just as a father for her children?
And for the record, I think Dave deserves better than to be the guy Sophia settled for. I wanted the whole roller coaster ride to HEA-land for him, too. Maybe if Suz had written in the books and *shown* Dave falling for Sophia rather than just telling us he’d been in love with her for years when we finally got his POV in ITS more of us would have believed it was love and not just him idolizing the beautiful friend he thought he never stood a chance with.
I’m not saying that Suz won’t address these issues in DON. And, as we have repeatedly said, Suz is free to write her books any way she wants to.
But by going the triangle route (which as Leigh points out many readers didn’t even realize truly WAS a triangle until the end of ITF), Suz had to know she would have readers who would be disappointed with the outcome. And some of those readers would not want to read the book.
We can argue the “reality” of her fictionalized world until the cows come home, but it’s unfair to say the readers who thought she was writing a Decker & Sophia HEA were stupid or are not entitled to be disappointed. Suz has repeatedly stated she wanted the hero/heroine of DON to be a surprise. In order to surprise her readers she wrote convincing groundwork for it to be Decker & Sophia. How else did she expect anyone to be surprised?
So yes, we took the poll seriously. It was a “clue.” Turns out it was a totally false “clue,” and I, for one, think it was beneath Suz to do it, but that’s just my opinion. But this isn’t about the poll or the Reader’s Guide, but the books themselves. And some readers dissatisfaction that she chose not to tell the story we’ve thought she was telling since FP. I for one think Sophia and Decker would have made one hell of a good HEA story. One much more original and genre pushing than the heroine realizing she’s in love with her best friend after becoming pregnant. But again, that’s just my opinion. And I realize and respect that not everyone agrees with me.
Thanks SandyC & Julie for posting the other viewpoint. I think that you both have articulated your argument well. Not that you are going to change my mind. But I can understand where you are coming from, and I hope that you guys understand the “”otherside”” too.
I hope you realize that for the majority of us, we are not quitting her books just because she didn’t write the book that we wanted to read. It is so much more than that. I think to boil it down to the most elemental level “”most of us believe that there shouldn’t be any question who the hero & heroine are in a love story””
Hey Leigh,
I completely understand your POV, and that of everyone else who feels that way, too, and I respect it 100%. There are authors who, for various reasons, I stopped reading, too. Not every author will work for every person, all the time. I hope you find, or have found, another good author to take Suz’s place. If you do, be sure to pass along the name. I’m sure a lot of people would love to hear who it is 🙂
Julie
I have difficulty with those like Cranky Otter and other “”fan girls”” from Suz’s bb – who have posted here – constantly saying “”oh, she writes RL””, “”oh, she can make you believe anything””.
Why?? There is never a why??? All there is, is a slap. When I get a “”why””, therefore a discussion, I’ll buy into it. Had she put Decker and Sophia together they would argue it the other way and how dare anyone believe Sophia and Dave were going to get together. All b/c the author can do no wrong in their opinion.
Other’s of us have discussed this book elsewhere and I was impressed unlike the bb and AAR discussion didn’t get cross posted… which reminds me of a bunch of 12yr olds… but anyways… and we realized that after the 4yrs we spent on the bb we were doing a good rendition of “”fangirls”” ourselves. Buying books that we weren’t re-reading to be part of the “”clique””. I love how that’s justified on SB’s bb as the assumption that we have “”issues”” due to the fall-out… Yes, after the cross-posting I was reading on AAR I thought I’d go and see if our threads got cross-posted too. It can’t be b/c some are disappointed in losing out on their couple of choice and other’s of us haven’t been interested in where the series has been going for a while. That we were on the bb still b/c we wanted to hang out together and now that we have new space… we’re content.
It’s not romance, it’s not even romantic suspense, it is “”woman’s fiction””. If I want “”RL”” I’ll buy non-fiction or something off of Oprah’s reading list. Romance and Romantic suspense are a light, entertaining read.
I have no opinions either way about this book, I truly could not care less who ends up with whom. The last book I purchased was ITS and I hated it. There are much better serial killer story-line books out there and not one pretends to be romance, but a mystery with a romance. I don’t do “”buddy”” books. I don’t do men marrying teenagers for the sake of making certain they have insurance and sleeping with them. How many drunks to we have to have in a series?? How many unplanned pregnancies that we must be married?? How many Democrates when everyone knows the military is Republican?? How many rapes, horrible childhoods, kidnapped and tortured, killed off wives, drunks… do we need to read about??
I plan on getting it out of the library, reading it, using it for closure, and then I’m done. If she’s going to make a S/A/J/R into a mini-series like JD Robb has… I think I’ll stay with NR…
S
farmwifetwo, your post cracked me up. Funny. I think I remember you from Suz BB. All the fun folks left.
ICAM with your last two paragraphs in particular. I am interested in Decker, but the others (Dave and Sophia)…meh…not really caring for them.
Tell the folks “”hi”” for me. 🙂
Andrea
I think that Farmwife two & Sandy post bring up valid posts that not all posters seem to realize. Many of us are not quitting reading her books just because we didn’t get Decker & Sophia. It has been accumulation of many things. Most we were overlooking because we wanted closure.
So it not like we are children picking up our toys and going home. I personally had planned on a break after this book. The long waits on open story arc, the books on characters that I wasn’t interested in, the lack of realism in their missions & the youthful dialog all were impacting my enjoyment. And honestly the recurring theme of alcoholism (Tom’s parents? his sister?, Sam’s mother, Mary Lou’s mother, Mary Lou, Mary Lou’s new husband, Murphy, Hannah, Kenny’s father?) was taking a toll too.
I think Ms Brockmann is a talented author, she just not writing the stories that I want to read anymore.
I am not saying that what bothers me is a detraction for other individuals. I just know that over the past four or five books, my ability to suspend belief and get lost in the story has been wearing thin. After Force of Nature, I quit buying her books, but continued to read them from the
library, hoping for a Sophia Decker resolution.
After Force of Nature, I quit buying her books, but continued to read them from the library, hoping for a Sophia Decker resolution … comment by Leigh …
That’s me too: look, Suz when she’s on top of her game is fabulous: I’ll definitely read this book for closure, and the Sam and Alyssa book too … but it will be from the library. I buy very very few hardbacks and well 😀 …
I think Farmwife made some very straightforward, sensible comments. No one has to agree, but I think the trajectory is a bit different from when we first met Tom Paoletti.
I haven`t read the book yet but from the excerpt on Suz` website and from what I`ve read here I assume that Sophia and Decker are not THE couple in Dark of the Night – and I am VERY happy about that. To tell the truth, I just cannot understand all the people who thought, after the last books, that Decker/Sophia was definitely going to happen. I mean, come on, it was very clear to me at least from “”Into the Storm”” on that Sophia at least might end up with Dave. Personally, I was hoping for it (but then, I just like the “”hopelessly infatuated”” type and was hoping for Dave`s HEA). And after the last book, I was REALLY excpeting it. I would have been absolutely disappointed if I had ended up with Sophia/Decker – and a disappointed Dave. I am very much looking forward to my copy of the new Troubleshooter…!!
I think the one good thing coming out of DoN will be that Dave and Sophia will be fading characters. Based on the polls neither of them are very popular even with SB’s “”regulars”” being the voters. I cannot say how very, very glad I will be to have to deal with Dave on a very limited basis!
And I too think Farmwife made some very practical and insightful comments. The overabundance of alcoholic characters, the weird situations (and violent situations) and a complaint of my own — the excessively long story arcs — all add up to a not enjoyable read. I will get this one from the library and then I will be done. Everything since ITS has been library reads anyway.
maggie b.
AAR Sandy Says: we like to mix things up and let different people review authors, so somebody else (and I don’t honestly know who) will be reviewing DON.
Just out of curiosity, Sandy, did you feel compelled to write the review since you enjoyed the book so much or did none of the other reviewers get a chance to read it?
I’ve received an ARC from a bookseller and from my point of view and much to my surprise, this is a solid book. I’m not left with questions and although I learned too many spoilers and was a Decker and Sophia reader, I completely am sold.
I’ve read some reviews that I agree with to a certain extent although I don’t think DON is predominantly anyone’s book in particular. I would say there is equal time for everyone.
The book is fast-paced, has a few twists and turns but I am satisfied with the outcome.
I hope that a lot of readers who are dubious will enjoy the book.
I enjoy these characters and I’m sorry in a way that their story is finished.
Hi All,
I am a diehard Sophia/Decker fan. I bought the book on the 27th without having looked at any spoilers. I was shocked and so upset once I realized who the couples were I actually felt like crying. I returned the book the next day. I actually read some of the love scenes feeling disturbed instead of happy. I read romance because I like to know my couples, regardless of their struggles, will end with a hea. I also believe that after purchasing the TS series for the past 5 years, Sophia and Deck should have been put together. There were so many frustrating moments for us when Deck was going to approach Sophia and something got in the way. As a fan I buy the books and endure these “”almost”” moments because I expect (in the romance genre) to have the payoff when they finally come together be huge and make me happy. I am also among those that feel there was evidence on both Decker’s and Sophia’s side that they had strong feelings for each other
Also, I don’t like Tracy the receptionist with Deck….Why would it be so hard for us to believe that Sophia would be just as open to his wants and needs. The conflict between them is what made us believe they would have a powerful coming together.
I will say the book was certainly well written (what I read), but I need to have a happy feeling about my couples and I didn’t. I buy all my books because I like to support the authors, but after buying books and investing is sophia/decker for the past five year I feel I was cheated.