Review: And then, I died by May Sage

This book is for fans of romance suspense and erotic thrillers. I’m open to all genres, and I was lucky to get a free copy from the author in exchange for a quick review.

And then, I died gets a lot of points. First of all, a romance novel with a good plot? Ten points for that, as it’s not something I see a lot. Second, a book about coping with a f****d up past that doesn’t just lead to mindless sex? More points! This one is about love changing people, no matter how hard they resist. And the characters? Well-developed, with detailed motivations and thoughts that you can actually agree with – one more thing I haven’t seen in steamy books yet. Every character had a voice, and they added humor to the story, and not the kind that’s shoved into your face. It was subtle and sarcastic, just the way I like it.

One thing I hate the most about contemporary fiction – how the two meet and have all those rules and there’s all this struggle, and then all they do the whole book is break those rules. It’s totally irrational and not at all interesting. I was glad not to find any of that here. The couple’s motivations were well explained. Liam wasn’t that typical business man slash jerk type, and Beth wasn’t pathetic or annoying. While she was quite a kickass woman, she was realistic, too, and the parts about her haunting past were well placed. No whining, suffering, pseudo-strong female characters in this book. More points!

When I said it was an erotic thriller, I really meant both genres, not just the erotica part (how it sometimes happen with books that you pick up expecting some good, hot action). The tension of the action parts was tangible, gripping, the-edge-of-the-seat kind.

One more thing I found good about this book – while some modern names were brought up to give it a more realistic feel, there was no stuff like “He put on his Christian Dior shirt, got into his Porsche 911, and rode downtown by the sound of his Dolby Surround, blah blah brand here, brand there.” Things like this make me immediately close the book and throw it out the window. Here, the balance was perfect. I could feel the big city air, the time, the scenery, but it wasn’t over-the-top.

Okay, I lost count of all those points.

If you’re looking for a page-turner that falls both into romance and action genres, this book is for you.

Oh, and there’s a killer cliffhanger. That was really cruel! :P

#review #romance #indieauthors