REVIEW: HER PERFECT REVENGE ~ ANNA MARA

Revenge is sweet… or is it?

Christina Matteo had a humiliating prank pulled on her in high school by rich, party boy Bill Havenwood. It changed her whole life and she never forgot it - or him! Older, wiser and tougher, she meets him again years later and decides to get even. She wants revenge and comes up with a perfect plan. But things don't go her way when she stupidly crashes her car into his expensive sportscar while tailing him one day.

Not recognizing her, Bill blackmails the cash-poor Christina into helping him stay in his billionaire father's good graces by pretending to be his fiancée for one month. Christina decides to go along with his ruse. After all, who knows what dirt she can find out about the jerk from the inside?

But as Christina scams Bill and Bill scams his father, his father scams the both of them.  William Havenwood Sr. knows all about their phony engagement and begins to push the couple to marry for real in order to get them to crack under pressure.  And then Christina's little revenge plan begins to spiral out of control when she finds herself actually falling in love with her avowed enemy, Bill. It's enough to make a girl sick to her stomach! But can she really continue to go through with her plans to make him pay when she's so attracted to the creep? Christina is just stubborn enough to find out!

Her Perfect Revenge by Anna Mara is a really fun read.  I love the interaction between Christina and Bill, and also William.  The characters are interesting, charming and flawed.  The storyline is compelling and keeps you guessing.  The only thing that really annoyed me was the nicknames Bill and Christina give each other.  I just can’t deal with people calling each other “honey bunny” and the like.  It was bad enough when they were using such cringe-worthy nicknames to convince others they were in love, and even worse when they were using it for real.  The dialogue throughout the book is brilliantly done, except during the period Bill and Christina are in a relationship for real, which is such a shame.  The brief period the reader gets to see them in a relationship is, disappointingly, the worst part of the book.  The cat and mouse phase is much more interesting and satisfying – their chemistry and interaction during this time is magic.

I started reading Her Perfect Revenge right after finishing Mara's other novel, Why Romeo Hates Juliet.  I liked Mara’s writing style and unconventional plot structure.  However, upon finishing Her Perfect Revenge, I find myself a little disappointed that the basic premise was copied: Hero and heroine play each other, both are initially too stubborn to admit their true feelings for each other and a love-hate relationship unfolds.  About 80% into the book they finally admit their feelings for each other and experience a few days of romantic bliss.  Then the heroine messes everything up and the relationship comes to a screeching halt.  The hero and heroine both fall into a state of depression but refuse to communicate with each other.  Over a year passes before they meet again, the truth about the reasons behind their failed relationship comes out and they reconcile.  The first time I read this plot construction I thought it was fresh and refreshing; however, I will think twice before reading another of Mara’s books, as it seems she’s just sticking to this one basic construction.  I sincerely hope she finds a way to give her next book an unpredictable plot structure.

Overall I enjoyed this book as much as I did Why Romeo Hates Juliet, I just wish it didn't follow the same basic plot structure - that was a bit of a let down, and therefore unlike the other, this book did not feel original.  I have to admit, I would have liked this book better had I read it before Romeo & Juliet, as I found this story and these characters more likeable and compelling. If I had read this book first and the plot surprised me, it would have gotten a four star rating for sure.

Product Information:

Title: Her Perfect Revenge

Author: Anna Mara
Pages: 436

Sold by: Amazon Digital Services Inc

Year: 2008

ASIN: B003YOSCA4

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Review: Why Romeo Hates Juliet ~ Anna Mara

REVIEW: WHY ROMEO HATES JULIET ~ ANNA MARA

Romeo Boyd is a Hollywood star whose fame is fading, and he heads to his vacation home to drown his worries in alcohol.  His love for very loud rock music immediately causes problems for his neighbour, Juliet Soma, a novelist seeking her muse to ward off a serious case of writer’s block. 

When Juliet meets Romeo, he mistakes her for a stripper and things go downhill from there.  An intense rivalry ensues, and when Juliet gets Romeo arrested all bets are off.  When she then lands him in the hospital, in his most devious move, Romeo fakes amnesia and “mistakes” Juliet for his wife.  A guilt-ridden Juliet is convinced by Romeo’s actor friend “doctor” to go along with whatever Romeo says, and Juliet soon becomes Romeo’s slave.  Living together might mean killing each other, but instead the unthinkable happens: they start falling for each other!

Will Juliet discover Romeo’s deception?  Will she forgive him, or up the ante?  Could there ever be a happily ever after for two stubborn fools?  Can they put the past behind them?  Can they trust each other’s motives when they’ve done nothing but cause each other grief?

Why Romeo hates Juliet by Anna Mara is a very refreshing read (that has absolutely nothing to do with William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet; this is by no means a modernisation of the story).  The characters are colourful and engaging, pulling you into their war from the get go.   A happy ending is never a certainty, and Mara keeps you guessing until the very end.

What I especially like about this book is its deviation from a common pattern in romantic fiction: Where the guy is usually the one who messes up badly and must fight to convince the girl to give him another chance, Why Romeo hates Juliet flips it 180.  The girl is the one who messes up, and she’s the one who must atone for her mistake – a nice departure from the expected.

I give this book a rating of 3/5 instead of 4/5 because I would have preferred a little more romance.  The majority of the story is Romeo and Juliet going out of their way to aggravate each other, but their chemistry is so great they keep you hooked.  I did get really frustrated with both of them, but they kept me invested in their story until the end.  While I concur that the situations these two get themselves into are unlikely to happen in the real world, it is the touches of realism instead of over-the-top, soppy, unrealistic scenes that made this book stand out.    Why Romeo hates Juliet has a more realistic road to HEA than most, and even disappoints my helplessly romantic heart before it delivers a satisfying ending.  Juliet not only had to earn Romeo’s forgiveness, but mine as well…

She did.

I will definitely read more from this author.

Product Information:

Title: Why Romeo hates Juliet

Author: Anna Mara

Number of Pages: 491

Sold By: Amazon Digital Services Inc

Year: 2012

ASIN: B006GXOS9O