EARLY REVIEW: Killing Time by Cindy Gerard

Killing Time by Cindy Gerard

Series:One Eyed Jacks, #1

Publication Date:January 22nd 2013

Publisher:Pocket Books

Paperback, 416 pages
Useful Info: Goodreads, Author's Website, Book Depository

“We can do this easy,” she whispered close to his ear as he groaned in agony, “or it can go real hard on you.” Well, of course he wasn’t going to go easy.

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cindy Gerard plunges readers into the heart of a seductive contest of wills between a hard-living hero and a beautiful rogue operative who is on a mission to dig up the secrets of his past. Tension sizzles in this pulse-pounding first adventure in Gerard’s action-packed new series as Eva Salinas lures Mike Brown from the sultry streets of Lima, Peru, to the desolate Idaho wilderness on the hunt for the cold-blooded traitor behind a fatal military operation that haunts them both.

Killing Time is the second book I read written by Cindy Gerard, the first one being To The Edge. And although I didn’t really like that book, I decided to give this author another chance and read something else of hers. But unfortunately, Killing Time wasn’t the right book for me either.

Before I say anything else, I need to clarify that Killing Time is a really well written story. Throughout the whole book, Cindy Gerard’s experience and the fact that she is a best seller author was quite evident. You could see that in the way the story progressed, in the way she built her characters, in everything. Having said that, from the very first chapters and right until the end of this book, I couldn’t really get into the story or really care about the characters and their happily ever after. And I tried really hard to, believe me. But no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t bring myself to really care about this story, which brings me to the conclusion, that since technically, Killing Time is a pretty good book, the fact that I didn’t like it, is purely a matter of taste.

I found the story a little bit slow moving at times, especially at the beginning, with way too many military details that confused me. As confusing were the many changes in the POV. And in this point I have to say that maybe that was because of the way the e-arc was structured that didn’t really help matters. So probably, if I had read the final version of the book and not the arc, my opinion on this matter would be completely different. As it was, I had a hard time getting into each POV.

Other than that, Killing Time, is an action packed novel, with some well written action scenes, a good romantic subplot, but still, all that couldn’t hold my interest, even if there wasn’t any insta love (which I always seem to hate), but there was lots of insta lust (which I usually don’t mind). The bad guys as well as the traitor were as predictable as one could get, making my interest on the story, which already was lost, sink into new depths.

All in all, I can’t really say if Killing Time is worth your time or not. It’s purely a matter of taste. Because even though as a book it didn’t work for me, it was quite well written and with a good set of both main and secondary characters.

* This title was provided for review through Edelweiss

READING: To The Edge (Bodyguards,#1) by Cindy Gerard

THE FIRST RULE OF BODYGUARDS:
The daughter of a wealthy businessman, Jillian Kincaid grew up with bodyguards shadowing her every move-and she hated it. Now a TV anchorwoman, she refuses to let another hired thug follow her around. Not even when she begins to receive terrifying death threats. Not even when the bodyguard is the darkly seductive Nolan Garrett...


NEVER FALL IN LOVE...
Trained in Special Ops, bodyguard Nolan Garrett has been hired by Jillian's father to keep her out of danger. But it's clear from the start that Jillian isn't going to make his job easy. Far from the spoiled princess he expected, Jillian is tough, independent, and totally sexy. And she's fighting him every step of the way.


WITH THE WOMAN YOU'RE PROTECTING.
As Jillian's stalker raises the stakes, Nolan must keep her close if he wants to keep her alive. But being so close can only turn up the heat that's been simmering between them-a heat that could explode into passion at any moment...

To the Edge,is a book i picked after i read and totally loved Anne Stuart's Black Ice.I thought if romantic suspence is so good a genre then the first book in The Bodyguards series by Cindy Gerard might be just as good.But no!!!I couldn't be more mistaken!

First of all,i must say that this book was more of a romance novel than anything else.Granted it falls under the category of romantic suspence but i finished reading this book,and still i'm waiting for that suspence to come...

Reading the premise i waited for a non stop action book,a plot full of twists and at least something that would actually make me believe that the protagonist was in grave danger...Nothing of these ever happened.

From the first page it was evident that this was a romance novel.And i like romance,don't mind me, but i was expecting to read something totally different.And maybe that was my mistake and the reason i couldn't make myself like this book.I immediatelly disliked it somewhere after the first 20 pages.I mean come on,you see a man in your apartment and believe he's there to kill you and along with your fear you can't help but notice how well built or gorgeous you're potential killer is...???Come on,who does that?Screaming is an acceptable reaction,fainting as well,but noticing your killer's muscles....no,that's not acceptable or believable.After that point,i was so turned off by the writing style that it's a wonder i kept reading...But i did it,despite the slow pace of the book and by the end of it although i wasn't thrilled,this book didn't feel like a total waste of time either.

My other big problem with this book was the total lack of suspence or action.Apart from 5 or 6 threatening letters or notes or messages you don't get to have anything remotely close to action until the very last chapters... When you start reading a book where the male character is there to protect his -damsel in distress- female character from unknown threats,somehow you believe that this book will evolve more around those threats or the potential danger and less around the feelings of the protagonists.Alas,this book was a study on human feelings.Jillian has the amazing power of knowing exactly what other people are feeling and based on that power does everything she can to help them and Garrett spends chapters after chapters analysing his feelings of guilt or his lustful thoughts towards Jillian and listing again and again why his feelings for her are so inappropriate and a potential relationship between them catastrophic.And speaking of romance,i just felt that the romantic element between the two characters was somewhat forced...I felt forced by the constant descriptions to believe how those two were lusting over each other in a totally consuming way.And that just ruined everything!Granted after many chapters the romance felt more real but half of the fun was already ruined.

Anyway,it's more than obvious that i didn't like this book,but not because it was that bad written.It was more because i waited for a completely different read and To the Edge was,well,not my cup of tea.A fan of romantic novels will probably appreciate this book in ways i couldn't because although i love the romantic element to be present in a book and i don't mind any sex scenes i also want the book to have more elements apart that of romance.So,i would recommend this book but to anyone who loves romance and sees this book as a romance novel and not a romantic suspence one.