Storm of Attraction

Hiya, it's Lydia here. Today I'm posting a review on the book Storm of Attraction by Lily Black. I hope you guys enjoy the review as much as I loved reading the book.

Author: Lily Black
Published: January
Publishers: Red Adept Publishing, LLC
Length: 250 pages
Genre: Romantic, Thriller, Contemporary

Description from Amazon 

Alexa Wolving has just one rule: never give a guy a second chance. That works just fine in the safe life she’s built. In the charming town of Willowdale, her day job as a librarian balances perfectly with her evening job as a black belt instructor. But when she attracts the attention of a stalker, Alexa’s carefully built world begins to crumble.
Drew Cosimo knows he broke Alexa’s heart five years ago when he took his first Ranger assignment and disappeared from her life. Now that he’s out of the army, he’s moving back home to Willowdale. He’s not looking for a fight, but making peace would be easier if Alexa hadn’t told the entire town he was a money-grubbing jerk. Despite the tension between them, Drew is quick to offer his protection when a stalker forces Alexa from her home.
As the stalker’s attacks escalate, Alexa and Drew are forced to face their painful past and the simmering attraction between them. They must fight to save each other before everything they care about goes up in flames.

I recommend that readers should only read this book if they are fifteen and above.

Review

Romantic and intriguing are two of the many words I would use to describe this novel; while it was heart warming, it was also racing and hair-raising. I'm not the sort of reader who usually goes for thriller themed books, I would most likely let the other bloggers read and review it. However, Storm of Attraction has opened up a new and interesting genre for me to explore in the future.

The plot and story-line was written well, it wasn't too fast-paced, and yet it wasn't too slow that the reader fell asleep. The reader is taken on a climbing journey, that meets a climax towards the end of the novel that wonderfully reveals the face of Alexa's stalker. Even though I liked how the stalker was unmasked, I felt that the suggestion of the stalker written to near the beginning, and that it would have been better for the writer to let the reader discover for themselves why all these strange and eerie things were happening to Alexa. However, this is just my opinion and may be my format as a writer emerging into this review.

When reading I instantly knew that the author is a feminist, much like myself. However, while most female readers love an independent and strong minded heroine, they don't need to be told this all the way through the novel. I understood that Alexa was an emancipated young woman from a few simple descriptions, but from reading this in almost every chapter it made Alexa's sense of independence repetitive. But what I did like about Alexa is that she realised that her almost extreme sense of independence was stopping her from ever finding love and happiness in the future, and for me personally this the characters realisation of her faults was my favourite part of the book. It showed the true essence of being human, understanding our faults and finding a way to overcome them. For myself, this is what makes a really good writer, someone who captures a sense of human life within language, and Lily Black did just that.

Another aspect I found interesting about Storm of Attraction was its parallels between love and obsession. This gives the reader clues and makes them aware of the difference between the two emotions. The stalker is most indefinitely a psychopath, and wants to possess and control Alexa. The reader sees this from the third person narrative Black uses, where we can see into the mind of the stalker and hear his twisted and dark thoughts. Though this can be disturbing for some readers, I again liked how there was a sense of darkness that contrasted with the light of Alexa and Drew's relationship.

The books other main character, Drew Cosimo, is kind hearted and basically any persons dream guy. He cooks, he's handsome and he likes cats. However, what I liked most about his character is that he desired Alexa in the beginning, but that sense of lust changed into something futuristic and long-term, and within this he realised that he wanted to progress in the direction of a stable and martial relationship. Personally, I believe that this is how love should progress. You desire another person, and then, once you've spent a substantial amount of time with them, you develop a sense of protection and deep respect for them.
While I did like Drew, at times I felt that Black didn't let me discover his sense of character for myself and that she told me all of his feelings. The book had quite a telly narrative, and for some stories it can work quite well, however, when it is used excessively it can make the reader feel as if they can't think for themselves.

Aside from the small things I criticised, overall I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and highly recommend it to anyone looking for an engaging and gripping read.