Kiru TayeRezensionen

Alas, DNF, primarily because the prose is very wordy for what is conveyed, which I always find frustrating, and slightly because I disliked the hero and his friends. Ah well.

2.5-3 stars

So much of this story is pretty cliché, the wording and the storyline. I wasn't interested in some of it. I did really like the setting, Nigeria. I don't think I've read a story based there before.

Not sure of the point of this book. That said I did read this book in its entirety.

This was a very short novella (at under 50 pages) surely a novella should be more than just 50 pages. It would have been far better if the author had released all the books as just the one. However, releasing these novellas as three pieces is a ploy by the publishers to ensure readers purchase all three novellas at a rather inflated price.

There are so many questions left unanswered. The characters were ill defined and lacked further development. The back story was fleeting making it difficult to feel any empathy for either character and frankly the female was annoying beyond belief.

The relationship of the two characters is not quite the normal, traditional relationship and whatever relationship they have was not the subject of this novella. In short there is not really enough to keep the reader’s interest or to really tether the sexual encounters to.

I am not against books with BDSM themes but this book did not really hold my interest enough and I will certainly NOT be reading any more of this series. In fact I was annoyed that I had wasted precious time reading this one.

Full Disclosure: ARC received from Netgalley for an honest review.

I found that this story was very heartwarming and well written.
The two characters have scorching chemistry and we follow their story right to the end.

I found that this story was very heartwarming and well written.
The two characters have scorching chemistry and we follow their story right to the end.

Reviewed by Victoria
Book provided by Evernight Publishing
Review originally posted at Romancing the Book

Scars is the first book in the Passion Shields series by Kiru Taye. I chose this book because after reading the summary I wanted to know what happens next.

Selina has a secret she has not shared with anyone. Her new husband has not even seen it yet. She wears a corset to hide what she does not want anyone to see. Selina cannot see beyond the scars to see the beauty that others see when they see her.

Benjamin is a strong and sweet man wrapped up in one. He wants to see behind the walls Selina has constructed.

The chemistry between Benjamin and Selina is blistering hot. The sex scene was hot and spicy. I loved that Benjamin was not bothered by Selina scars and more by her attitude about them.

My first grumble is that the story was so short. I would have found the story more realistic if it was longer. It takes a while to get over the scars. In addition, there seems to be a back-story that I was missing as to how Selina and Benjamin together. Overall, this was an enjoyable quick read. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series

I think most readers of Historical Romances get tired with the Regency period once in a while and start looking out for something a bit different – and His Treasure is about as different as it gets, being set in a time and a place that many Europeans and Americans would still deny to have a history at all, i.e. pro-colonial Nigeria. I was immediately fascinated by the setting and curious if the author would be able to pull it off, so of course I had to insta-buy the ebook.

On reading the novella, I did enjoy the setting, and liked the way the two protagonists are integrated into the village life – the reader gets a really good sense of the community and the way it works and it is all done not by telling but by showing the way people interact with each other. Both Adaku and Obinna are sympathetic characters and the conflict is for the most part believable (if occasionally a bit awkwardly developed) with both of them having to overcome their character flaws (pride and passivity respectively – note that it is the woman who is prideful and the man who is passive, which I thought was a nice touch) before reaching their happy end.

Where His Treasure unfortunately falls short is in the execution – if you present your readers with a setting that will be unfamiliar to most of them, you really should make an effort to paint them a vivid picture of it, and that is unfortunately lacking here. The brief erotic scenes show that Kiru Taye can write if she puts her mind to it, a pity she did not turn her talent to giving the reader some descriptions of the world her characters live in; all the more so as the African setting just screams for lush and sensuous description. I realise that this is just a novella and not a full-blown novel, but even a little would have gone a long way. Also, she does have a tendency to have her characters do a lot of introspection which I’m not too sure about – I admit that I might just be a bit over-sensitive, but I think that all the continued soul-searching comes across as rather a bit too modern (there’s even one passage where Obinna mentions his “ego” getting in the way – not a concept I’d expect to pop in the mind of someone living in pre-colonial Nigeria).

Still, as this is Kiru Taye’s first published work, there is hope that she will improve, and she certainly has a lot of potential. Her next novella in the series, His Strength, is scheduled for release in February, and I’m determined to give that one a try.