Book twenty-six: The Taste of Innocence

A Taste of Innocence* (2007)
Stephanie Laurens

Rating: 2/5

It was okay. Readable, but nothing great.

A Taste of Innocence focuses on the relationship of Charlie. Charlie has decided – as 95.69 percent of Lauren’s hero’s do, that it is ‘time to take a wife.’ His obvious – and to him, only – choice is Sarah, his neighbour who although he does not love, he has known since childhood. Sarah – who coincidently is in love with Charlie – decides that they need to get to know each other better and if they both agree will marry at the end of their four week courtship.

This is a Cynster novel, by way of Charlie being Alathea’s from A Secret Love, younger brother. In that novel, Alathea and Rupert (known as Gabriel) through a series of events wind up together – they have known each other since childhood. She’s always had a bit of thing for her. He’s always had a bit of thing for her. But they deny it. To themselves and others.

That pretty much describes the plot here also.

This is the problem with this book. I can pick up the plot points from the Lauren’s books I’ve read. And I haven’t really read that many.

Maybe I’ve just read the wrong ones? Because their relationship in the later half of the book is very similar to the one in Scandal’s Bride. They even both have a fire.

I think my main problem is that the original books were much better than this patchworked one. It was still readable, but it just wasn’t that great.

It also had the very Kinley MacGregor like plot of “he loves me, he just doesn’t realise it! I will go on being nice and spineless no matter what he does because one day he will realise it…sure, he won’t really make it up to me, but who cares, he loves me!”

I think I spent the whole send half of the book waiting for her to stand up to him. But no matter how much he hurts her feelings, she doesn’t really do anything about it. I don’t think turning him down twice and a yelling at him for two minutes count.

Once I realised she wasn’t going to stand up to him, I was just bored.

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* Finished Sunday, April 8