Jane Stewart's Reviews > Switch

3 ½ stars. No romantic emotional development, but some thoughtful ideas about power and wanting to please.

STORY BRIEF:
Paige and Austin were married in their teens and then divorced. It’s been a couple of years since the divorce. Paige moved to Harrisburg and has a job as administrative assistant to Paul. Paul has some eccentricities which cause interesting interaction with Paige. Austin recently moved to Harrisburg and wants to get back together with Paige. He still loves her. He calls her repeatedly. She refuses most of his efforts. Paige fantasizes about Eric who lives in her building. Someone puts a note in Paige’s mailbox 414. It is addressed to 114. The note says to list five strengths and five flaws and mail them to a P.O. box. Paige puts the note in box 114. A few days later a second note is put in Paige’s box saying to exercise longer, drink less coffee and other things. Many additional notes follow, always put into Paige’s box. She always reads them and then puts them into box 114.

REVIEWER’S OPINION:
There were some thoughtful, different, and interesting ideas in this story, but it felt a bit long. It didn’t flow quickly. By the end, I was glad I read it. I found myself pondering some things. I liked the way Paige subtly changed. She found power over other people in different ways. She found power over her neighbor the recipient of the notes, power over her boss and a future boss, and power over her ex-husband. I enjoyed seeing her find strengths. This was not a typical romance story. There was no emotional relationship development which I missed. It was more about self image development and gaining power over others. I liked the thoughtfulness of the story, but I wasn’t entertained. I felt some sadness through it. I’m not sure why.

I loved the character Austin. Afterwards, I kept thinking about his desire to please Paige, sexually and in other ways. A memorable scene was on page 129. When they were teens he asked her to pleasure herself while he watched. Not only did it turn him on, but he saw how to please her.

I was unhappy with too many unanswered questions. I wanted to know why Paige and Austin divorced. This was important and frustrated me. I wanted to know what was in the note to Eric at the hotel – never answered. The story about Eric was never finished. I wanted to know about his past, his thoughts, and his feelings. I also wanted to know more about Kira. She had some scenes that generated more questions than answers. I did not like the inaccurate cover picture. Austin’s hair was long enough for a pony tail, but the cover guy’s hair is close cropped. I’m annoyed when the publisher doesn’t care enough to at least Photoshop the guy to get the hair right.

I think the sex scenes were ok, but some were lacking because there was no anticipation. Emotional desire with a developing relationship was missing. Paige is having sex with someone she doesn’t want to be with - which detracts somehow.

DATA:
Story length: 370 pages. Swearing language: strong, including religious swear words. Sexual language: strong/erotic. Number of sex scenes: 12. Total number of sex scene pages: 43. Setting: current day Harrisburg and other towns in Pennsylvania. Genre: erotic contemporary romance.

DISCLOSURE:
This book was provided to me free of charge through the Amazon Vine Program in return for my writing a review.