Beard Mode by Lani Lynn Vale
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
It took me a day after finishing this book to compile my thoughts and be able to submit a fair review. I still have mixed feelings but here’s my thoughts as they’ve come to me…
First and foremost the sex scenes were hot which I greatly appreciate. Muchas gracias Lani!
However- there aren’t enough awesome sex scenes in the world to overcome a choppy plot- something this book suffers from. For example several times throughout the story Aaron’s ex-wife and her murder attempt is mentioned. Heck- that’s a cornerstone of the story and explains the main character’s motives. Therefore I thought the fact that it never mentioned where the ex-wife was or if she’s was lawfully punished seemed very odd to me. Was he forever going to look over his shoulder wondering if she was going to make another attempt on his life? Would she pose a threat to his new love interest?
Also, when Aaron is in the hospital after the bicycle accident it mentions that his burns/scarring was able to be significantly reduced via facial surgery. But then there’s no follow up. How does Aaron react when he sees his face after the surgery? The significance of this cannot be understated. Prior to the surgery Aaron feared that he looked like a monster. People couldn’t even look him in the eye prior to the surgery for fucks sake! How in the heck was there not more discussion about the repercussions of the surgery?!? Why was this avenue of reconstruction never pursued previously? The author mentions Aaron having difficulty fully smiling due to the burns. Was this improved? There’s certainly a time and a place to cut corners and skim over certain subject matter in order to not make the book drag. However this was not one of them.
Similar timing in the book when Imogene was kidnapped the other MC members inform Aaron that she was found nude and with a cut on her face. I wondered where the author was going with the mark on her face. Now that Aaron’s facial scarring have been improved from the surgery would Imogene now have facial scars to accept and overcome? An interesting twist yet the author never addresses it. I felt like I was left hanging.
I hate leaving bad reviews but I felt obligated to leave my honest reaction. Because of the choppiness I actually checked my kindle to make sure I downloaded the most up-to-date version of the book.