A Novel Obsession - Jeff Joseph

A Novel Obsession
by Jeff Joseph

Story rating - 2.5
Editorial rating - 3

Abby has high standards for a future husband, standards set as a result of reading novels by her favorite author and from disappointing relationships. When she has the opportunity to meet the author of these novels, she struggles with perception versus reality and knowing the difference between fact and fiction. Will she be disappointed? Can she work up the courage to meet the object of her affection?

The prologue to this novel is a blazing sex scene that has nothing to do with the rest of the story. It is gratuitous and unnecessary. My editorial rating isn't so much a result of typos or copyedits as much as it is overused words/catch phrases/weak construction. That is the extent of my English lesson for the day . . . there will be readers who won't notice those things (so chalk that up to me being over picky). Overall, I found the plot mostly well constructed. It followed along and pieces of the puzzle were delivered one at a time. There was one major piece that I would have liked to see foreshadowed sooner, one which I can't disclose without a "spoiler alert." The antagonist is painted with one potentially fatal flaw, and then at the end we discover it's actually something different. There was also another "surprise" characterization that showed up at the end which might have been foreshadowed earlier (and also might have been accounted for by "playing a hunch" or by visual recognition that had already been established rather than endowing the character with a skill previously unaddressed).

So - with all that being said . . . As mentioned in the previous paragraph, for the story itself, the plot is constructed in a logical manner, if somewhat predictable. I'll defer to the "subjective" nature of reading and say this one didn't resonate with me, but I'm certain (there are reviews to support this) that other people will enjoy/have enjoyed the story.