Official Review: The One & More (The Only One) #2

rachel_bruhn · Post by **rachel_bruhn** » 03 Nov 2015, 21:33

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The One & More (The Only One) #2" by Belle Ami.]

2 out of 4 stars

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The One and More is the second book in an erotic, suspense series by Belle Ami. The reader picks up the story one year after the divorce of Adelia and Miles. Both have started their own love affairs, but for different reasons. Miles has carnal urges that he seeks to satisfy, while Adelia has found someone that gives her the unconditional love she has been missing. Unable to move past the events that lead up to the divorce, Miles hires a private investigator to find him proof of his wife's infidelity. What he finds is nothing less than shocking. Overwhelmed with guilt over the choices he made and the way he treated the woman that he loved, Miles was determined to win back the heart of his ex-wife. While Adelia is trying to decide if she wants to accept Miles back into her life, or if she is ready to let him go and move on with David, Miles' twin sister, Karolin takes what she feels was rightfully hers and flees to Cuba. In Adelia's moment of crisis, who will she go to for support: David, her rock, or Miles, the ex-husband she still loves? Woven throughout this plot is a continuation of the plot from the first book, in which Adelia and David are trying to solve the mystery of the car accident that claimed her parents' lives. All becomes clear in the end and it was not what Adelia was expecting.

Overall, I think the general storyline and plot were pretty sound concepts. The brief synopsis above is testament to that. Ami is also a strong writer and uses a style of writing that is easy to follow and understand. If this were purely a suspense novel and did not contain the parts that make it "erotic", I would strongly recommend it to anyone. There were minor technical and mechanical errors, but nothing that detracted from the flow of reading. I enjoyed being able to read this book, without having read the first, without feeling lost or confused. Ami does a great job filling in the reader with the details in a natural way. The biggest flaw with this book was the approach at all of the erotic scenes.

One of my favorite things about reading is getting lost in the alternate reality created by the story. If the story is compelling enough, it feels like I am in the story, not just reading it. I was able to achieve that level of enthrallment sporadically throughout the book, usually during non-erotic scenes. Ami uses way too many similes and metaphors to describe the erotic scenes that the mental images created induce no sense of sexuality (i.e. - he was licking her like a cat lapping milk). Similarly, I felt that there was too much forced dialogue between characters during erotic scenes and the content of the dialogue was awkward (i.e. - "I want to feel you bathe me in hot nectar"). Similarly, I was not a fan of the inconsistency of terms used for genitalia, ranging from slang terms to words you only hear at the doctor's office. All of this made it very hard to get lost in the story as it unfolded.

As an erotic, suspense novel, obviously this book is aimed at mature women. Although the erotic writing style was not to my liking, it may be acceptable to others. Ami provides a lot of details during the scenes and tries to paint a picture for the reader. I don't think this book carries its own message to readers. I think that the overall message is going to come from what Adelia picks as her happy ending. If she picks David, the message is that unconditional trust and love is the most important part of being happy. On the other hand, by picking Miles, Adelia sends the message that forgiveness is possible, no matter how badly you have been hurt or that sacrifice is necessary to provide for others that we care about.

Since laughing during erotic scenes is not the intended reaction from the author, I can't give this book higher than 2 out of 4 stars. The suspense half of the novel was well-written and thought out, but the erotic half of the novel was written in poor taste, in my opinion.

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The One & More (The Only One) #2
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j p gilbert · Post by **j p gilbert** » 12 Nov 2015, 10:36

The review is very up front and honest. I am sure the author would receive your constructive criticism well, as that is how it is meant.

chytach18- · Post by **chytach18-** » 12 Nov 2015, 13:44

It is not easy to write good erotic/romantic scenes. For readers, it is very frustrating when they like the book and then stumble on the badly written erotic scene. Fantastic review, Rachel.

rachel_bruhn · Post by **rachel_bruhn** » 12 Nov 2015, 14:07

I felt like it would have benefited from less dialogue and more direct descriptions, instead of comparisons. There were times where I started laughing out loud while reading, which made my fiance curious because he knew I was reading an erotic novel. When I read him the lines that made me laugh he was speechless. I think it is hard to write those scenes because everyone's tastes are different. I am sure that Ami wrote in the style that she prefers, but for me it just didn't work at all.

Post by **bookowlie** » 14 Nov 2015, 09:46

I enjoyed reading your review. You gave constructive criticism while still pointing out the positive aspects of the book. Well done!

Jamilaali1221 · Post by **Jamilaali1221** » 16 Nov 2015, 03:18

Looks like my type of book!!

anonanemone · Post by **anonanemone** » 16 Nov 2015, 11:13

I would have been laughing through those erotic scenes too. I tend to skim over those parts of a book, if there are any. Great review, rachel_jacks! You really zeroed in on what you did and didn't like.

zaynab_m · Post by **zaynab_m** » 16 Nov 2015, 11:38

Thank you for the honest review. The terms in the book seem inconsistent, and I'm not a major fan of romance/erotic books. Don't know if I'll be reading this one at all...

rachel_bruhn · Post by **rachel_bruhn** » 17 Nov 2015, 09:29

Not lying...if I am reading a romance novel it is going to be an erotic romance novel. I've never really been into "chick flick" movies or novels, but at least the erotic scenes add some excitement. That being said, I don't want to have to skip over the "best" parts of the novel because the visualization makes me laugh or is just cringe-worthy (not this one, just in general). I have found only one author that I truly love the way she writes erotic scenes.

I feel like the author was just trying to not make the writing boring by using the same terms over and over. I think she could have found a better way of describing what was taking place without the non-erotic examples.