Official Review: Love Harder by Vivian Franks

Insomniac07 · Post by **Insomniac07** » 21 Jun 2017, 09:30

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Love Harder" by Vivian Franks.]

2 out of 4 stars

Share This Review

Love Harder by Vivian Franks is a contemporary adult romance novel published by Stone Steps Publishing. The book follows the life of 40-year old Mika Jones from Scottsdale, Arizona. The woman always does the right thing, from taking care of her dad after her mother’s death to marrying the father of her child. However, Mika can no longer distract herself from her discontent with life, especially now that her son, Ryan, was almost ready to leave for college. When she finds herself attracted to another man, she cannot decide what the right thing is; to stay true to her marriage vows or to relieve two people from a lifetime of misery.

I enjoyed the sample of this book provided on Amazon.com, which is why I chose to pick it up. Mika Jones has sarcasm down to an art form. Her sassy and dry sense of humor really appealed to me. She comes across as a smart woman who doesn’t easily shake under pressure. I also admired the way the author characterized her husband. Todd certainly has many undesirable qualities. For example, he can at times, be tactless regarding Mika’s insecurities about her body. Nonetheless, he is not a villain. In his own way, he does care for his wife. Todd is a testament to the fact that people are seldom either good or bad. They often oscillate between the two extremes.

Ryan is just as complicated, as Mika and Todd. His character wasn’t dumbed down to fit the stereotype of a typical teenager. He is in many ways the most matured person in this family. Nevertheless, he isn’t perfect. He has avoided his best friend ever since he got into a relationship with Emily. Mika worries that he'd devote all his time to his girlfriend and not have many friends left when his relationship ends.

All that said, less than twenty percent into the book, the story started to lose my attention. Since the book is in the first-person narrative, readers get to read most of Mika’s thoughts and feelings. Therefore it feels like nothing really happens in the story except for Mika lamenting over her life. Also, there were large chunks of information dumped on the reader disguised as Mika’s thoughts, which made the reading process more difficult. I found myself skimming pages instead of being hooked to each word. Additionally, the climax felt disjointed and very unsatisfactory.

On the whole, I’d rate ‘Love Harder’ with a 2 out of 4 stars. Hardcore fans of the romance genre will like this book. While the characters are certainly intriguing, I merely wish it had fewer of Mika’s monologs and a better climax.

******
Love Harder
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

Like Insomniac07's review? Post a comment saying so!

Mikestephen · Post by **Mikestephen** » 02 Jul 2017, 03:39

nice book

Hassan Kababz · Post by **Hassan Kababz** » 02 Jul 2017, 05:49

the book is in the first-person narrative, readers get to read most of Mika’s thoughts and feelings.

Post by **kandscreeley** » 02 Jul 2017, 07:24

Sounds like a good premise but poor execution. Don't think I'll pick this one up. Thanks for the review though.

Eylyn · Post by **Eylyn** » 02 Jul 2017, 10:04

Nice book. I would love to read it

Dr manu · Post by **Dr manu** » 02 Jul 2017, 23:13

Most readers can love this first person narrative, most readers love to get the feeling of the main characters and whats goes through their minds. For example you can tell what mike is thinking

Cherono Abigail · Post by **Cherono Abigail** » 03 Jul 2017, 03:32

Guide me on how to access and read this

Insomniac07 · Post by **Insomniac07** » 03 Jul 2017, 06:11

kandscreeley wrote:Sounds like a good premise but poor execution. Don't think I'll pick this one up. Thanks for the review though.

Yes, unfortunately true. Thanks for leaving a comment.

-- 03 Jul 2017, 06:16 --

Dr manu wrote:Most readers can love this first person narrative, most readers love to get the feeling of the main characters and whats goes through their minds. For example you can tell what mike is thinking

While that is true and I have read a lot of great books in first person, in my opinion and in this particular instance, the author could have cut out many of Mika's rambling thoughts without affecting the reader's connection with her.

-- 03 Jul 2017, 06:22 --

Cherono Abigail wrote:Guide me on how to access and read this

There are links to buy this book from Amazon at the end of the review, or you can just search the Amazon website with the name of the book and author. Hope you like it.