A Review of Fortitude Smashed

Fortitude Smashed by Taylor Brooke
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Disclaimers: I got a free copy of this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I don’t usually read romance.

I generally won’t pick up a book if I know it is just romance, but the speculative element of Fortitude Smashed, the Camilla Clock, got me curious. The opening was perfect -- it had interesting characters, plenty of tension, and just enough world building to show this world was like the real with one slight difference -- the clock that timed out when people met their soulmates.

The characters were complex and fluid. The prose were gorgeous. In fact, the description was so well done that it almost made me want to go to Laguna Beach, even though the southern parts of california are on my list places to avoid (its a pretty long list).

My favorite parts of the book were the ones with the most tension -- when Aiden and Shannon’s past selves collided. However, I did feel like there weren’t enough of these, like it was too easy for Aiden to stop being a thief. Sometimes I got a little bored with all the kissing and biting, and would’ve rather seen a little more cop work and stealing (or trying not to steal).

The other area the writing shined was in the parts of the book showcasing friendships. They were real, raw, and emotional.

If you like romance, literary, and/or science fiction, then I recommend reading this. It’s lyrical and successfully crosses two genres. I’m glad I read it.


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INSECURE WRITERS SUPPORT GROUP (IWSG) MONTHLY POST: WRITING PET PEEVES

What are your pet peeves when reading/writing/editing?

Sound.

I can’t deal with certain noises when I am trying to focus on written words, whether I am reading them, writing them, or editing them. I need to be fully immersed in the story, and when I hear people talking or music playing, I just can’t focus. It pulls me right out of the story. Reality slaps me in the face.

Some writers go to café’s to write. I can’t unless the place is empty and there are no people talking in it. I can maybe think of one time I wrote in a café.

Other’s put music on while they write. Now, if I am driving or running, music can help me think of a story, but as a soon as I actually sit down the write it, the music goes off.

The worst, though, is when I am fully immersed in a story and then someone walks in to the room and asks me a question. My brain just shuts down completely. I forget what I am writing, and have not clue what the person said. We both get frustrated. That person thinks I am ignoring them. I am mad that I lost my immersion in the story.

The conversation never turns out to be a pleasant one.

I have other pet peeves, but they have more to do with the stories themselves. I can’t stand it when dogs and cats die in books. I drive myself nuts when I catch my self switching tense five times one page. I hate it when I find myself aimlessly wandering I and stories world without any direction.

Still, even though these things annoy me, none are as bad as someone asking me if I fed the cat when I am in the middle of an epic battle, or worse, a love scene.