G1039 Book Review of Stolen Obsession by Marlene M Bell
Author: Marlene M. Bell
ISBN: 9780999539408
Publisher: Self published
Type of book: mystery, murder, art, curse, Greece, attraction, chemistry, trust issues
Year it was published: 2018
Summary:
People die, but legends live on.
New York antiquities appraiser Annalisse Drury recently lost her best friend to murder. The killer’s identity may be linked to her friend’s expensive missing bracelet—a 500-year-old artifact that carries an ancient curse, one that unleashes evil upon any who dare wear the jewelry created for the Persian royal family.
Weeks later, Annalisse sees a matching necklace at a Manhattan gallery opening. She begs the owner to destroy the cursed piece, but her pleas fall on deaf ears—despite the unnatural death that occurs during the opening. With two victims linked to the jewelry, Annalisse is certain she must act.
Desperate, Annalisse enlists the gallery owner’s son to help—even though she’s afraid he’ll break her heart. Wealthy and devastatingly handsome, with a string of bereft women in his wake, Greek playboy Alec Zavos dismisses Annalisse’s concerns—until his parents are ripped from the Zavos family yacht during their ocean voyage near Crete.
Annalisse and Alec race across two oceans to save his mother, feared dead or kidnapped. When the killer changes tactics and goes after Alec behind Annalisse’s back, can her plan to rescue Alec’s mother save them all?
Hold on for a heart-thumping, thrilling adventure through exotic lands in this fast-moving romantic suspense mystery by Marlene M. Bell.
Characters:
Main characters include Annalise and Alec. Annalise is best described as a talented antiquities appraiser who has trust issues and who also is hesitant in letting people into her heart. I get the sense she is an independent spirit and doesn't like depending on others. Alec is half Italian/half Greek man who is really too good to be true. As the reader is constantly reminded, he is attractive and is heaven-sent. He also has trust issues, although for different reasons than Annalise.
Theme:
You never know how things tie together
Plot:
The story is in third person narrative from Annalise's and Alec's points of view. The point of view happens a lot without a warning, and to be honest I found the story quite a bit confusing. As I understood it, its about a necklace that got Annalise's best friend murdered, and I thought that perhaps it would go a supernatural route. I also had hoped that Alec's heritage would be treated as more than just words.
(From website)
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Meet the Author:
Marlene Bell is an acclaimed artist and photographer as well as a writer. Her sheep and lamb landscapes grace the covers of many publications such as, Sheep!, The Shepherd, Ranch & Rural Living and Sheep Industry News, to name a few. Her mail order venture, Ewephoric, began in 1985 out of the need to find personalized stationery depicting sheep that truly looked like them. She wrote Among the Sheep, nonfiction in 2009, and the Annalisse Series launched in March 2018.
Marlene and her husband, Gregg reside on a wooded ranch in East Texas with their 50 head of spoiled Horned Dorset sheep, a lovable Maremma guard dog named, Tia, and 3 attention-loving cats who rule the household.
Connect with the author: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook
Opinion:
I am really sorry but this book is far more of a miss for me rather than a hit.. I did manage to get a bit into the story towards the end, but from beginning to that point, I found myself frustrated and disappointed in the story. First what I liked is an interesting mystery of who had done it and why. The first few chapters really did start out with a bang. When the characters began emerging and showing their unique personalities, I liked that a great deal and thought that the story is definitely a hidden gem of sorts. What I really didn't like is that the author never lets a reader forget that both Alec and Annalise have hots for one another. I literally felt as if every page has a variation of how they find one another attractive, which was very annoying for me. Towards the end, I think I got a bit lost in what was going on and why it was happening. All in all, a casual read.
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2 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)
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