Review: More and More by Stella Cameron

I feel badly about this. I've heard really good things about Stella Cameron. I even think I've read her books before. But I really disliked this book. A lot. There was almost nothing that made me happy to have read it. Honestly, I'm only happy to have read it so I can clear it off the shelf to make room for a book I'll like. I hate reading experiences that leave me feeling this way.

The historical-set romance opens with an unnamed narrator addressing the reader and telling of his (the narrator's) horror of the fact that his family has allowed boarders into 7 Mayfair Place and of his intention to rid the house of these undeserving, paying folk. Then the tale bumps into gear as Finch More is introduced. She is a 29 year old spinster who lives with her head in the clouds brother as they try to make their way as owners of a small import company. Their biggest client is also their next door neighbor, Ross, Viscount Kilrood. He is an antiquities afficianado but is also involved in some serious foreign intrigue that endangers both the Mores and himself and holds the fate of a small South East Asian country in the balance.

At the start of the story, Finch is accosted and given a strange message that chills Ross down to the bone, knowing that he is the intended recipient of the message. And so begins his vigil to get close to Finch, who is not only in danger but also attracts him like no other woman ever has. While he and Finch alternately argue heatedly and tease and titillate each other, Finch's brother is kidnapped by the baddies. Not content to be waiting at home to hear that he has been saved, Finch insists on helping to rescue him. Ross is dismissive of her skills as a woman but Finch is ridiculously headstrong and thoughtless as a bull in a china shop. The tension of where her brother is is broken up by incredibly steamy sex scenes. And the whole tale is this way. Ross and Finch have only known each other briefly and not well at all before they are panting and lapping at each other only to be interrupted by the pesky detail that they still don't know where Finch's brother is.

The novel as a whole only spans a few desperate days so everything about the relationship is rushed and lust-spiked. Love? Well, the narration tells us it is true love but there's no evidence of that that I read. And our initial narrator? Well, it turns out he's the ghostly ancestor of the owners of 7 Mayfair Place. He interjects himself into the narrative with regularity, making the tale choppy and just generally causing the reader annoyance. Really, this was just not the book for me and I shudder to think there might be more in the series lurking on my shelves for me to read.