(Review) Unexpected Treasure by Melody Anne

Pages: 281
Series: Billionaire Bachelors 8
Publisher: Eternal Dreams 1st ed
Publication Date: June 30, 2013
Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B00D64QVZ0
Sexual Content: 4/5

Synopsis

FROM NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BEST SELLING AUTHOR COMES THE CONTINUATION OF THE WELL-LOVED ANDERSON SERIES

Crew Storm opens an exclusive resort in the Catalina Islands off the coast of California, and pride swells within him as he accomplishes the impossible. Everything is going on track until a blond steps into his life and begs him to teach her how to be the perfect seductress after she researches his technique of charming and luring women to his bedroom. 

Haley Sutherland is done with her fears, done being a wallflower and done being invisible. She comes up with a brilliant idea to find the perfect person to teach her how to seduce the man she truly wants. Though the person she’s chosen to be her teacher is Crew Storm, she soon finds she’s forgetting her first love’s name.

I gave this one 4 out of 5 on Goodreads and Amazon, but for my review, 3 out of 5 because my ratings system is different.

In case you aren't aware, it goes as follows:

5 stars = outstanding effort/would highly recommend

4 stars = good story/great leads/minor technicalities

3 stars = okay story/okay leads/GPS issues

2 stars = not good/unsympathetic to lead(s)/too many GPS issues

1 star = did not finish/could not finish/will not read another

It isn't likely you'll ever see a review using 2 or 1-star listings because I don't want to be perceived as being snooty, mean, or unsympathetic to the plight of us authors.

Instead, I will post a mild rant about one or more of the major issues I'd encountered without mentioning the author or the book title.

Review

Let me begin by saying it was a welcome change to read a free-listed eBook purchase and not encounter page after page of GPS (grammar/punctuation/spelling) issues or even a lack of basic writing knowledge.

That being said, however, there were still issues with this particular work.

It began with a Prologue set in Maine that included 2 or 3 'brothers' in their 80's, I believe, who are determined to bring the family together and make it huge (don't ask why, though). Then they see a picture in the paper of a man their age who looks exactly like them, and suddenly flashback occurs to when they were born, or afterwards when they overhear a story from their parents.

Then we are taken across the country to Seattle and this man from the newspaper is holding a meeting with his 3 or 4 grown children, letting them know they are cut from his will, their charge cards are canceled, and they are on their own . . . but not quite.

It also mentioned something about him having only a few more months to live, but then the issue is never mentioned again.

THEN we arrive on Catalina Island, where a college student named Haley has won an all-expenses paid TWO WEEK vacation to an exclusive resort owned and operated by one of those siblings mentioned above, and his name is Crew.

Haley's past is marred by the dysfunctional antics of her maternal grandparents, who are prudes and label their only granddaughter a demon seed.

She grows up in relative wealth but is not allowed to participate or receive any of the benefits or love most other's receive unconditionally from their grands.

Throughout this novel, we are made to remember that Haley received the attention she needed from house servants, but I never got the feeling or instant belief that it could possibly be enough for her to do any of the things she set out to do on the island.

Which was to walk up to a complete stranger and ask him to teach her how to become seductive so that she could return home and wow the guy she's had her eyes on for awhile now.

It was also pointed out that she received psychological counsel that should have helped to transform her but didn't quite hit the mark, so again, I had to wonder just how much of an influence those awful grands had on her if she could pull off that stunt with such ease and determination while also constantly recalling that horrid past of hers.

Crew turns her down, and for a brief while Haley wanders around the hotel planning her next move on another man when Crew suddenly decides he's jealous and will take her up on that offer to teach her how to become a siren.

And within minutes, or perhaps hours of this decision, the two are in the throes of some heated passion.

And, that sexual instruction lasts and last and lasts and lasts, too.

It was all they really did, day in and day out, while also talking a bit more about her past and why it is she is so 'afraid' to be herself, and who is she really, and why can't she just let it all go and be the girl she wants or needs to be.

Then more sex.

Crew fell in love first, and then Haley did, but she remained reluctant and mopey about not being good enough for a guy like him.

Then his family shows up and Haley again switches gears, lashing out at Crew's little sister the way an insecure fiancée would do if she saw her man being hugged and kissed by a pretty girl.

I saw this as being another out-of-character experience.

About mid-way through this one, I began to wonder what was the point in the Prologue and having to meet all of these old men and the other guy from Seattle and his brood when a majority of the story centered around Crew and Haley.

Probably because a lot of attention was given to the dying old man's wish to have his spoiled brats transformed, and while we did find out that Crew had changed, it just wasn't expounded on in a way that tied in with that heavy intro piece.

This was all about Haley and her lack of will yet surprising determination to change and very little about Crew and his side of the equation -- other than his being gorgeous and great in the sack. And rich, too.

I also wanted to know what she still felt for the guy back home, but that was never touched upon again, so . . . again . . . why was it mentioned at all?

The wording in a few scenes was sappy, sentimental, and laden with archaic words & phrases that made me think the author might be really old, like maybe in her 60's or even 70's. Which made my mind keep shifting during certain scenes, from present day to somewhere in time, maybe the 1940's?

There was nothing hip, now, or twenty-first century about any of these characters outside of the fact that they had lots of at-whim sex using condoms.

Those old men talked stiffly, and in a way that no human being would actually speak in a comfortable, family atmosphere, not even in their 80's. It just didn't resonate with me at all.

But then, so, too, did Crew whenever he met with his family members, which was really weird.

The ending was pretty strange as well, when we meet more family members and their whining offspring before Crew and Haley suddenly appear and he introduces her as his fiancée.

Understanding that this is a series, there were still too many aside characters getting top billing when this should have been entirely about Haley and Crew.

There not being an antagonist involved for either lead was a disappointed. Had there been at least one, this might have read better and with more action involved and perhaps less psychological analysis, internal struggle on her part, and touches of family this, family that from outsiders to the story (namely, those old men).

It wasn't that the two leads were underdeveloped and more that their stories were left to hang. There was no real in-depth reporting going on to help us better understand or even feel emotionally attached to either of them.

If it wasn't for the cover image, I wouldn't really even know what the two looked like, and to be perfectly honest, there was no emotional attachment between them, either; just a lot of sex.

Disjointed and somewhat distracting.

It is, by far, one of the better FREE deals that you'll find on Amazon, though.

So! If you give high regard to family, family values, and frequent sex scenes involving an interesting story line that doesn't always deliver, and if you don't mind being tossed around once in awhile, then this is probably the way to go.


First time reading anything written by author, Melody Anne, and this was a free purchase via Amazon for the Kindle (not Unlimited).

Melody has a boatload of published work under her belt, too. As a matter of fact, she has several of her novels listed as Free via Amazon, if you are interested.

If you want to see where it all began, pick up your copy of The Billionaire Wins the Game, free on Amazon.

Your comments, thoughts, suggestions, issues, and insight are always welcome. Please feel free to reply to any of my posts.