Three-Year Rule (The Rule Series #1)

Alaina
Stanford
Genre: 
Suspense-Thriller

Elizabeth Stewart, author of the Garden Series, is successfully promoting her pseudo personality in dating relationships, touting their viability over the course of a three-year relationship with personal appearances and book signings. Joshua Miller is a successful residential building contractor whom Elizabeth has recently hired to build her new cabin home. Franklin, Elizabeths publicist, has ulterior motives.

 

The humor of the opening paragraphs is quickly set aside as not fitting with the entirety of the story. Though the general grammar of this piece shows promise, the design tends to feel tired even when the unexpected happens. Ms. Stanford has an interesting plot although its overall structure could use a better foundation, improving the pace and overall feeling should the elements be more intricately intertwined, for example: weaving the romance and impending danger. Characters are poorly developed. Romance blooms early leaving the reader wondering what they are rooting for. Characters wander across the pages without clearly defined goals. More thorough research is needed to create a believable location for the novel to take place. The plot is punched up midway with an effort at suspense. The manuscript teeters from the third person point of view, slipping into omnipresent, causing the overall effect to droop. 

 

Ms. Stanford makes a fair showing, particularly for friends and family, with this first release.

 

Shaunna Gonzales