2-3-4 Challenge Book Discussions #2 discussion

Any other topics you’d like to discuss? Your overall opinion of the story?

Aside from book #2 (which I skimmed for the Alyssa/Sam parts), this is the weakest installment for me.

In addition to the terribly slow pacing in the beginning due to the unnecessary and confusing flashbacks, the plot is a mess and the romances are weak.

I was disappointed.

I liked the story. I love Jules, as I mentioned before. I want him to find his HEA. I know there has to be a good man for him.

I liked the flashbacks. I thought that they gave me a good picture of Max's mindset, fears, personality, and just how much of a jerk that he can be.

Sharon wrote: "I liked the flashbacks."

They just didn't work for me as there were too many and they were quite repetitive. Everything could have been provided succinctly in a prologue. The jumping back and forth between time periods for approximately 1/2 of the book was jarring and unnecessary. It felt like Brockmann had a page quota and decided to fill it with flashbacks.

Lauren wrote: "Sharon wrote: "I liked the flashbacks."

They just didn't work for me as there were too many and they were quite repetitive. Everything could have been provided succinctly in a prologue. The jumpin..."

I understand you feelings. It would be cleaner if there were fewer flashbacks, but I've come to expect them from Brockman.

I remember liking this one better the first time around. I thought it dragged during the standoff scenes and I really didn't buy the outcome there.

Too many flashbacks for me. It got a little confusing when we were jumping from 4 months ago... to 17 months ago... to the present.

This is the second time I've read this book. It didn't hold up as well as the others in the series.

Sharon wrote: "I've come to expect them from Brockman.

I agree. They are part of her style and over the books, they have been hit or miss for me. I enjoyed them more when they were cohesive and contributed to the whole picture.

Here they just feel out of place and excessive without adding much to the overall story.

Robin wrote: "Too many flashbacks for me. It got a little confusing when we were jumping from 4 months ago... to 17 months ago... to the present. ..."

This is how I felt too. It was disorienting and I kept thinking "which time period is this?"

About the flashbacks…

I added this to the Settings section in the opening topic:

Washington, D. C. (1986, 2005)
Arlington, Virginia (2004)
Nairobi, Kenya (2005)
Sarasota, Florida (2003)
Pulau Meda, Indonesia (Present day)

This contributed to it being confusing. After a while, I figured out the rhythm and adjusted. But, it made grasping through overall kidnapping plot tougher to figure out.

I liked the story, didn’t love it because I wanted something more momentous in Max and Gina’s reunion. But, Jules saved this story for me. He gave it weight and meaning. And, I absolutely loved Max’s backstory segments. I liked figuring out how this superhuman guy ticked and why he wouldn’t allow himself to have a relationship with Gina. It also clarified his feelings toward Alyssa. I’m certain he never was “in love” with her.

I never thought Max was in love with Alyssa. He wanted to protect his heart, and prevent Alyssa from, what he thought was "making a mistake," by getting back with Sam.

Max convinced himself that he could be happy with Alyssa because they were both married to their jobs. What a mistake that would have been for both of them.

I thought that, too, and this story confirmed that.

Jonetta wrote: "But, Jules saved this story for me"

For me too.

Re Max and Alyssa - Their relationship was always more a friendship than love. They were using each other to get over the people they were actually in love with. Nothing good could have come out of them getting married.

Max and Alyssa respected each other, and I never thought there was much more than a spark of sexual attraction between them. As much as Alyssa wanted to move on from Sam, she was not about to take Max up on his offer to marry her. Max was just in total denial when it came to both Gina and Alyssa.