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AbbyGNelson wrote: ↑11 Jun 2018, 11:05

cristinaro wrote: ↑04 Jun 2018, 07:02 Yeah, you're right. On the whole, she seemed so helpless although she is first introduced as a strong woman with a doctorate in progress and the internship of her dreams. She gradually relies completely on Alex who apparently becomes her boss in both her professional and private life. I wish the romance had not overtaken the plot to the detriment of a more complex puzzle and potential search for clues leading to the recovery of the missing painting.

Ugh. I hate when this happens to female characters. I haven't read this book, and now I don't want to ever read it.

I, and I get the impression many others, have a lot of problems with it. I don't understand how it ended up as BOTM.

I thought she was going to use her knowledge to help Alex research and find the painting. I didn't realize at first that her visions would be the only thing she had to offer. She was very inconsistent in her ONE WEEK relationship with Alex. She freaks out when she finds out about his trust fund (way over reaction!) then all of a sudden it's ok. But she makes him promise not to keep any secrets and then she keeps one herself right after that. I was a bit disappointed with her.

Angela's character is mixed up. They portrayed a character who is strong and independent but they needed her to be relatable in some way. So they had to make her weak at times not only strong.

Angela's strong educational background and her recurring nightmares about the particular painting exhibits weak and strong aspects of her personality. I think strong to somewhat weak woman is necessary to depict her character fully, which passes from different emotional phases.

I’m only about 30% through, and so far what I’m seeing is a woman who was under a tremendous amount of stress for quite some time. There are many things this kind of stress can do to a person, but ultimately it has to be released or it will cause serious illness. Crying is one way stress can be released. I agree it might get old by the end of the book, but since I’ve personally experienced physical relief of stress related symptoms after crying, it’s not weird to me at this point.

I still found her to be a strong, intelligent character throughout the story. Her sexiness came out through Alex, and it was clear he admired her mind.

Sarah Tariq wrote: ↑13 Jun 2018, 02:31 Angela's strong educational background and her recurring nightmares about the particular painting exhibits weak and strong aspects of her personality. I think strong to somewhat weak woman is necessary to depict her character fully, which passes from different emotional phases.

Good point. I also think some people are book smart, but not street smart.

Just because she is a strong and rational woman, doesn't mean that she isn't allowed to have moments of weakness. It would be disorienting to keep being pulled back into the past, to deal with inappropriate advances by a complete sleazeball, and then to have a guy just come up and offer to be a support for you while you are getting adjusted. It also doesn't help that she has an inexplicably magnetizing attraction to Alex and he kept on showing up the right moments like some knight in shining armor.

At least she questioned whether they were good for each other and didn't just go with it. That's a lot better than most romances where the woman just follows the man's lead without question. I'm hoping that we get to see more of her rational side in upcoming books. There could be more character development in regards to Angela.

bookowlie wrote: ↑01 Jun 2018, 09:27 What did you think about Angela's character? In the beginning of the story, she is described as brilliant by her former professor/mentor and seems to be a serious person. However, I found my opinion of her went down as the story progressed. The past-life regression was overdone and it made her seem like a silly character after a while.

I think the blend of character and plot-driven narrative needed for an engaging narrative did not operate smoothly. The language at times was incongruous with the characterization and setting.

holsam_87 wrote: ↑13 Jun 2018, 18:50 At least she questioned whether they were good for each other and didn't just go with it. That's a lot better than most romances where the woman just follows the man's lead without question. I'm hoping that we get to see more of her rational side in upcoming books. There could be more character development in regards to Angela.

Ami twice states that they only knew each other for a week. She didn't question the relationship for very long. I think she followed Alex's lead far too much. She relied on a man she just met, fell in love with, and agreed to marry him all within a couple of weeks of meeting. I believe in love, but I also believe in getting to know someone. When Alex said he would never get bored with her I kept thinking "how would you know?" Everyone can be interesting for one week. From a realistic standpoint I prefer when an author creates a reasonable timeline for a romance.

lesler wrote: ↑13 Jun 2018, 12:53 I still found her to be a strong, intelligent character throughout the story. Her sexiness came out through Alex, and it was clear he admired her mind.

He did seem to admire her intelligence, however I'm not sure how she really displayed her intelligence. She had a good reputation which Alex was told about. But once he met her, all of the information she provided to him came from her visions. They weren't a result of her education, critical thinking, or research skills. I was disappointed that the intelligence we were told she had didn't really shine through.

cristinaro wrote: ↑04 Jun 2018, 07:02 Yeah, you're right. On the whole, she seemed so helpless although she is first introduced as a strong woman with a doctorate in progress and the internship of her dreams. She gradually relies completely on Alex who apparently becomes her boss in both her professional and private life. I wish the romance had not overtaken the plot to the detriment of a more complex puzzle and potential search for clues leading to the recovery of the missing painting.

I wouldn't have minded her crying jags and need to be protected from the bad guys had she actually displayed the intelligence and strength of mind that I was anticipating. You can be a strong woman and still be broken at times by things that are hard in life. Especially when it is something no one else can even relate to.

I don't think the romance overtook the plot except for one small bit where I did feel like it dragged on a bit. But I agree, that I would have enjoyed a stronger focus on the search for the painting. Especially if there had been more research like their trip to the Gallery where they actually track the painting's history.

kfwilson6 wrote: ↑15 Jun 2018, 09:35

holsam_87 wrote: ↑13 Jun 2018, 18:50 At least she questioned whether they were good for each other and didn't just go with it. That's a lot better than most romances where the woman just follows the man's lead without question. I'm hoping that we get to see more of her rational side in upcoming books. There could be more character development in regards to Angela.

Ami twice states that they only knew each other for a week. She didn't question the relationship for very long. I think she followed Alex's lead far too much. She relied on a man she just met, fell in love with, and agreed to marry him all within a couple of weeks of the meeting. I believe in love, but I also believe in getting to know someone. When Alex said he would never get bored with her I kept thinking "how would you know?" Everyone can be interesting for one week. From a realistic standpoint, I prefer when an author creates a reasonable timeline for a romance.

True, I think she put a lot of stock in what she saw in her previous lives. Perhaps there will be more incidents of whether they will be together in upcoming books? I think that would make things more realistic.

holsam_87 wrote: ↑15 Jun 2018, 18:40

kfwilson6 wrote: ↑15 Jun 2018, 09:35

holsam_87 wrote: ↑13 Jun 2018, 18:50 At least she questioned whether they were good for each other and didn't just go with it. That's a lot better than most romances where the woman just follows the man's lead without question. I'm hoping that we get to see more of her rational side in upcoming books. There could be more character development in regards to Angela.

Ami twice states that they only knew each other for a week. She didn't question the relationship for very long. I think she followed Alex's lead far too much. She relied on a man she just met, fell in love with, and agreed to marry him all within a couple of weeks of the meeting. I believe in love, but I also believe in getting to know someone. When Alex said he would never get bored with her I kept thinking "how would you know?" Everyone can be interesting for one week. From a realistic standpoint, I prefer when an author creates a reasonable timeline for a romance.

True, I think she put a lot of stock in what she saw in her previous lives. Perhaps there will be more incidents of whether they will be together in upcoming books? I think that would make things more realistic.

I absolutely agree that she put a lot of faith in where her relationship with Alex was going due to what she knew about Sophia and Fioeetta. Hopefully Ami will develop their relationship in a more realistic way that will satisfy some of us who felt like one week to declare their love was a bit rushed.

In all honesty, I get the impression that this book would be better if it wasn't a romance (or perhaps if it was solely a romance). Splitting the focus between the mystery and Angela's relationship with Alex did no favors to her character arc.