Review by lauren3cats -- Two Months and Three Days

[lauren3cats]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Two Months and Three Days" by Tatiana Vedenska.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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When nineteen year old Aruba stumbles into the opening of the famous photographer Maxim Korshun’s newest art exhibit, she has no idea her life will be forever changed. Maxim is immediately drawn to innocent seeming girl, who looks like Snow White, and feels such a strong reaction to his art. The draw he feels increases when he realizes she doesn’t know he’s famous or the son of a billionaire oligarch. He tries to stay away from her. He doesn’t believe in love, only seeking pleasure, and he knows that unlike him, she sees the world in rose colored glasses.

When he just can’t stay away from her any longer, he offers her a contract to spend two months and three days traveling with him for the summer. Against her better judgement she cannot resist the opportunity to get to know the mysterious man that’s always on her mind. She soon learns that wants Maxim most desires is control. He finds his pleasure by pushing Arina to her limits. Her sexual awakening is like a firestorm, but as the days pass she finds herself falling in love. Questions grow about his dark past, and what her future will look like after the contract ends. Will they find their way through the storm of their passion, or both end up wrecked?

After reading Two Months and Three Days by Tatiana Vedenska, I gave it a rating of 3 out of 4 stars. I enjoyed the angst of the plot line, and finished reading the book in one day. The pace was just right and kept the story moving and the pages turning. Although this is a popular storyline in romantic fiction these days, most notably in Fifty Shades of Gray, author Vedenska offers something fresh in her rendering. The characters grapple with themes like innocence versus jaded experience, pleasure versus love, past versus future, and light versus dark. What I liked the most was the feeling of tension these parallel ideas created as they battle for dominance.

There is no shortage of steamy and well written sex scenes. The sexual tension and connection between Arina and Maxim is palpable. Lovers of erotic fiction will not be disappointed by the content. Readers who are sensitive to issues of consent may find the storyline to be problematic, as Maxim finds his pleasure by dominating Arina. Although consent is given and generally implied there are a couple scenes I found close to crossing that line.

What I liked least about this story was the characterization of Nellie, Arina’s roommate. I just didn’t care for her, and it wasn’t just a personality issue. Her character felt somewhat contrived and her speech unnatural. She treats Arina poorly and is verbally abusive towards her. Arina takes this treatment as if there’s nothing strange about it which makes her seem pathetic at times. I felt she detracted from the story as a whole.

This book was originally written and published in Russian. Overall, I felt the translation was good, but occasionally there were sentences or thoughts that seemed off because of word choice. A reader who was unaware the text was translated into English might be put off by these occasional awkward spots. The book was fairly well edited aside from a couple minor typos.

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Two Months and Three Days
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