Review by Lolita gaeva -- Escape by Belle Ami

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Lolita gaeva
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Review by Lolita gaeva -- Escape by Belle Ami

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[Following is a volunteer review of "Escape" by Belle Ami.]
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2 out of 4 stars
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Harvard Student Layla Wallace goes on a trip with her boyfriend to Dubai to meet his parents and gets kidnapped along with him. Fearing the worst, her father, Dr. Aleck Wallace who is a renowned nuclear physicist uses his connections to initiate a rescue mission. Cyrus Hassani, a deep-cover Mossad agent, is given the responsibility and despite his initial frustration at giving up his cover for the American girl, he puts in motion a plan to get both of them across the Iranian border.

The plan involves a bugged safe house and many showers as the bathroom is the only place that they can speak freely. As if the assassins and his boss's constant suspicion isn't enough, Cyrus must also overcome the attraction that he has for the red-haired Layla Wallace and fight the feelings that have lain dormant within him from years of living as a spy.

I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. The reason for this rating is the “cliché” factor that was evident in the book. The dialogues and the character’s thoughts were similar to countless Mills and Boon books that I had read during my teen years. I felt like the story was missing something. It didn't feel complete to me, and the ending was too rushed. After the characters make it across the border, Cyrus completely ignores Layla only to appear a year later and propose to her which felt very abrupt.

I couldn’t connect to the characters and especially to Layla. She is portrayed as a somewhat stupid and naïve girl who needs constant rescuing. She immediately falls for her rescuer, and the characters have “fake sex” just a day after Cyrus saves her from her evil prison guard who was on the verge of raping her. It felt as if Layla began to show the symptoms of the Stockholm syndrome within a day of being kidnapped. Zamir, her boyfriend, had no personality whatsoever and therefore even though I am happy that at the end she chooses to be with Cyrus, it’s difficult to hate or blame Zamir. Cyrus, however, was a decent lead but his dialogues at times felt out of place or did not match with his personality.

I would recommend this book to those readers who have not tried the romance genre yet and are looking to read a light novel that is both, a thriller and romance. It isn’t all that bad if you are new to this genre, but for a person like me, whose romance idol is Judith Mcnaught, the story seems pale and redundant.

******
Escape
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