Elaine White's Life in Books

Book – Fantasy for a Gentleman (A Planet Called Wish #2)
Author – Caitlin Ricci
Star rating - ★★★★☆
No. of Pages - 200

Movie Potential - ★★★★☆
Ease of reading – fairly easy, but with some grammar problems
Would I read it again – Yes!


** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK, BY THE AUTHOR, IN RETURN FOR AN HONEST REVIEW **
Reviewed for Divine Magazine

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WARNING: If you haven't read book 1 first, STOP. Go back. Start with book 1. Not only will this one make more sense to you, but by reading this first, it will ruin the surprise of who Thierry's Dragonfly really is. You have been warned!

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PLOT

There isn't the same tenderness to this story, as there was in Book 1, because Corbin isn't that kind of guy. In this Enemies to Lovers story, both MC's are in their forties. While Thierry was the innocent to Dragonfly's experience, in book 1, Corbin is the one with all the experience and the man he's trying to snag, Emmanuel, is the one uncertain in the ways of physical expression and sex.

In this way, both books are quite similar, but brilliant and unique in their own way. But I'd have liked to see some more continuity between them. This story takes place about a year or two before the Epilogue of book 1 and doesn't actually reach the point of the Epilogue's timeline. I hope this means there are more books to come (I'd love to see Arin's story and Resan's) so that we can finally see their future together, rather than a short, rushed reunion in an epilogue.

Both MC's are in their forties, so it was really nice to read a dynamic between two strong characters, both equally bullheaded and stubborn, who have been around long enough to know the deal. The chemistry didn't suffer for this at all. In fact, it benefited from it.

My one complaint about their age is that Corbin never read like a forty-year-old. He read more like a reckless twenty-year-old, who was still as wild as ever. This wouldn't normally have bothered me except for the fact that he read as very naive, weak and vulnerable a lot of the time, then we were expected to believe he could fight and take care of himself at others. His character was more inconsistent here, than he was in book 1, which resulted in me dropping a half star from the rating.

The other half star disappeared, because of the problems I noticed. There were some grammar/sentence issues (missing full stops, extra words that made no sense) as well as the – again, the only suitable word – inconsistencies in the story. Too often, phrases and explanations were repeated, often in the exact words. This never happened in book 1 and it's possible they won't be there in this one, as this is an ARC and they may have been fixed by now. Either way, I have to mention them and rate according to what I'm reading.

A few examples of the repeats:
Corbin works at Asiq for two weeks, goes home for two weeks
Sythe's feel more acutely than any other species, which is mentioned a lot and also mentioned once or twice in book 1
Corbin loves his job and would never give it up – repeated a lot
Emmanuel thinks Corbin is a whore
being an aspacian is about fulfilling fantasies.

I also don't think the cover and title are as appropriate as the first. Maybe I'm wrong to compare, but a series should always have continuity and that doesn't happen here. The cover is nice, but not as knockout or emotion-filled as the first and the title doesn't work for me. Book 1's title was obvious and clear, all the way through. I'm still left scratching my head over this one. It doesn't fit the plot the same.

I'm also confused by Thierry and Monroe's relationship. In the previous book, we were led to believe that they had no contact during Thierry's time away, as a pilot, but in this story, we're told that they had regular chats, vidchats and coms to each other. That makes the Epilogue of the previous book make less, since the doubt that Thierry would ever return would never have been there, had we known about this continued contact. Especially since some of it sounds less than innocent.

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CHARACTER

Corbin is less attractive and more pushy than the first book, acting more like a teenager than a forty-year-old sometimes. But, as the main character, he's still compelling. When he's in danger, I'm worried; when he's sad, I'm sad; and that's all that I ask.

Emmanuel is a very complicated, mysterious character. I like him, except for the fact that he continually calls Corbin a whore. He's an unusual love interest, but one that fits with Corbin's personality and lifestyle.

I really love that Monroe is back, but sad to see that he and Thierry are relegated more to the background than Corbin was, in their story. I was really hoping this would have them already back together again, as following the Epilogue of book 1, but it didn't and that was disappointing. We barely got to see any of their real personality shine through.

I'm intrigued by Arin, who was only it in for a second, and Resan, who was Emmanuel's friend. I'd very much like to see both of them get their stories. And to find out more about how Corbin and Emmanuel's story progresses.

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OVERALL

For me, the consistency just isn't there with this one. That's why I removed a star. It could have been amazing, with the inconsistencies fixed and the Thierry/Monroe relationship treated differently. I was also really surprised by the sudden twist at the very end of the story. It was 'sudden' in all meanings of the word and not what I thought Corbin would have wanted.

Still, all of that aside, it was still a fantastic story. I laughed, I cried and I wanted Corbin to have his HEA, which I see him having. The same level of detail and creativity for the world was in this story, but not for the plot. It could have been a tightly held together as book 1, with some adapting, but I won't hold that against it.

I'd still read whatever book(s) comes next with a voracious need to find out what's going to happen next. And who the book might be about. Again, I hope this series doesn't end at two books. I could read many, many more to come.

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FAVOURITE QUOTE

“A whore can make you come, an aspasian can make you feel loved, wanted, as if for that hour or two you're all that exists in their world.”

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