Working With Heat by Anne Calhoun is a quick read and there's nothing terribly "wrong" with it - it just didn't grab a hold of me like some of her other shorts have.
Milla Jackson is a 20-something American, living in London, making her way in the world as a travel vlogger/blogger/social media addict. She turned a coping mechanism (she moved a lot as a kid) into a job and now she's turning the job into a matchmaking service. She's not dating anyone and is letting her social media followers pick her dates for her via multiple choice options she provides. Her latest date was such a disaster that she bails on him to meet her friends at the local pub and afterward she hooks up with one of her flat mates - hunky glass artist Charlie. But Charlie's been burned (ha!) before and Milla's permanent attachment to her phone/social media ruffles his feathers. No matter, they're just going to keep things light and breezy anyway. Milla's in the process of planning a trip along the Orient Express and will be gone for several weeks....
So yeah, we all know where this is heading. This was mostly a Meh It's OK story for me for a good while. It's very light and breezy and I was pretty close to DNF'ing it out of boredom more than anything else (seriously, my reading mood is the pits right now). But it did pick up for me about halfway through, about the time Charlie takes Milla to his studio and shows her his work. Charlie does fly off the handle a bit at the end, but I like Milla's growth arc and I thought the ending was particularly well done. It didn't light my world on fire, but it ended strong and works well in the shorter format. If you're looking for a short hot contemporary, this one may fit the bill for you.
Final Grade = B-
Yeah. Amazon isn't wrong. This thing is literally 11-15 pages long. It's not a "prequel" it's a bloody chapter! I spent the whole time wondering what the point of this thing existing was. Granted I'm sure the author is reaching more readers on Amazon - but this is the sort of preview you offer up to your newsletter subscribers. As long as it stays free forever, Amazon will reach more readers - but I could see some readers getting ticked off by it - no matter that it's free. Cranky readers gonna crank.
The story (such as it is)? OK, basically it introduces some women on a train who are traveling west to become mail order brides. One of them, Susannah (I think that's her name?) is a widow, traveling with a young son (and she had to do some fast talking because normally they don't take widows with kids....) and she's writing in her journal about the trip, her fears, and some of the women she's met. That's it. I'd call it a prologue, but the first full-length book in the series, Valentine's Rose, isn't about Susannah the Journal Writer. It's about one of the women she writes about, Rose. And looking ahead to the other book that's out in the series? Also not about Susannah the Journal Writer - which just adds to my What Is The Point Of This Thing Existing confusion.
It does serve the purpose of introducing me to Burke's writing style, which I liked. And I'm tempted by this series - so I guess that's the point of this thing existing. I still can't help but feel this makes more sense as a web site or newsletter "freebie" - but you can't argue with Amazon's reach. I get it from a business perspective but as a reader everything about this thing's existence annoys me.
Final Grade = Oh, who the heck knows? How do you rate 11 pages?!?!?!?
