High Risk Love

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High Risk Love

High Risk Love

by: Shannon Mayer
My Rating: four-half-stars



Published by: Createspace on July 1st 2013
Genres: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance

ISBN: 1484823710

Pages: 260
Series: The Risk Series #1
Disclosure: I was invited by the publisher to read this title in exchange for my honest and unbiased review. I received no monetary compensation, and all comments are subjective and mine alone.
Content Warning: sexual content, drug and alcohol use, and/or violence make this title appropriate for readers 18 and over.



Synopsis

Photographs.
Images. Snapshots in time.

This is how I experience my life. I’ve hidden behind my camera and viewed the world through the lens. I’ve given up on my dreams, and sheltered my heart from love; because both have given me nothing but pain. It’s better to be safe, than to take a risk and have your life shattered into pieces alongside your heart.

But then I met Jet . . . the epitome of living on the edge, a man whose life is all about risks and danger. A man who lights a fire in my soul, and brings me to a passion I thought I’d lost.

If I risk my heart on him, I may set myself up for more than I bargained for. A broken heart, and another loved one stolen from me. Yet I can’t stay away from him . . . any more than he can stay away from me.
And suddenly, the stakes are higher than they've ever been.






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This is the first opportunity I’ve had to read Ms. Mayer’s work and I enjoyed it. Although the premise of one, or both, of the people in the romantic relationship having a deep secret they don’t want to share isn’t new to young adult or new adult genres, I did like how the “secrets” were used and how the protagonists covered-up or handled them. It was a somewhat new approach.

 

I like how Jasmin sheltered herself from the world using her camera. By looking at the world through the camera lens she didn’t have to actively participate in it, and, therefore, not risk anything. And that was her ultimate goal—never open herself up to be hurt again. Don’t risk yourself, don’t open yourself up to hurt. So she hid behind the lens of her camera and went through the motions of living life, when she was actually only watching others live it.

 

Jet, on the other hand, had secrets that propelled him to risk everything, every day. A stuntman and adrenaline junkie, he’s Jasmine’s antithesis. He risks everything because his motto is to: Fear Nothing. No fear, no risk.

 

I liked how Jasmin and Jet’s background fed into their present. The past they lived through, the secrets they kept, chain them to their way of thinking, in a way. Jasmin suffered great loss and she didn’t want to set herself up for more. Jet just suffered. He had things to prove and he picked a profession that allowed him to do so. Their background stories were perfectly weaved into their present day stories.

 

I do think the story suffered from three things, however. Pacing was a problem in some areas. There were times I wished things would pick up and something would happen. Second, I think Jasmin and Jet’s relationship suffered from the dreaded “insta-love” syndrome. Although, it wasn’t nearly as bad as some books I’ve read. But, they hadn’t known each that long before they were professing their undying love for one another. Last, the secondary characters, while good, could have been developed more. Hugh was great! I would have liked to have seen him developed more. This goes for Jasper, too. Especially Jasper! There was so much potential to make his character into something memorable with Jet and Jasper’s backstory, but he seemed to be an afterthought.

 

Overall, I thought “High Risk Love” was a good book with a well thought out plot. It had some minor issues and could really have benefited from an editing pass. But I enjoyed the book and I will probably read other books in the series.

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About Shannon Mayer

Reading and writing from a very young age I learned early on that stories built in a fantasy world were where the fun was at. Reading books by Robert Jordan spurred me on and it was the first real epic fantasy that I fell in love with. After that came Piers Anthony, Melanie Rawn and into my older teen years, Anne Rice.

It was in Rice’s novels that the idea of urban fantasy really bloomed for me and it was about that time that my grandmother was letting me read her Harlequin Historical novels. (Okay, actually she was slipping them to me when my mother wasn’t looking, but let’s not get picky.)

The combination of love stories and darker fantasy stuck with me and it’s now not only what I gravitate towards to read on my off time (Kelly Armstrong, Laurell K Hamilton, Kim Harrison), but has become the style I love to write in.

Besides writing, I love to spend time with my family and animals, horseback ride, garden and hike with my husband.

Michelle
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