DNF at 37%


Sorry, but I just can't continue reading this book and it will have to go on my DNF shelf. You know that it is bad when even the sex scenes can't keep you engaged and interested.
I just couldn't connect with Max who is in late thirties, 37 if I'm correct. His constant self pitying and self doubting were off putting and not sexy! I can just about tolerate them from a teenager in a YA novella but hell, Max obviously didn't get the memo! Below are only few of the Max's inner monologue, and don't forget I only read up to 37%:
“he wasn’t what she needed. He wasn’t what anyone needed.”
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“You have no rights to this woman, he thought to himself.”
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“What are you doing, man? Max asked himself. You are making love to this woman…what are you gonna do?”
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“Self-hate filled his mind as he held her close, running his fingers through her silken hair and placing soft kisses on the crown of her head. Comforting her felt good…natural…but unacceptable. Friendship. That’s what he could give her. He was already in too deep, and he couldn’t risk his heart ever again.”
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Now lets talk about the other two main characters. Janie and Lyla have know each other for a long time and have bonded like true sisters. I believe they're 27 years old. Janie comes from a broken home, mostly absent and a drinking abusive mother, Lyla umm...not much about her so far, but there are hints that she's suffered some kind of abuse/horror, major enough to give her nightmares.
They have been frequenting Danny's bar every Thursday for the last six months and for the last few have been inviting the bar owners and the bartenders every Sunday for dinner at their places. They consider them their "family". Everything is lovey dovey until one Sunday, when Kyle, one to the bartenders turns up still hangover and in a bad shape. He doesn't stop drinking (and no one seems to stop him either) and after dinner he just has a go at Lyla.
“We know everyone loves you. We know you love yourself. It’s the world according to Lyla Dalton. You always need to put your two cents into everyone else’s business. And speaking of cents…yes, Lyla, we know you have money. Jesus, can you rub it in our faces any more than you already do?” Kyle spat his words and then tried to get up to leave.”
Lyla being a feisty one, gives him a very good answer and all of a sudden decided to leave everyone and go for a walk (alone, in the dark). And while she's doing that Janie is having a meltdown in the kitchen floor, comforted by the girls while the boys are trying to kill Kyle for being a prick.
So, okaaay, a bit of overreaction going one here considering that they're all adults.
When everyone leaves, Janie tries to get in touch with Lyla but she doesn't answer her phone, she's not back at her home, she's not in any of their favourite places where she would normally be. Please note, apparently this is not the first time she's done a disappearing act. She's got an emergency phone and the only person aware of that number is Janie, her best friend, her almost sister. But she's not answering that phone either.
So while Lyla is behaving like a drama queen, Janie is wallowing in self pity, why has Lyla has left her alone...blah, blah, blah...and she's worried about Lyla being upset...blah, blah, blah.
“some of the hurt that Lyla’s absence was causing. She knew her best friend was going through her own stuff, too, but Janie needed Lyla, just as much as Lyla didn’t want to admit she needed Janie.”
So, Janie is worried about Lyla, sob...she's feeling abandoned, sob...she's on her own, sob... Lyla's been "missing" for only a day! Meanwhile Max overcomes his inner turmoil I'm not good enough for her, I can't give her what she deserves etc and decides to comfort Janie and spend the night with her. This is the second night they spend together. The first one was only a few nights ago, on Thursday after Lyla made a comment about "sex with friends"...I know, I know, don't even ask. Well I can tell you that that first night, the sparks did fly, they had great and abundant sex. The next day Max goes all weird and cold after he overhears Janie saying to Lyla that she likes him.
So coming back to Monday, the day after the dinner fiasco, Max and Janie make fireworks again, fall asleep cuddling. The next day, after Janie leaves for work, Max is pretending to be asleep in bed and is still debating and self doubting himself AGAIN!
Lyla decides to answer via text message. So while Janie is feeling sorry for herself that she's ALOOONE and worried about Lyla even though they have been in touch, Max has been busy doing what he does best:
“He wanted to call Janie. Hell, he wanted to go to her. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and shield her from all of her pain. But in order to protect her, he would have to let her in, which would mean stepping out of his own armor.
No, he couldn’t do that.”
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“Self-hate filled his mind as he held her close, running his fingers through her silken hair and placing soft kisses on the crown of her head. Comforting her felt good…natural…but unacceptable. Friendship. That’s what he could give her. He was already in too deep, and he couldn’t risk his heart ever again.”
So on Tuesday, after finishing work at school where she works as a teacher, Janie receives a phone call from Lyla with her whereabouts. By the way Lyla is a columnist and she also is an author who writes under a pen name, hence the abundance of money, but only Janie knows that she writes under a different name.. Before going to the hotel where Lyla has been hiding, Janie decides to call Danny and Julie, the bar owners and stress again how annoyed she is with Kyle:
“I need one of you to talk to Kyle.” The sadness bleached out of her voice and was replaced by anger, an anger Janie hadn’t felt in years. “Tell him that his carelessness has ruined a part of Lyla that can never be fixed. Tell him there has never been a dollar or a dime that has come to her for free. Every cent she has ever had has come from either hard work or from the pieces ripped out of her soul. I would tell him these things myself, but I’m scared I would actually kill him.”
Poor Kyle, everyone wants to kill him...
So she dashes at Hilton where Lyla is waiting for her with pizza and ice cream and to be honest that is about as far as I can go with this book.
I've had just about enough of this overreacting and immature lot and I don't think I can take anymore of all this forced drama...
PS All this took place in five and half days, considering that the story started Thursday night and I stopped reading Tuesday afternoon.