For years, I had a certain image of a romance novel in my head—and it was not a good (or accurate) one. I preferred to stick to authors like Robin Cook, John Grisham, and James Patterson. Then, about ten years ago, I was at the beach with family, and desperate for something to read. My mom gave me the first book in Nora Roberts’ Chesapeake Bay Saga. This book defied all of my misconceptions, especially that of the heroine. After all, this series was about brothers—written from the male perspective.
While I went on to love the work of many contemporary romance novels—regardless of the gender of the main character—those few novels from the male point of view are always a pleasant twist.
Elizabeth Ann West continued that tradition in her new novel, Cancelled. Jonathan is living out his dreams—he is the CEO of an engineering company he started with his two best friends, Alexis and Eric. Even better, he and Alex are finally dating after he spent years harboring a secret crush.
Just as things start to get serious and they start talking about living together and marriage, a one-night-stand from months earlier shows up in his office with news—she is pregnant with his baby.
Jonathan spends the rest of the novel trying to balance the needs of the company and the woman he loves, with what is best for his child. At times, he is successful. More often, he can’t balance it all, but he sure does try. Through it all, his heart of gold is obvious.
West created a tale that is full of twists and turns, and kept me engrossed throughout. Jonathan is a very sweet and likeable character, and it was fun to see him mature throughout the book. The supporting characters were great, and were successful in keeping Jonathan on his toes.
In all, this was a great book. It is a quick read, and held my attention late into the night. I would definitely recommend Cancelled to any fans of romance or chick-lit, and am looking forward to future novels from this author.
Cancelled is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.
Elizabeth Ann West is a Jane-of-all-trades, mistress to none. After spending three years selling her non-fiction articles to websites and marketing firms, she is finally making the jump to fiction writing. Before choosing a career in writing, she made magic at the Walt Disney World Resort and performed as a Quality Technician for Alcoa. Armed with a B.A. in Political Science of all things, writing fiction is her next mountain to conquer. Originally from Virginia Beach, VA, her family now moves wherever the Navy sends them. Currently, the Navy needs her family in Connecticut. To contact Elizabeth, please visit her reader site: http://eawestwriting.comLike this:
Tags: Cancelled, Contemporary Romance, E.A. West, Novel, Reading, review
Thank you so much, Susi! Your review made my week! And I’m glad CANCELLED was an entertaining book. For all the MOMS who never get the remote control….I give you CANCELLED.
Thanks Elizabeth–it really was a fun book!
I love the idea of a romance from the man’s point of view! Would you believe I’ve never read one? Now, I have one to add to my reading list. Hooray!
Thanks ChipperMuse! I hope you like it. There were many times as I was writing that Johnathan was sounding a little female like in his thoughts, so I had to go back to the more male side of looking at things. I definitely based him off my husband’s penchant for compartmentalizing problems, for wanting to fix things right away, and for looking at romantic issues with a very pragmatic outlook. These aren’t negative aspects of a male falling in love, just different from how me and my girlfriends usually has things out, etc.
Great review! The male POV is such a great idea – and what a great story, too.