Reviews

Winter Bloom by Tara Heavey

rebelbelle13's review against another edition

2.0

Well, this was uninspiring. There's nothing about this book that stands out to me and I will remember it for. It simply exists. It did nothing interesting or memorable. The characters were wooden and without depth. There were so many of them with the same personality I was confused as to who was who. The relationships didn't feel real. Sheila is attracted to Jerry in the beginning (ok, why?) and accepts an offer to fly all the way down to Mexico on the off-chance she might see him again, and drops him just as quickly as she was initially obsessed. Then she starts hanging out with Tony (one of the Ortega sons) and seems disinterested, and then at the end is willing to die for him? That type of sacrifice isn't earned, not even a little. I had no idea she had romantic feelings for him until the last minute. The relationship never blossomed. It didn't have a chance to, and I didn't care about it or believe in it. The mystery aspect should have been fleshed out more as well. There wasn't enough to get me engaged in the story, in the history of Mexico or the treasure that they were supposed to be after. Who is this guy who just showed up 2/3 of the way through? Why do we care? Many of the motivations of the characters were also confusing. I think this book would have been so much better had more been added- both in the way of character depth, relationship growth, and backstory of the characters and history of the treasure. As it stands, it read quickly, it was a fine distraction, but it wasn't very good.

gasoline_allie's review against another edition

3.0

I felt like Sheila was a bit cowardly. At the very least, she spent the first half of the book avoiding confrontation. That made it somewhat implausible to me that she would stick around and investigate when the mystery started heating up. Add to that the poorly timed romance elements and my feelings about the book are just "meh."

debjazzergal's review against another edition

2.0

I've read a lot of this author's works. This one just didn't capture me like some of the others.

judythereader's review against another edition

3.0

Set in the early 80s, Egyptologist Sheila Ramsey meets another archaeologist at a seminar and becomes fascinated enough that, when her museum offers a free trip to Mexico City, she jumps at the chance. While staying with the Lopezes, patrons of her museum she hears a cry in the night and goes to investigate.

This book has twists and turns, but until the end, the danger seems almost gentle. This is a throwback to that category of books for women, the gothic. A category I often enjoyed by the way.

If I hadn’t read the cover, I would have thought I was reading an Elizabeth Peters, although I think a few other masters (or mistresses) are touched on. Hart has always had an understanding and appreciation of her fellow writers and this homage shows her easy writing.

That being said, it was kind of “lite”. I know that goes with the style. It was a fun, easy read. A happy ending sundae for all you Friendly’s fans, instead of a Jim Dandy.