Novel Review: Stern (The Westmoreland, #27) by Brenda Jackson

Rating (Out of 5): ~2

Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Harlequin Desire

Release Date: 2013

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Powells.

Goodreads Synopsis:

From New York Times bestselling author Brenda Jackson, comes a new trilogy starring three Westmorelands who are impossible to resist: Zane, Canyon and Stern. 

Stern Westmoreland never makes mistakes—until he helps his best friend Jovonnie "JoJo" Jones with a makeover…for another man. Now Stern wants JoJo for himself. Their attraction is undeniable and there's only one way to test it: one long, steamy night together as much more than friends!

Look for the other stories in Brenda Jackson's Westmoreland trilogy: ZANE and CANYON. Available now! And don't miss Brenda's 100th book, A MADARIS BRIDE FOR CHRISTMAS, available November 2013!

The Cover:

I actually kind of like this cover. It still goes with the typical adult romance cover, what with the guy being front and center, but he's not half naked, and he actually looks like he could be the main character. And it gives a good feel for it. Not a bad job.

Review:

I haven’t read any of the book in this series, or anything else by Brenda Jackson. I picked this up because it was cheap, thinking it sounded cute and hopefully steamy.

It starts out pretty good, the writing subtle, the characters entertaining. Jojo is in love with Stern, her best friend, and so decides to fall in love with someone else instead. Stern is very oblivious, throughout most of the novel, as his feelings start to develop to more. Jojo is also pretty oblivious, and her inexperience is pushed to the ridiculous.

I actually found the characters all right, and I liked Stern and some of the others. I liked their friends-to-lovers route. I did have a problem with their “practicing” kissing thing, though. That didn’t make sense on any level.

Given that this is such a huge series, I think it's good that the rest of the Westmoreland family wasn't mentioned too much. Since I haven't read any of the other books, their huge family tree was confusing, even given how little they were mentioned at all.

The more I read, though, the more the writing got on my nerves. I don’t know if it changed, or if I did. But it got a little more tell-than-show I think, and more exaggerated, like a teenage girl had written it. And then just some of the language, and the little use of contractions, got on my nerves, as it made it harder to read.

By the time I got to the end, I was happy to be finished with it. I thought about picking up another of her books, but now I don’t think I will.