Overseas
By Beatriz Williams
Release Date: May 10, 2012
When twenty-something Wall Street analyst Kate Wilson attracts the notice of the legendary Julian Laurence at a business meeting, no one’s more surprised than she is. Julian’s relentless energy and his extraordinary intellect electrify her, but she’s baffled by his sudden interest. Why would this handsome British billionaire—Manhattan’s most eligible bachelor—pursue a pretty but bookish young banker who hasn’t had a boyfriend since college?
The answer is beyond imagining . . . at least at first. Kate and Julian’s story may have begun not in the moneyed world of twenty-first-century Manhattan but in France during World War I, when a mysterious American woman emerged from the shadows of the Western Front to save the life of Captain Julian Laurence Ashford, a celebrated war poet and infantry officer.
Now, in modern-day New York, Kate and Julian must protect themselves from the secrets of the past, and trust in a true love that transcends time and space.
Review: I was really excited when I won this from Librarything Early Reviewers because it sounded so awesome! A time-traveling romance for fans of The Time Traveler's Wife? Yes please! Once I read it, though, it did not live up to the high expectations I had.
The main problem for me was the length. This book ended up being 454 pages and things only happened in like half the book. The two main characters, Kate and Julian, are likable enough and their romance is so sweet, but they will talk about the same exact thing for 20 pages straight, only to end up right where they started. So many many pages could have been spared and nothing would have been lost from the story.
About the romance though, it was very sweet! You could tell they really loved each other and I liked how their relationship was so strange with the whole time travel business. It's obvious Kate is a very independent woman who doesn't define herself by a man, so I really liked that about her character. That being said, it was kind of annoying how she let Julian hole her up for months on end for her "safety." Yeah, love changes people, but I didn't want her to be that cliche character. She talks about how she changes because of him, but that should have made her realize she was changing and she should have regained at least some independence.
The secondary characters were really enjoyable though! Charlie was really funny and I wished we saw more of him. He was the really sarcastic, speak before you think best friend and he was just a good comic relief. Kate's family was fun too, especially when they came and visited her. What I didn't get, though, was Kate's roommate. Kate always complained about there, but I don't even remember if we ever met her because she was always out of the apartment when Kate was there. It was just weird to reference a character so much without actually having the reader meet them.
Anyways, though the idea was cute and romantic, Overseas fell short in its actual execution. The story was too drawn out and the characters needed to be more unique and true to themselves. It was enjoyable enough, but I would only pick this book up if you don't really have anything else to read.
The synopsis captured my attention but your review has me thinking library read at best. I need characters that are well fleshed out and while the length doesn't scare me the fact that it was unnecessary does. Awesome review
ReplyDelete