CANCELLED, Elizabeth Ann West (5 stars)

From Amazon: "What the hell did you send me home with last night?"

Robotics engineer Johnathan Michaels knows all about biding his time. For three years he's worked next to his best friend and idea of a perfect woman, Alexis Rodriguez. Their friendship sparks into something more while saving the company's first multi-million dollar contract and Johnathan's life appears to be on track for perfection. A successful company, a budding romance...until a previous one-night stand appears to return Johnathan's shirt. Pregnant. And it's his.

Now Johnathan's scrambling to keep up at work, keep his love life alive, and deal with his impending fatherhood. How long can he keep it all going before his love life is CANCELLED?

CANCELLED bends the rules of contemporary romance and chick-lit with a male POV and a twist on the ending.

Girl loves boy, boy acts elusive, girl wins him over, and they sail into the sunset. Romance books have a formula. That’s not necessarily always bad. Anything well written is worth reading, but what an extraordinary surprise to find an entertaining and beguiling romance novel with a male point of view and not so standard formula.

Johnathan is unabashedly in love with his coworker. Has been for years. They’ve been playing a tango of dating the wrong people while avoiding their true feelings. They finally come together, but there’s one problem . . . Johnathan recently woke up to an unknown woman in his bed, a woman who is now pregnant with his baby.

Never have I become so attached to a male character in a romance novel. Normally the men are cardboard cutouts and barely fleshed out. In CANCELLED, you see Johnathan struggling with the right thing to do. He puts family first, thanks to an unconventional upbringing. He avoids his psycho mother like the plague, while fully embracing his stepmother, Anna, as family. Anna quickly became one of my favorite characters in the book, outside of Johnathan of course.

Johnathan is so expertly layered; the reader gets to see his conflicts at work and in love while also watching him make difficult choices. He’s not perfect, but I was rooting for him from early on. It was so refreshing and rare to be rooting for the man in a romance/chick-lit novel. Plus the ending definitely defies the romance formula, and I loved it. Not giving away anything more here.

I highly recommend this to readers who enjoy romance but are looking for something outside the standard cookie cutter story. This story is a breath of fresh air in a sometimes stale genre. And I say that as someone who enjoys a good romance every now and again. I just want them well written and interesting. This one certainly fits the bill.

Rating: A squealing 5 stars!

*****

I’m thrilled to be hosting Elizabeth on my Depression Cookies blog today as part of her CANCELLED eBook Signing Tour. She is talking about writing resolutions and giving away signed eBook copies of CANCELLED.

I met Elizabeth Ann West through A Round of Words in 80 Days. She is one of those writers you immediately bond with because she’s so giving and supportive. To now love her book brings me full circle.

Hop on over to my blog, read her post, and leave a comment. Kickstart 2012 with a great read!

WWW Wednesdays: So Many Wonderful Choices

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…
• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading:

Emeralds Never Fade, Stephen Maitland-Lewis

Intriguing and engrossing so far. I'm only 45 pages in, but it's clear there's heartache ahead. I hope there's some triumph to balance it out, but the subject matter could go either way. A mother's emerald necklace seems key, and I know very little so far.

Recently Finished:

Turning Point, Melissa Luznicky Garrett

5 stars. Amazing! So not what I was expecting. A tale rich in characters and plot, I couldn't put it down once the really meaty part kicked in less than one-third of the way through.

"Jenna discovers there’s a liar in La Grange, and he’s deceived everyone. Now she must decide whether to run away from the truth, or blow his secret wide open." This teaser, from Melissa's press release, in no way prepares you for the deception and secrets exposed in the book.

A full review will hopefully be up in the next day or so. I'm a bit behind in reviews, since I still haven't posted my Henrietta Lacks one. But I promise to get on it!

Will Read Next:

So many wonderful choices. I want to read another one by Melissa Foster and Melissa Luznicky Garrett, but also want to mix it up.

Drum roll... next is Cancelled by Elizabeth Ann West. I met Elizabeth through A Round of Words in 80 Days. Always on the ball and giving, I can't wait to read her book. It's been on my list to buy for a long time, so imagine my happy squeals when I was able to pick it up for 99 cents at last week's launch party for Melissa Foster's Come Back to Me.

Find out more about Elizabeth here.

I've also committed to reading Stephen King's On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. I hope it lives up to the hype.

Looking forward to hearing from other readers. What are you reading?