4.5 out of 5 stars
“In His Corner” is a novella (139 pages) from author Vino Arno and I really enjoyed it. This is a steamier romance for those who are sensitive about that, but I wouldn’t necessarily put it in a super-steamy category.
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Synopsis:
An Emergency Medicine doctor from an upper-class East Coast upbringing meets a boxer who grew up in a working-class neighborhood in San Francisco. Together, the sparks fly, but being from two different backgrounds, it takes a lot of compromises on both sides to make things work between them.
Review:
I really enjoyed this story. In fact, the only reason it doesn’t get 5 out of 5 is it was lacking a “wow” factor or a significant emotional hook, which is part of my 5 star criteria. Even without those, it was a still a great story and I enjoyed it thoroughly!
Tommy, our boxer, and Siena, our doctor, are enjoyable characters. They’re surprisingly complex given the short length of the story. They’re perhaps not quite as well-rounded as I would expect in a longer novel, but the amount of complexity and detail that Ms. Arno does provides works well within the short length of the story. I liked them both a lot, though I liked Tommy just a little bit more. Siena’s great, but there are a couple of areas where her reactions to things are a bit more uptight than I expected. I don’t want to give any spoilers away, so that’s all I’m going to say about that!
The settings in this book were well-defined without being too wordy. I could easily visualize the places that Siena and Tommy were in, without being bored with the descriptions. It’s hard to obtain that balance and Ms. Arno does so splendidly. Similarly, the descriptions of clothing and other details were “just right” for me. I can be difficult to please in this area, but Ms. Arno hits that “sweet spot” throughout the whole story.
The story line in the book moved along at a decent pace. Even though it’s a short novel, I didn’t feel as if the story moved along so fast that I couldn’t keep up. Ms. Arno creates a compelling story line that doesn’t bog down nor does it move too fast.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would like to read more from Ms. Arno in the future! Pick it up and enjoy! Stay tuned for an interview with the author!
[I received a free copy of this book from the author/publisher in exchange for my fair and honest review. My review was not influenced by this, nor was I compensated for my review. All opinions and conclusions are my own.]
Valerie's Musings 