Ami's Hoard

Personally, I found almost the first 2/3rd part of the story to be long winded and a touch of the 'same-old same old'. While both Samuel and Ryan were likeable as characters, but their attraction didn't do much for me. MAYBE, because they were both young (only in their early 20s) so that I couldn't connect with them.

Or maybe because despite their attraction, there was one huge secret that Ryan kept from Samuel (Ryan was a bodyguard who was assigned to be Samuel's protective detail) which foreshadowed the climax. I knew that Samuel would react badly when he found out. I knew that Samuel would see it as betrayal. So the whole thing in the beginning, was a bit boring for me (which you could see that it took me almost 4-days to get back to the story after reading it for about 25%). I was simply waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Actually the story picked up a bit after that incident which forced Ryan to reveal himself. Yes, there was drama and angst after that, but to me, it injected the much needed booster to help me get to the very end. It was very much needed and probably why I could still categorized this as my 3*.

The ending was not what I would call HEA. And why would the chapter called as "Epilogue" when it was simply a continuation of the previous chapter (only several minutes after!)? To me, epilogue should at least wrap up all loose ends, a closure. Here, it didn't feel like so. It could be just another chapter *shrugs*.

In addition, I am not a huge fan of how Ms. Detand writes the story in alternate views but in such quick turnaround. Like few paragraphs from Samuel's then switched to Ryan's ... sometimes only two paragraphs in between. I couldn't create strong attachment to the characters that way.

Random musing ...
I noticed that Dani talked about the mishaps in Ryan's age / timeline. Yeah, that bothered me too. Because if Ryan was 24 years old, then him being 13 years old was in 2004. Meanwhile the Rwanda Genocide happened in 1994. It felt like maybe the story was written a decade ago and the author forgot to change this particular detail?

Also, Ryan was very apt into the movie Noting Hill. Just a note, Noting Hill came out in 1999. Which means Ryan was only, what, 8 years old? From the 'young people' I know who are in their 20s, they are probably more in tune with romantic movies made in late 2000s? Just an opinion *double shrugs*