Crazy Good – Rachel Robinson

Type: NA
Rating: 1 Star
Steamy: too graphic for my liking

What do you do when you are in the mood for men in uniform? Cyberstalk them at goodreads of course! I did so the other day and picked this book based on the good ratings. I. DO. NOT. TRUST. RATINGS. ON. GOODREADS. ANY. LONGER. Oh boy, this book was awful.

This review contains some spoilers:

What the official synopsis reads: Before there were bikers, or fighters, or even good old-fashioned jerks, there were Navy SEALs. They put the bad in badass because, well…it’s their job.

Navy SEAL Maverick Hart has everything. Women want him. Grown men idolize him. Little boys want to grow up and be like him. The job, the glory—it’s all his. Not because it’s handed to him…because he works hard for it. The second his sights lock on something, he owns it—or destroys it. Unfortunately he does both at the same time.

Windsor Forbes only takes calculated risks in her profession and in her personal life. After being left at the altar by the only person she’s ever loved, the very last thing she’s looking for is a relationship—especially the insane brand an arrogant Navy SEAL is offering. Hesitant, yet trusting to a fault, she gives in.

She knew she shouldn’t take the chance, especially a second time, but love is irrational and their love is perfect, infallible. Or so she thought…

The downfall to having everything is you have that much more to lose. A man like Maverick can’t have it all without something slipping out of grasp.

Crazy people perish for love.

Good people live for it.

Love doesn’t die. No matter how many bullets you put in it.

What I read: Gimme a break.

The story starts pretty good actually. The heroine rushes to the hospital to see the hero and finds out he is married. Then the story is told backwards. I love it when the story starts with the end and unfolds bit by bit. As brilliant as the beginning was, the rest of the book was just baaaaah.

The female lead – Windsor – is the epitome of a doormat. Contrary to the official synopsis she is not only wary because of some bad experience in the past, she has also major issues because of her size (I think it is size 14 or 16). In the beginning I felt for her because not only her past made her feel uneasy but also her body. But there is a certain thin line where whiney people get annoying. Windsor crossed this line after like 20 pages of the books. Think Tess from Tess of the D’Urbervilles (no, I am not seriously comparing classic literature with a light romance novel but it is the only other whiney character that was as annoying as this one that pops into my head right now). Well, Tess had at least some reason to complain all the time, Windsor has not.

The male lead Maverick (the Navy SEAL) on the other hand is the epitome of a character exaggeration. He was a bit too much of a cliché. He is this hard alpha male-male-male-male-the-most-male-of-them-all-that-eats-steroids-for-breakfast-oogah-oogah. Being this manly obviously requires a lot A LOT a lot of swearing. To be precise 472 times the f-word (I love the Kindle search function ;)), let alone the other not so nice words. I may be oversensitive here but I don’t like males that use foul language all the time.

To sum up: I am well aware that I am a minority here and that many people like this book a lot. I do not mean to offend anyone but the whiney heroine and the swearing hero are just not my cup of tea. Neither were the really explicit sex scenes.

BTW I am still looking for a good “men in uniform” romantic story I’d be more than happy to hear your recommendations.