Review: BLINDFOLDED INNOCENCE (Innocence, #1) by Alessandra Torre

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Book summary:

"I'm not sure what you have been told about me, but I'm not nearly as bad as they make me out to be." His deliciously deep voice carried a little bit of ego.

I'm sure you are exactly as bad as they make you out to be….

Brad De Luca is used to getting whatever and whomever he wants. The premier divorce attorney in town, he's a playboy who's bedded half the city—including his own clients. And when the newest intern at his firm poses a challenge, his seductive prowess goes into overdrive.

Pre-law student Julia Campbell is fresh off a failed engagement and happy with her new independence. Even if she weren't warned away from Brad at every turn, she'd know he was bad news. The last thing she needs is a man who could destroy her job prospects, not to mention her innocence. But before she knows it, the incorrigible charmer has her under his spell. His deviant tastes plunge her deep into a forbidden world of sexual exploration…but her heart may not survive the fall.

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 My rating:  ✮✮

My review:

My experience with Alessandra Torre's books has been a positive one, so it kind of came as a surprise to me that this book didn't continue that. This was the author's first book, but I am so glad it was not the first book by her I read, because it may have made me stay away from her work. Yeah, unfortunately, this book did not work for me at all.



Going in I knew this book was first published in that dark time when a lot of erotic romance novels were influenced too much by Fifty Shades of Grey, and sure enough I could feel that while reading Blindfolded Innocence, another story about a young, innocent student and a hot billionaire with a secret.



I'd say the heroines I've found in A. Torre's books so far were strong, cunning, they knew what they wanted and they went for it, and they were very sexually open--that was another aspect of their lives where they knew what they wanted and they went for it. So finding Julia in an A. Torre book was rather baffling. To tell you the truth, the best way I could describe Julia would be: annoying. The woman started getting on my nerves on page one and didn't stop until the very end. The way she talked about herself and others was infuriating. She described herself as a being practically a saint (in regards to her sexual history), and her friends basically as sluts. Julia's game was going home with various men, getting them all worked-up, desperate for her, and then stopping everything and leaving. Apparently she liked the power trip, but how long could she have done that before she ran into someone who wouldn't accept the party was over? That's some risky business there, and it wasn't the only risky thing she did. Also, she said that got her off, except she never actually got off (until Brad, of course), something I found very odd with Julia. The only thing I kind of liked about her was that she didn't seem to fall under Brad's charms too much. Kind of. Mostly, I found her annoying (which I already mentioned), judgmental, and very inconsistent. I wish that in the process of editing and expanding this book before its rerelease those mentions of her subconscious were deleted. They just screamed Anastasia Steele, and when subconscious smacked Julia, I wanted to do the same.



Before reading, I have seen much drooling over Brad de Luca, so I was looking forward to meeting him. Sadly, his character left me indifferent. His traits and actions failed to get a reaction from me. His womanizing ways did manage to piss me off once, and it was the situation with him and Julia's boss's wife. That was so not cool. Other than that, nothing. Not even the fact he's into swinging got to me. With so many stories and rumors surrounding him I expected a man a lot different than the one that Julia spent time with. Like Julia, I found him inconsistent. Or maybe she was just too self-absorbed to see him for what he is. Whatever it was I didn't like it.



Julia & Brad together... What can say about that? To make long story short, I thought they met too late in the book, got together too soon, moved too fast, got too personal too soon (and really who shares such personal information with people who are practically strangers to them), and just the flow of their so called relationship felt unnatural.



The two of them, seemed to me like they were characters who were trying to break free from the mold that was popular at the time, and the roles that were making them miserable, all to become the type of characters I've encountered in later A. Torre's books, characters that felt much more comfortable in their own skin. I could be way off on this, but that's just the vibe I got.



To be honest, the only person I liked in this book was Julia's boss, the hard-working man who everyone liked to call boring.

However, even with all of these issues, I am continuing with this series, and I will make it to the end. Why? Because I've read many reviews saying books two and three are much, much better, and since they were written much later that this one, when the author published some other books I really enjoyed, I'm inclined to believe those reviews. I hope I'm right.



Let's continue!

 

XOXO