Review: Collide by Megan Hart

LOVING the cover!!!

Title: Collide

Series: n/a

Genres/Themes: contemporary romance, time travel, "age ain't nothin' but a number"

Author: Megan Hart

Excerpt: (at author website)

Quick Take:

Absolutely loved this story; it has a speculative element to it but really focuses on the emotion of the characters. Aside from taking some exception to certain plot points, I feel that this book is a unique, touching, intense, and sexy contemporary romance.

Book Description (via Goodreads):

A childhood accident left Emmaline vulnerable to disturbing fugue states that last only minutes, but feel like an eternity. The blackouts are unsettling but manageable…until she meets Johnny Dellasandro.
The reclusive painter gained notoriety in the '70s for his debauched lifestyle and raunchy art films. His naked body has achieved cult status, especially in Emm's mind—she's obsessed with the man, who's grown even sexier with age. Today Johnny shuns the spotlight and Emm in particular…until she falls into a fugue on his doorstep.
     In that moment she's transported back thirty years, crashing a party at Johnny's place in his wild-man heyday— the night is a blur of flesh and heat that lingers on her skin long after she's woken to the present.
     It happens again and again, each time-slip another mind-blowing orgy, and soon Emm can't stop, though every episode leaves her weaker and weaker. She's frightened by what's happening to her, but she's even more terrified of losing this portal to the Johnny she wants so badly. The one who wants her, too, and takes her—every chance he gets.

Review:

I'll start with the punchline: this book is one awesome piece of romantic fiction. It is intensely sweet, but  it somehow avoids being sacharine. It's so very sexy, yet it is not one random smex fest. It's got speculative elements, but they do not overpower the fantastic emotional development of the characters. Really, none of the aforementioned aspects overpowers the book; it's got a balanced blend of the three, one that kept my nose glued to the pages (or screen, whatever ^_^).

I don't know how to classify this book. One might call it a time-travel romance, but it's not quite, even though there is an element of time travel. The more understandable stuggles of illness, recklessness, fame, and inner demons are key in this story. The time travel, really, is just a vehicle to move the two main characters closer; and I love that. This is the type of book that would appeal to moviemakers because of the very attractive themes. But then, it would probably never be as good on a screen due to the original material's wonderful use of language and its (delightfully) complicated web of plot.

Hot diggity, main character Johnny Dellasandro was smexy as hell in both iterations: his 70s self and his present-day self. The self-confidence and overt sexuality in his younger days is highly magnetic, and the more profound, quietly artistic nature found in his later years is subtly intriguing. One of the most biggest questions that persisted while reading this story was, "what in the world caused such a profound shift in character?" It made for a very compelling reading experience, watching protagonist Emmaline attempt to figure that out.

Now, I can't ignore that there were some small bits that rankled or at least confused me. It didn't really have to do with continuity, but rather one minor-ish character. This person--whose death completely changes Johnny, shaping him into the man he is in present day--seemed to have a plot thread of sorts, which looked to be progressing at certain points in the overall story, before kind of dropping off unceremoniously at the end. Looking back at the element, I feel as though some of these scenes with this character might as well have been dropped altogether in favor of a superficial cameo or two. Heck, there was even a bit that sort of insinuated the heroine might have exacerbated the character's broken mental state that led to his suicide. Why introduce that and then sort of lead it nowhere? Ah, well. That would pretty much be the extent of my issues with the book.

I will so be rereading this at some point in the future. It's such a beautiful, romantic, complex story, and I would easily recommend it to both spec fic lovers and romance lovers interested in something a bit different.

Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

"I really liked it!"