One Night (One Night #1) by A.M. Willard

Title: One Night
Series: One Night #1
Author: A.M. Willard
Genre: Romance/Adult

Maturity Rating: 17+

My Quickie Synopsis: Angela Stephens is beginning to realize that she's at a standstill in her marriage with Christopher; their jobs have them constantly traveling, and they rarely see each other these days. Planning on rekindling her relationship with Christopher, Angela is derailed by a handsome stranger she meets on a business trip. Will she be able to resist his charm, or will she succumb to an offer of one night?

Enjoyment Factor:
I want to tackle a couple of things before I get into the reasoning behind this rating. First and foremost, I probably would not have had this novella on my radar if it weren't for a friend's recommendation. This is a new author, and I'm going to go on a limb and say that my friend is acquainted with Ms. Willard and wanted to help spread the word about her debut. Secondly, I'm not going to give One Night an overall rating or a technical rating; it isn't because I don't think it's deserving of one, but rather that I don't think there's much to go on at this point. If I read the next two novellas I'll give the full series an overall rating and a true technical rating.

I'm not trying to be a jerk; I really do understand that it's not easy to write a book!

So, why did I give this only two stars? The writing, the writing, the writing. I think the plot itself has potential, and the characters are likable enough; however, it's all wrapped up in some very awkward and stiff writing. Honestly, it was to the point where I had difficulty reading through. There was a great deal of telling instead of showing. Don't tell me what your character is going to do, just show the action. It's a waste of valuable page real estate to have a character explain what they are going to do before they do it, especially if it's something as mundane as taking a shower. The dialogue wasn't as consistent as it could have been; there were times where contractions weren't used and they should have been. It would be one thing if you had a character who never used contractions because they're supposed to be "proper," but when the voice of the character isn't consistent, it creates a stilted read. I do feel that One Night could benefit from another round of editing; misuse of commas, missing commas, run-on sentences, and a slew of other grammatical errors plagued the story. Regardless of the length, I just can't get into a story that has such rough writing.

My Icing on Top:
I really don't like giving books low ratings, especially when it's a book that comes recommended. It makes me feel like I'm being so disloyal! That being said, I do believe that Ms. Willard has potential. I think that with a bit more polish and more writing under her belt, she could really go far. I would recommend this book to fans of the adult romance genre who aren't particular about grammatical errors; as I said before, the story itself is okay, it was just the presentation that I took issue with.

Check out my informal review on Goodreads!

Happy reading!

-K