Left at the Altar, by Justine Davis

Yesterday I read Left at the Altar, by Justine Davis, the sequel to her Stevie's Chase, which I enjoyed.

The only woman he'd ever wanted had left him standing at the altar without a backward glance. And there was no way in the world Sean Holt was going to allow her to hurt him again - no matter much he ached to let her into his shattered heart....

Aurora Sheridan had let herself be torn away from the man she loved - and she'd had five long years to regret it. And now, with her life in ruins, she had no one left to turn to but him - and nothing left to dream of but another chance at love....

I disliked this one quite violently. It was a D+ for me, the + being solely because I kind of liked Sean.

I know the "heroine sacrificing for daddy" is quite popular (just look at the sheer number of books which use that premise), but it's something I really, really hate. To add insult to injury, dear daddy was a real bastard, who supposedly loved his daughter but allowed her to sell herself to save him from humilliation, ruin, etc, yadda, yadda, yadda. Horrid.

The worst part was that from the way Aurora interacted with Sean in this book, the stupid martyr behaviour and her reactions to Talbot were completely out of character. I can take a heroine who's been victimized and who becomes stronger during the book, but that simply wasn't the case here.

Sean was ok, but his behaviour towards Rory didn't make much sense either. I felt he allowed their relationship to develop much too fast for a guy who has such obvious trust issues with her. And don't get me started on Talbot... what was his motivation? He just didn't seem to be obsessed with Rory, as his behaviour would indicate.

Even the resolution was horrible. That they didn't send Talbot to jail... it just boggles the mind. And why? To protect daddy's memory, of course. Arghhh!!! The guy's dead! Nothing can hurt him now! Plus, I'd think Talbot free would be a danger to them both. Stupid, horrible book.