Must Have Been the Moonlight, by Melody Thomas

I've had Melody Thomas' Must Have Been the Moonlight in my TBR for a while, but though it looked tempting, I didn't pick it up until I read a review of Angel in My Bed at AAR. I was going to add that one to my wish list, but then I remembered a couple of unsuccessful "glomming-without-having-read"s, and very responsibly decided I'd read MHBTM first, and then, if I liked it, I'd get AIMB and probably the rest of the series (MHBTM is book # 2 in the Donnally series, and AIMB book #4).

To want him was madness ...

Far from home was the last place Brianna Donally ever imagined she'd find the one man she'd desire above all others. When Major Michael Fallon, the dangerously seductive British officer, rescues the bold beauty from certain doom, Brianna discovers a reckless passion she is unable to resist. But a fiercely independent female photographer could never make a proper bride for the grandson of a duke. And a bitter betrayal has locked love away from Michael's heart forever.

... to deny her was impossible.

And yet ... Michael cannot disregard these sensuous stirrings. Could it be the moonlight that has bewitched him ... or the intoxicating scent and touch of this remarkable, infuriatingly "modern" woman? Scandal would be the least consequence of their consummated passion -- there would be perils as well. For Michael will never settle for anything less than a true, intense, and all-consuming love.

Well, it's lucky I was so disciplined and responsible, because after over three weeks of carrying the book around with me all the time, I couldn't get past the first 150 pages. I did my best to finish it, even taking it with me on my commute to work. And if you have a half-hour ride with only one book in your purse and you end up staring out the window instead of reading it, it can only mean the book isn't working for you. So, regretfully, I must say this one was a DNF for me.

Why do I say regretfully? Because unlike other DNFs, where the problem usually is that I'm hating them too much to keep torturing myself, I didn't hate MHBTM. In fact, I very much wanted to like it... a proto-feminist, photographer heroine, an Egyptian setting, a fascinating hero...it sounds wonderful to me!

But there was just something in Thomas' writing style that kept kicking me out of the story. I can't pinpoint what, exactly, but I don't think I was able to read more than a couple of pages without my attention wandering.

Oh, well, I'll just chalk it up to not every author's style working for every reader, but it's irritating! I've read nothing but good things about this book and this author, and no one seems to have experienced the problems I did!