Anyone know what her next release is about? I was on her website but didn’t read anything on it…

And I guess I don’t see how you can’t get the same sense of the character from the inside with First Person Past tense. I still think love scenes written in First Person (Past) sound a little silly, but overall, I enjoy First Person Past tense just as well as Third Person Past tense. It’s the Present tense that makes me crazy!

I think this is where the skill of the author comes in. Because first person present is an artifice, as the author is ultimately writing the story and has the entirety of the book and the character’s growth plotted out. So it comes down to how to balance that sense of immediacy and limited POV that one would have in the present with another level of awareness and significance that moves the character forward in a way that makes her story compelling and allows the reader to put together inferences that exceed what’s actually on the page. It also helps, IMO, when you have a character like Chastity who is self-aware enough to escape inanity but not so omniscient that she seems to have complete control over every element of her story.

Please do try, though. It’s so worth it. At first I was thinking, “Oh, how refreshing,”

I can try, but my first thought when I started reading wasn’t “how refreshing”, it was “how immature”! To me - and quite obviously from this review, not every has the same feeling for this voice ;-) - First Person Present reads like a high-school bubblehead telling the story of her day.

“Then, like, we go to the mall, and then I say, ‘Hey, do you think I’ll look good in this dress?’ And she goes, ‘Definitely!’ And then I see Justin, and I say ‘Dude! I thought you were grounded.’ And he laughs and tells me he snuck out.” Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

It pulls me out of the story. And if I forget for a second, it doesn’t take more than a few seconds for me to get pulled right back out again. It’s my own fault for not reading the sample quote included with this review. The story appealed to me on its own merit, and I’ve been in the mood for something contemporary and sweet, so I headed over to Fictionwise without finishing the review.

And I guess I don’t see how you can’t get the same sense of the character from the inside with First Person Past tense. I still think love scenes written in First Person (Past) sound a little silly, but overall, I enjoy First Person Past tense just as well as Third Person Past tense. It’s the Present tense that makes me crazy!

Effortlessly funny, perfectly balanced on the knife’s edge between Romance and chick lit, romantic but not in the way you’d always expect. Loved it. Laughed so hard at one point I was crying. And I can’t imagine this book in anything but first person present, because IMO you need to understand Chastity from the inside out to make her story so compelling and fulfilling. And I did not feel like the limitations in POV for other characters limited the romantic aspects of the book. In some ways, I think it heightened the romantic tension. And did I say funny? This book reminded me of the critical difference between a book that has funny elements and a book that’s truly funny without feeling forced or appearing artificial or relying on exploitive tricks. The ending felt a bit like the book just dropped off a cliff (thus I agree with the A-), and there’s a time frame problem for me in the Epilogue (something happens that really shouldn’t happen for about six more weeks), but overall, it was a thoroughly entertaining and often poignant read.

I can’t get past the first six paragraphs. It’s already driving me crazy!

Please do try, though. It’s so worth it. At first I was thinking, “Oh, how refreshing,” and then it sucked me in better than third person past could have done. I was there, in her head, in her body, seeing it through her eyes and feeling it through her soul.

Which, naturally, made me a basketcase weepy wreck all day with my kids going, “Mommy, whassa matter? You got owwies?”

The one thing I’m not wild about is how fast the end of Catch of the Day came - not just because I was enjoying it, but because too little of the hero’s perspective was revealed. I mean, I know he’s not much of a talker, but some kind of detail/epilogue would have been nice.

Yes, ditto.

I can get past the first six paragraphs. It’s already driving me crazy!

@#!*(%