A Portrait for Toni (Annette Lyon)

Why I have this book: I like the author and the book showed up on Amazon at a good price...

This review pains me to write.

What a disappointment! I actually checked the publication date because I wondered if it was the author's first book. (It's not. It was published about two months ago.) I have enjoyed several of her other books, so I am really surprised at this one.

1) This book is an editing mess. So many mistakes. It's almost like it was a rough draft.

2) The protagonist has body image issues, yet her feelings for her male buddy change when she sees him without glasses (he switches to contacts) and when his shirt is off and she sees how "hot" he is. Seriously??? Are we in junior high? These two are in their late 20's. She can't see him as attractive with glasses on? Is he Clark Kent??? Give me a break. And how pathetic is it that she feels judged by how she looks, yet she suddenly is in love (lust) with her long time best friend when she sees him with his shirt off? She even says how she has been "turned on" all week since she saw him in only his towel. And really... best friends since junior high and she's never seen him without a shirt on or without his glasses on? Ugh.

3) The "other man" is so pathetic. The fact that Toni is even with him makes her pretty unlikeable.

4) The only decent and believable character is Brooke.

5) This book has several heavy topics and does not carry them well at all.

So... yeah. I'm not sure I could come up with anything decent to say about this book. I still wonder if this is the same Annette Lyon that wrote the other books I enjoyed. (It is.)

(Did I mention this is an LDS author who typically is published by an LDS publisher? The fact that this is published by Amazon Digital Services might explain why the editing is so bad (since it's a "self-publishing" service), and also why I was surprised by stuff that normally isn't in LDS fiction books.)

 There is some swearing in this book. There is also some talk that is about "putting out", being "turned on", etc.