NATURAL SELECTION

Author: Bill Dare ISBN: 0425208834 4/2006 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: BERKLEY

James has made a science of trying to find out: what turns women on, and why? For example, there is sweet, pretty, vivacious Victoria, who he's pined after for years and finally tricked into loving him. He doesn't understand why she would be with him, a bit of a bore with an embarrassingly stalled career, when she can be with his best friend, Stefan. Stefan is clearly the superior mate. Anyone who knows the first thing about natural selection could see that Stefan and Victoria belong together. So being it's only a matter of time before they realize it themselves. James decides it's only fair to help them along.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

I will start by saying that I really enjoyed the way this story is written. James, our hero, is telling the story directly to the reader and the sections of dialogue between James and the reader are witty and refreshing. However, as much as I tried I could not connect with James. I could relate to many of the situations he found himself in, but his whiny outlook simply irritated me. Halfway through the book and after hours of listening to James' self-pity, I found myself wishing he would just leap from a bridge and put us both out of our misery. (There's only so much whining a girl can take.)

Perhaps if I was a guy, I could better relate to the character of James. It could be that guys view things differently than I thought. This story might just be the male equivalent of chic lit. If that's the case, then the author, Bill Dare, hit the nail on the head. However, since I am not a man (thankfully), I can't give an accurate account from the male perspective.

If you can get past James' irritating personality then this is probably a worthwhile read. Let me warn you—this is not the typical hero women are looking to sweep them off their feet when they sit down to read a romance novel.

Amanda Rutherford