Bookit Review: More then ‘Just’ Friends

Title: More then Just Friends Author: Mia Ford Edition: Ebook (Kindle Unlimited) Publication Date: July 6,2019 Grade: C Bookit # 33 This novel turned out to be one of those with a lot of promise but not so good follow through. I feel with a strong editor many of my issues with this book could be solved. The premise is not horrible. The story is of Jay and Naomi, who end up having a casual relationship. She wants it because she has issues with his job (he is in the military and the idea of putting herself in the position to maybe loose him is not something she wants to do), and he agrees because he wants something more and sees this as a step in that direction. The issues are more with the flow of the book. This book has many many time jumps. It also has parts that are overly detailed (the first chapter for one) and parts that are under developed. There are a few scenes where you find yourself randomly in the middle of a scene you hadn’t expected after the last scene. It makes the book feel like it was a bunch of scenes written and no time was spent on making them flow together. It also takes away from the story of the romance, which since this is a romance novel is quite important. Its hard to see anything developing when you skip over large periods of time. There are two subplots in this story that also seem disconnected with the rest of the story. Jay dealing with his PTSD and the fact he is randomly a MMA fighter in his spare time. The MMA storyline doesn’t start till halfway through the book when randomly his dad shows up with a gambling problem and Jay has to fight one more fight. It seems like an unnecessary plot line that maybe was bigger in an original outline but wasn’t as developed in the final product. The PTSD was brief and easily fixed which seems…unlikely. Naomi also has a second love interest in Tucker, but that seems to disappear after a bit, which like the MMA fighting seems to be a plot arc perhaps dropped in the final product. Overall, it was not unreadable, but I feel it needs a turn with a good editor and some time with the author without hurrying for a deadline. The Author is quite prolific but I haven’t read any of her other novels (that I remember) so perhaps it is just this particular one.