Alicia’s review of Wired by Liz Maverick
Urban Fantasy/SciFi romance released 3 Jul 07 by Dorchester Shomi

This is the first book in Dorchester’s new line, Shomi. Since I’m always looking for serious SciFi Romance, I have kept tabs on their website from the day I heard about it.

I read the first chapter of Wired before it was released and couldn’t stand the wait to be able to finish the book. I hate that the reviews I’ve seen (even Publishers Weekly!) give a spoiler! I don’t care that the scene is in the first chapter. It is just so much better to let it unfold properly! When I read it, during the time that Roxy doesn’t know who the men are, I didn’t either. That’s the way it should be! That first scene is just so wonderful! Many things happen in that short time that make you go “what?!” and are explained later in the book. Why mess it up?

At first I thought this book would be like Terminator but it isn’t. This book is like a cross between the movies Frequency and Paycheck. A lot more about the puzzle of changing the past than about the action scenes. I absolutely loved this aspect of it.

I usually have trouble with books written in the first person. This book kept me so captivated I totally forgot it was first person. If I had any problem, it was wanting so badly to know what was going to happen next that my eyes would jump ahead and I’d have to drag myself back to where I was. The first person POV was essential to this book because Roxy doesn’t know who to trust. Seeing either of the other main characters’ thoughts would have ruined this, entirely.

Character growth is important to me and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a character grow more in one book than Roxy does in Wired. She sees herself as helpless, paralyzed by fear, at the beginning of the book. The lady at the end of the book would seem to be another person entirely, except we saw her become that person.

Ms Maverick’s imagination is superb. I liked the smartie. It seems like the direction technology could go. I loved the motoway. The idea of motorcycle/roller coasters replacing most city traffic is very cool.

Now for the cons. Please remember that as bad as this part may sound, I did enjoy the book. It’s almost like I’d have half the book rated A++ and the other half rated C-. The negatives are pretty bad.

• First, Roxy behaves in some pretty unbelievable ways, at times. She just seems to let it go way too easily that someone has tried to kill her. She doesn’t just trust them, she jumps right into romantic feelings for them. Even if she’s confused about who’s the bad guy, it would be much more natural for her to be immune to any advances, not drawn. She also does something, at one point, to make herself and one of the guys unable to respond to any threat in a capable manner.
• The romance is, actually, really weak. There was nothing that showed me either H/H actually loved each other. I liked the hero but I didn’t see any explanation for some of the things he did. We’re supposed to accept he had some kind of good reason, or that it wasn’t what it seemed, but it wasn’t nearly enough for me.
• There were, also, a lot of scenes where things just happen. They almost seem like they were, maybe, stripped to cut word count or something. There’s little description or explanation, just this is what happened. And often they were things that I felt wouldn’t work. So, I’m wondering if Ms. Maverick had a good explanation that she took out or if she couldn’t make the scene work, so just skimmed over it. These scenes felt like a different style of story than the rest of the book. More James Bond than Paycheck.
• The end of the book is in this second style, and I found it a little unsatisfying.

Overall there were so many positives about this book that even though it had a few flaws that will put some people completely off, I would recommend it. If you can just accept stuff and enjoy the ride, it’s still fun.

Grade: B-

From the back cover:

     Seconds aren’t like pennies. They can’t be saved in a jar and spent later. Fate seeps through cracks and shifts like fog. Pluck a second out of time or slip an extra one in, the consequences will change your life forever. Is the man you love really the man you think you know, or is there a version of your life in which he’s your enemy? If you didn’t know who or what you were before, would you take a chance on becoming that person again?

     L. Roxanne Zaborovsky is about to discover fate is comprised of an infinite number of wires, filaments that can be manipulated, and that she’s not the one at the controls. From the roguishly charming Mason Merrick—a shadow from her increasingly tenebrous past—to the dangerously seductive Leonardo Kaysar, she’s barely holding on. This isn’t a game, and the pennies are rolling all over the floor. Roxy just has to figure out which are the ones worth picking up.

     Read an excerpt.