Alicia’s review of Driven by Eve Kenin
Sci-Fi/Speculative Romance released by Shomi on 28 Aug 07

Have you ever let a book get pushed off and pushed off? Not for any good reason, you just don’t get to it? When you finally read it did you ever really regret not reading it sooner? Sybil keeps asking me, “Have you read Driven, yet? You’re gonna’ love it!” Do I have to tell her she was right, again, or can we just keep this between us?

I finally picked up Driven because I wanted to get Sybil off my back it read before Hidden. I am now kicking myself for waiting because this is an awesome book. Plot, characters, dialogue, setting… all wonderful. Not to mention, finally I got a Shomi that’s not in first person!

Set in a post-apocalyptic future, Driven is a fast paced book. Things start happening at the very beginning and they don’t ever stop for long. The way
Kenin describes the scenes kept me enthralled. The massive machines these people were using to move across the arctic waste were real to me. They are almost characters in the story. The futuristic advances were just unusual enough to fascinate me but never enough to get in the way.

Raina is a tough woman. She’s a loner because she’s sick of losing people she cares about. She also has to keep a low profile because she’s hiding from a very powerful person. She just wants to enter this race, win the prize money and scoot outta’ town. Things aren’t going to go exactly the way she has planned.

Wizard, the hero, is unusual. You get the feeling he’s a little odd when you meet him. He only gets more so as you get to know him. That’s okay, though, because he’s great in the story and perfect for Raina. Quirky heroes are a passion of mine, especially when they have a strong moral code, are tough on bad guys and have a soft spot for kids. So what if he needs to learn a little about the definition of “romance”? (This last part refers to a scene that made me laugh until tears were streaming down my face.)

I usually try to list some of the good qualities of a book and some of the bad. I just can’t think of anything to put in the minus column, here. Maybe that it didn’t jump into my hands and demand to be read sooner?

Grade: A+

Read Gwen’s review here.

ROAD WARRIOR. Raina Bowen knows she can handle herself just fine against anything the harsh Northern Waste throws at her. Until it throws her an enigmatic stranger called Wizard. First, she has to haul him out of a brawl he can’t hope to win. And next, her libido is shooting into overdrive at the feel of his hard body pressed against hers on the back of her snowscooter. But there’s something not quite right about this guy. Before she can strip bare Wizard’s secrets, they’re lured into a race for their lives, battling rival truckers, ice pirates…and a merciless maniac with a very personal vendetta.

Read an excerpt.