REVIEW: The Duality Principle by Rebecca Grace Allen

Liviania’s review of The Duality Principle (Portland Singles, Book 1) by Rebecca Grace Allen
Contemporary erotic romance published by Samhain 11 Nov 2014

I am unashamedly nerdy.  I liked school.  So I was drawn to a romance starring a heroine who is a PhD student, whose work in mathematics informs her world view.  Gabriella Evans seemed like a pretty cool girl to me.  And it might be a cliche, but the nerdy girl falls for bad boy romance is like catnip to me.  Especially when the summary hints that the nerdy girl has a bad girl side that isn’t satisfied.

This novella is Rebecca Grace Allen’s first published work, and I think it is a sign of good things to come.  There are a few rough edges.  I think the in-book explanation of the duality principle (a real thing in mathematics) is very misleading.  I wonder why a doctoral student had an entire free summer.  I boggle that a modern woman thinks spanking and hair pulling are kinks that she’ll never find a man to fulfill.  There are dating sites for that.  (I’ll grant her that the outdoors sex kink is a bit more outre.)  But I was generally able to ignore these things while reading because the characters spark off of each other so well.

Gabriella, as mentioned above, is mildly kinky.  She’s just broken up with a long-term boyfriend her family loved, because the sex was awful.  She reluctantly agrees to go on a blind date, even though she’s not ready to get back into the dating pool, mostly because she’s afraid she’ll never find someone she can love and have good sex with, because past boyfriends have shamed her for her wants.  Meanwhile, Connor Starks is also reluctant to go on a blind date.  He has a wild past, but he’s trying to move past it and become the kind of man you can bring home to your parents.  In other words, he’s pretending to be exactly what Gabriella doesn’t want.

The chemistry between them is immediate, electric, and tries Connor’s resolve – to Gabriella’s satisfaction.  I found it briefly aggravating that Connor isn’t understanding that Gabriella is miffed by him stopping things when they get a bit wild while out on dates, not by him initiating things in an inappropriate place.  But it is worth it for the moment when he realizes what is going on and shows that he has been paying attention to what she’s saying and doing; it just takes awhile to sink in.  The Duality Principle is plenty steamy, none moreso than when the heroine is saying what she wants and the hero listens.

I think the novella length is perfect for The Duality Principle.  It means that the conflict doesn’t outstay its welcome, but there’s still more time than in a short story to establish the emotional connection between Gabriella and Connor.  It isn’t just about sex; that’s just a facet of their relationship (albeit one they value).  If you’re looking for a nerdy heroine, you could read much worse.

Grade: B+

Summary:

Sometimes A + B = O. Yes. Oh, yes. Just like that.

Gabriella Evans’s life exists in terms of logic and definitions. She’s holed up in Portland, Maine, for the summer to work on her PhD thesis, but something is screwing up her concentration: the rumble of a motorcycle every time the embodiment of her rough-and-tumble fantasies rides down her street.

When her best friend talks her into a blind date, she finds herself out with the opposite of her fantasy. He’s polite and well-mannered, yet something behind his crisply tailored shirt doesn’t add up—a rebellious gleam in his eye that piques her curiosity.
Orphaned at fifteen, Connor Starks has finally put the years of failing grades, breaking laws and breaking hearts behind him. The only holdover? His penchant for getting down and dirty in public places. But Gabriella makes him want to prove he’s become a better man.

Nothing intrigues Gabriella more than a problem she can’t solve. But the more Connor tries to bury his past, the more determined she is to uncover it. And what she finds makes all her trusty logic begin to fail her…
Product Warnings

This book contains a summer romance, dirty talk, dockside kissing, motorcycles and tattoos. Features a rebellious nerdy girl with an appetite for outdoor sex and light spanking, and a bad boy who’s turned good…or at least he’s trying.

Read an excerpt here.