Kristie J’s review of Love Online by Penelope Ward
Contemporary Romance published by Penelope Ward Books 25 Aug 18
Penelope Ward is an auto-buy author. While I’ve found some of her books don’t really work for me, when they do, they work very well. So when I saw this book just came out, I picked it up – what, with her being an auto-buy and such. This book definitely keeps her at that high status.
Ryder is our hero, and if this were an historical book, he’d be having ennui. But in a contemporary it would be world-weariness, boredom, that kind of thing. He’s rich, lives in a huge house, throws wild parties, and hobnobs with the famous. But he’s feeling his life is becoming meaningless. One evening, because he’s tired of parties and such and being a red-blooded male, he goes on the computer and heads to some porn sites. He’s taken by one site in particular and, strangely enough, it’s the fact that the ‘video girl’ has a picture of a violin in her profile that stops him from moving on, then logging in to check things out, and eventually connects with her. And because of the rather unusual relationship they are slowly developing, he gradually comes back to life. They share much more information than is usual in this kind of friendship to the point, where they exchange real names. Then Eden disappears and Ryder freaks. Because he doesn’t know anything about her other than her name, he imagines the worst, and based on a tiny clue, he follows that and goes in search of her. What he finds isn’t at all what he expected.
This book is all full of wonderful. One might be tempted to write Ryder off as some rich, spoiled young man, but he’s not. He appreciates and realizes that he has it better than most and he works hard trying to learn the business from his father who established it. And what he does and feels for Eden is so wonderfully sweet.
Eden is equally commendable. At first one might judge her for her career choice, but once we get to ‘know’ her better, she does have legitimate reasons for doing what she does.
This is another happy thumbs up book by this auto-buy author.
Grade: B+
Summary:
We met in the least likely of places. It started out innocently enough. I was “ScreenGod” and she was “Montana,” but of course, those weren’t our actual names, just the virtual cloaks we hid behind.
Logging in at night and talking to her was my escape—my sanctuary.
Her real name was Eden, I’d soon come to find out.
From the first time we connected online, I found myself transfixed.
She was an addiction.
At first, we knew nothing about each other’s real identities…and she was adamant that we keep things that way. Anonymity had no effect on our unstoppable chemistry, though. If anything, it allowed us to open up even more in ways we may not have otherwise.
Eden was funny, intelligent, gorgeous—everything I’d ever wanted in a woman.
But I couldn’t really have her.
I had accepted things would have to stay the way they were—until the day I found a clue that led me straight to her.
So I took a chance.
And that was when our love story really began.
No excerpt available.
