White-hot, blinding, and dangerous.
That’s exactly what Volt is.
He’s electric.
The first time I met him, my body reacted. It coiled, sizzled, and sparked. I knew I wanted him because he was the first man to make me feel dead and alive at the exact same time.
But within a short conversation, I knew he was unattainable.
Unavailable.
Now we’re just friends.
But will we stay friends?
I’ve read quite a few of E.L. Todd’s books and reviewed them. She is one of my contemporary romance guilty pleasures. I hadn’t read much of her stuff lately and wanted to see how much her writing has grown as well as her characters.
If you don’t know E.L. Todd, she is one of the most prolific authors in contemporary romance. I am in her street team group, E.L’s Elites, and she posts a new book in what seems like every month or every other month. That kind of dedication to your craft is something to aspire to. I will have to say, it is easy to get hooked in one of her series.
I get hooked because of the drama element. There’s something about her work that feels like a soap opera. I just need to know what new drama is about to unfold. That said, Charge was a little bit different in that aspect. I didn’t feel like there’s a new drama at every turn. Instead, I’m seeing a growing tension between the leads and a big drama that will be revealed later. This kind of simmering of her story is something new and I’m liking it.
The book is set in New York, a place I don’t really know about. There isn’t much description about the setting to really place the story in my head, but that doesn’t bother me as much as it might if I’ve been to the area in question. There is one great shoutout to a very popular series of hers, Forever and Always. In Forever and Always, there’s a hangout spot called Mega Shake. Now, that one is set in Seattle, but this one is in NYC. It gives the feeling that the two series are in the same world which is very cool.
The characters are similar to her others. The women have a “mr. Right” mentality and the men have alpha male syndrome. This could get annoying, but I haven’t read her stuff lately that the tropes felt welcoming. I don’t care for Volt and his aggressive nature, it’s honestly a bit disturbing and I wouldn’t mind him going for some anger management. Taylor is a quirky kind of character who does have a stubborn streak, but she seems to be taking advice in stride.
Right now, I feel that they need to grow as characters, but this is only the first book in the Electric series. Since there are more (already out there), I will be reading those eventually. I already have some of them in my Christmas wish list for those family members who need ideas.
All in all, it has enough differences in her other works to intrigue me more (the drawn out drama), but also keeps some of the tropes she knows to keep me in a comfort zone (alpha male syndrome). I don’t see myself stop reading E.L. Todd anytime soon.
Casia's Corner 