This book is written in first person and alternates between the perspective of the main characters--Nix and Scotlyn. Nix is a hot guy with a reputation for breakin' the ladies' hearts. He owns a tattoo parlor and lives in a houseboat with a friend, Dray, who likes to fight. We find out pretty early that neither Nix, nor Dray, nor their other best friend, Clutch, have had an easy life. In fact, very few characters in this book seem to have come from easy livin'. As far as Nix is concerned, he lost his race car driving father as a child, and his mother is no longer in his life. He has a sister and a precious Nana who is starting to succumb to dementia. It seems obvious pretty early on that Nix is not your typical macho guy with no substance. He loves his Nana and is doing everything he can to take care of her despite her failing health.
The other main character, Scotlyn, also has a rough past. Her parents and her sister, Olivia, were all killed in a car crash when she was a child, and while she walked away from the accident, she lost her voice that day--either from screaming or from shock. She isn't sure, and she hasn't had much of a life to live for since then, so she hasn't been too concerned with getting her voice back. She was living on the streets, strung out, doing other illicit activities when a man named Lincoln Hammond finds her and takes her in. When she enters the story, she is living with Hammond as his girlfriend. Hammond has hired Nix to cover Scotlyn's scars from the wreck with an intricate tattoo.
Maybe it's because Scotlyn's mutism instantly reminded me of Katy from Deck of Cards, but I found her to be intriguing in a very ethereal way. It's almost as if she is just the ghost of a woman, and she needs Nix's love to transform her into a whole person again. In the meantime, she seems to flutter about in her existence, something between a ghost and a lingering dream.
There is another interesting and creative aspect that comes into play when Scotlyn and Nix meet for the first time, but I will let Ms. Oliver reveal that part of the story to you herself, should you choose to check this one out.
Needless to say, Nix and Scotlyn are destined to be together, and they know it from the start. This didn't come across as cliche or ridiculous in this story, as is often the case in poorly written "love at first sight" stories. The more we begin to cheer for Nix to get the girl, the more is revealed about Hammond until we end up realizing he is a pretty nasty guy, and it is definitely in Scotlyn's best interest to get away from him posthaste.
Oliver is a great writer. This isn't a messy self-pub that makes a person shrink back from free or reduced price books. She moves the story along at a steady pace, encouraging the reader to continue to turn the pages to find out what happens with each of her characters. Even though the ending of the story was not what I was expecting and ended up being a bit too easy, it wasn't ridiculous or disappointing. There are other books in this series, and I left the book thinking it would be nice to find out what else happens to these characters, a sure sign that I am emotionally invested in the book, which is the hallmark of any good writer.
Of course, there were a few things that bothered me a bit; there always are. First of all, this needs one more proofread by someone with a scrutinizing eye. There weren't a lot of errors, but there were a few, and they were usually the kind that take a reader right out of the story, like a missing word in a sentence, or the misspelling of a character's name. The mistakes aren't blaring, but they are there.
Another thing that I found confusing was that a couple of the characters have two names. Nix is also called Alex by his sister and Nana. The first time his Nana called him this, I thought she was talking about someone else. I don't think the story was set up well-enough at that point for me to gather this was the same guy. Also, Scotlyn calls her boyfriend Lincoln (in her mind, remember she doesn't talk, although she does write notes....) and everyone else refers to him as Hammond. This is also a little confusing. Nothing major, but enough to make me stop reading and go back--something I don't really like to do.
Also, for someone who was horribly injured in a car wreck, Scotlyn sure doesn't seem to mind writing notes to people who are trying to drive. There were lots of occasions when she and another character are driving down the road and she's writing the driver notes like it's no big deal. How in the world does Nix, or whoever, read these notes while he's trying to drive? I get that it was necessary for the story to progress, but it didn't seem very realistic to me. I guess it could have been happening at stoplights or something....
Finally, when the steamy scenes arrive, there is no mention of protection. This is the sort of thing that drives most romance readers/writers crazy, and I highly recommend Ms. Oliver consider slipping some plastic into her dudes' pockets. Some might say it takes away from the action, but I disagree. I've seen it done tastefully lots of times, and I feel it's the responsible thing to do.
Again, I really liked this one! I gave it a four star review on Amazon, which you can read here. If you read my review please remember to vote "yes," that it was helpful, so that others will have a better chance of seeing it and will also be able to use my thoughts to determine whether or not to read this one. You can purchase Freefall: Custom Culture Book 1 by Tess Oliver here. It's currently priced at 99 cents. Best of all, this is NOT a cliffhanger--it's a complete story--so if you love these characters, like I do, and you want to keep reading, you can do so, and if you've had enough, you don't feel cheated with only a partial story.
If you've read it, let me know what you thought in the comments!
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