A Post from Mrs. Agent Palmer
If you read the first post in my new series on the Agent Palmer Blog, Married Woman Continues to Date, then you know I received Stinger as the headliner for my Blind Date with a Book box from the TikTok shop. Stinger is a novel in the Steamy Romance genre written by author Mia Sheridan.
The book is about a law student with her whole life planned out. While attending a law convention in Las Vegas she meets a male porn star who she at first despises. Then proceeds to spend an entire weekend with him after they both get stuck in an elevator together. This book has a lot of the common tropes of a romance novel: the unlikely pair, the forced/trapped together getting to know you event, not judging books by their covers, reuniting years later. And there is nothing wrong with troupes, most of the time, in this case, just pointing them out as some people use that to decide whether a book is going to be for them.
Now, I want to preface, this is not a terrible book, it’s a good book but I will not be keeping it. While it is well written, there were a few things that annoyed me throughout and when a book forces me to put it down and gripe to my husband, it is not a book for me and not one I would plan to read again so it goes on top of the donate pile. But, having said that, I could see this being a good book for others and it did have its enjoyable moments. And no, those were not just the sexy parts. There was a Titanic discussion that I found funny and appreciated (#TheDoorWasBigEnoughRose).
One of the things that bothered me about this book was how the passage of time was managed. The passage of time was an important part of the story, but it could have been simplified to a couple big events rather than hopping along quite a few times. I felt like I had to do a bit of math to track how long it had been since the initial meeting and was this block of time really that relevant?
I found myself flipping back to past chapters a few times to double check the months that had gone by, which did take me out of the story a bit. Now, could that be entirely a me problem? Absolutely, my brain works differently, it focuses on odd things. The way the timing is marked throughout the book may not bother you at all, but for me it did, it could have been more simplified.
One thing I did enjoy and thought this book did very well was the dual voices. Every other chapter was written from the viewpoint of one of the main characters. So one chapter would offer you the thoughts and feelings of the male lead while the next chapter would serve you the inner workings of the female lead. I have not read a lot of books with dual perspectives, that flips back and forth so often and that for some reason did not bother me. It was easy to follow, kept you fully aware of what was going on with both characters simultaneously, and did well to push the story forward while keeping you invested in what was going on.
I also liked the mention of the U.S. Navy, it was specifically the Navy Seals which I can’t relate to, but I was very nearly a member of the Navy. I enlisted in 2012 to help further my educational goals, but after two months of bootcamp I found myself in convalescence after nearly fracturing my left tibia. After two more months of physical therapy, the left leg had healed only for the right leg to have developed the same issue. I was medically discharged, but as nothing moves swiftly with that regard it was another two months before I was home. It was an experience I will not forget but it also made it very clear my body was not built for strenuous physical activity.
So for one of the characters to enlist and then move on to becoming a Navy Seal, one of the most difficult special forces in the country, kudos to you dude.
Overall, while this book is not for me, it is a good book and I do recommend it to anyone who does like the popular tropes represented in this novel. It does offer a little bit for everyone, but not everything was for me.