Very exciting and steamy story with lots of fast paced action and a complicated romance that had me just as conflicted as the heroine. I like how it was resolved. Attorney Michael sits next to hairdresser Juliana on a flight each is taking to meet their significant other.
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LOVED this romance!
I never really read contemporary romance before but after this book I'm adding to my auto-buy list:D
I fell in love with author Marie Force's Love At First Flight. It's an outstanding contemporary romance and well worth the purchase price! Thanks to Limecello for introducing me to Marie and her book over on her book blog:)
The book is about Michael and Juliana who meet on a plane and pretty much click instantly as friends. Both are in current relationships and have a nice chat but don't much expect to see each other again. But fate intervenes and I loved the plot twists and characters. Here's the excerpt Limecello posted that made me want to read the book:
“I’m only asking you for one thing, Juliana. Come find me. I’ll either be here or in Newport – you know where – and I’ll be waiting for you. I don’t care if it’s a week, a year, five years, twenty years. Find me.”
“But surely you’ll be married with a family -”He shook his head. “Never. It’s you or no one. So don’t think for a minute I won’t still want you or that my pride is too wounded to forgive you. I’ve already forgiven you. That’s how much I love you.” ( )

Juliana and Jeremy have been together for 10 years, and although they're not planning a wedding any time soon, Juliana thinks their relationship is perfect. Michael and Paige fell in love in college. Although they're engaged, he's concerned about her recent spoiled behavior. When Juliana and Michael meet on a plane to visit their significant others, there is an instant spark. While they're apart, they are both intimate, and their experiences with Jeremy/Paige are described. Things quickly change, and on the plane ride home, they discover things did not go well for either of them. Juliana and Jeremy are taking a 3-month break from each other, and Michael has broken off his engagment to Paige.

That's when crazy things start to happen. I don't want to post spoilers, but let's just say that Juliana does a lot of things that are unlikable and Michael allows her to walk all over him. She doesn't deserve Michael, and he needs to grow a backbone. Too many things happen that never would occur in the real world. For example, Michael gives her a ride home from the airport, and after knowing each other for mere hours, she suggests they become roommates. He agrees, and before long confesses his love for her. In a span of 2 months, they fall in love, have sex numerous times, and decide to marry one another. (No fears about spoilers, as things do not happen as you would expect.)

I tried this because it was free, and while the writing isn't bad, much of it is just too unrealistic to overlook. I decided to give it 3 stars because while it is far-fetched, there are truly romantic moments. Michael is every woman's fantasy, and it's a nice escape to read about him. I could have done without all the extra baggage Juliana brings to the relationship. She should have cut her ties on the beach and moved on. In short, the dialogue is great, the writing style is enjoyable, but it needs a reality check. ( )

This author writes well, and I’m sure I’ll be tracking down more of her books. I’m working very hard not to judge her based on one book, because I can tell she’s capable of writing something much better.

However…

Ugh, what a bunch of unlikeable people! I HATED the ‘perfect, irresistible’ heroine with a passion, and while there were some saving graces to this book, the way that woman conducted herself prevents me from giving this a higher rating. Love at First Flight is marketed as romance, and as such we’re supposed to like the heroine, be on her side. This woman – I wished she’d been hit by a bus on page one.

I will give this author another chance, because there’s a lot of potential there.

I have a bit of a rant on the way, so here’s what I liked.
• I liked the unusual concept, where the heroine is committed to another man when she meets the hero.
• I liked the way the court case was woven into the development of the relationship.
• Though I found the writing to be too dialogue-heavy at the beginning, as the book went on it was quite engrossing.

The concept of the story was interesting, and I have no issues with the unconventional plot, but it’s the way the characters handled it that I disliked.
Additionally, the plot started going in circles about halfway through. Either Juliana or Michael would be in danger, so the two of them would ‘go away for a few days’. Juliana would scream, giggle, cry and fall unconscious. Then either Juliana or Michael would be in danger, so the two of them would ‘go away for a few days’. Juliana would scream, giggle, cry and fall unconscious. Then either Juliana or Michael would be in danger, so the two of them would ‘go away for a few days’. Juliana would scream, giggle, cry and fall unconscious.
By the end I felt like I’d read the same book three or four times in a row.

The relationship part of plot moved FAR too fast for my liking, considering the circumstances.

Juliana – the poor girl from the wrong side of the tracks, with a sob story that puts Cinderella to shame (she's actually called 'Cinderella' at one point!) – has been with her boyfriend, Jeremy, for ten years. They’re planning on getting married. She’s in love with him and committed to him right up until the end of the book. However they decide to take a few months’ break from their relationship.
Michael is engaged to beautiful, fragile, blue-eyed blonde, Paige. As is becoming the (very infuriating) standard in romantic novels these days, the blue-eyed blonde who everyone thinks is innocent and perfect turns out to be the Devil’s spawn (seriously, writers, stop with that – it’s beginning to piss me off!). I honestly knew exactly what this ‘other woman’ would look like before she stepped onto the page, because it happens in every single book!

So, the day after Juliana and Michael break up with their partners, they move in with each other. A couple of days later, they’re making out. A couple of weeks later they’re having sex every night, professing their undying love (though Juliana still freely admits she’s in love with Jeremy too), talking about marriage, and Michael is disappointed Juliana’s taking birth control pills because even though he’s never wanted children, suddenly he wants to knock up this ‘perfect’ woman.

What really got to me was that not one single person in the entire book ever thought Juliana was the slightest bit in the wrong in the situations she found herself in. When it comes down to it she was almost entirely to blame for everything that happened from start to finish. But whenever anybody else was upset with her, apparently Juliana had free reign to play the undeserving victim, and everyone rallied around her.

Not only was this unbelievable and made me question what kind of definition these two have of love if they find it so easy to jump from one partner to another (and back again), it was insulting. Juliana receives a letter from Jeremy where he says he tried to date another woman, but he loved Juliana too much to do anything with her. She’s so distraught and betrayed and angry about this platonic dinner with another woman…and yet she’s already living with – and making out with – Michael! That makes her a traitorous hypocrite, and I severely disliked her from that moment on.

Then we have Michael. He attends his engagement party with Paige – going as far as to sleep with her beforehand, and at the party kiss her and think about how much he loves her – and then he dumps her in the middle of the celebrations! And by ‘dump her’, I mean he yells at her that the engagement is off, and runs away. Then he refuses to speak with her again. Paige wasn’t completely innocent (remember, blue-eyed blondes must all be psychotic bitches in romance these days), but Michael was supposed to be the HERO of the book! We’re supposed to like him!
He’s a hypocrite too, because he’ll do anything for Juliana and he’s the greatest, most caring man in the world when it comes to her, but he cannot muster any common courtesy for other women. He made grand romantic gesture after grand romantic gesture for Juliana – nobody that wonderful exists in this world. But then he was a bastard to others. If you dump your fiancée they damn well deserve at least one conversation about it! Especially considering what happens to her after he’s dumped her! I definitely got off on the wrong foot with this man.

The relationship was just too perfect. There was no conflict between Michael and Juliana (despite the fact she still wanted another man!), and Juliana was a Mary Sue if I ever saw one. She was so speshul and Michael wubbed her so much. She was the best cook and house cleaner and hairdresser and architect ever. Even though she knew nothing about the legal system, it was her contribution to Michael’s closing statement in his case that clinched a conviction. She was so beautiful and benevolent even though her family was horrible to her. No matter what she said or did, Michael stood there admiring her and thinking about what a perfect woman she was and how much he loved her. They had sex anywhere and everywhere (including in the hospital right after she’d been rushed there in an ambulance, unconscious). Because I guess she was a perfect lover too.

Plus, she’d made her choice when it came to her harem of men, and she shouldn’t have strung anybody along for so long. This ‘have a break for a few months’ deal wasn’t a legal contract for Heaven’s sake – it could have and should have been broken! But it got worse from there. Juliana’s actions towards the end of the book were unforgivable. She screwed everyone over. And then she honestly believed SHE was the victim in all of it! No, dear, you CANNOT mess around with more than one man for months, and then expect them to behave themselves and love you no matter what. At least, that’s not the way it works in real life, and it sure shouldn’t work that way in fiction either.

If it had been left up to Juliana, she wouldn’t have ended up with the ‘right guy’ – it only happened because of other circumstances, not because she chose one man over the other. The fact she put so little importance on her relationship with the one she ended up with convinced me it wouldn’t be long after the book ended before she took off with yet another man. The woman claims to love anybody who gives her a second glance. She loved the attention, but couldn’t make a commitment. I wanted her to have her comeuppance, not a happy ending. She sure didn’t deserve one.

Even though I didn’t particularly like Michael, and Jeremy’s fantasy about to experimenting with other women put him in my bad books, I wanted for both men to go off and find kinder, less self-absorbed women. Both of them deserved far better.

I guess if the point of a book is to draw strong emotions from readers, then the author succeeded. She’s a good writer, but this was a horrid story populated by unlikeable people. Considering the genre the book is marketed under, and the undeserving woman at the centre of the story who never, ever has anyone hold her accountable for her despicable behaviour, I cannot say this I enjoyed reading this. ( )

I loved this book! At the beginning it was a bit cheesy for me, but the overall effect left me crying, laughing out loud and punching my fist in the air with a whoop of joy! I loved that Juliana worked things out for herself and didn't rely on outsiders to help her. She was a great character that I couldn't help but like!

Michael is every woman's dream come true. He knew all the right things to say to Juliana and all the right things to do to win her heart. They had such an interesting and open relationship right from the start, that you knew that they would be able to make it. Even during the little bit of drama/mystery/suspense that was thrown in.

The worst part of the book was the ending! I didn't want it to! Michael, Jeremy and Juliana pull out all the stops at the end, and are all truly fighting for what they want and believe in. It was such a perfect ending to a great love story. The thing that I came out with is that love knows no bounds. Michael made that very clear.

What a fun story! I look forward to other books by this author. True romance books aren't usually on the top of my list, but it was very well written and I really enjoyed it. I had planned on giving this book away here on my blog, but I can't part with it. This is one that I know I'll read again. ( )