DNF @ 20%Soooo yeah.I used to be one of those readers who would feel so freaking guilty over not finishing a book. Not anymore! Life is too short and I need my kicks where I can get them. My first Julie Anne Long book and not really what I was expecting. Unfortunately this was one of those ‘everybody and their mother loves this but I just don’t get it’ books for me. And I really didn’t get it. Literally. Like at all. Never mind the *meh* storyline and blah characters but the writing just...didn’t work. Good Gawt the writing. I thought maybe it was just me having an off week, hormones, PMSing, allergies? But the more I tried to get into it the more I kept running into weird grammar choices, a lot of typos and odd dialogue that I couldn’t make heads or tail out of. And I'm not so sure this is a case of bad editing considering the problems are everywhere and read more like the author's styling choice? This seems to be quite a popular series by the author. So I kept sitting here all by my lonesome thinking AM I READING THIS RIGHT? He kept the pistol trained on the door and on her, but because he was Colin Eversea and he did it like breathing--the admiring of women--he couldn’t help but admire the line of her spine as she made her way up the stairs. Without thinking, Colin handed over his corded bundle, and he watched, half bemused and half with a sort of pleasure, as her quick hands worked it open, unfolded the coat, and pulled--and pulled and pulled, as the tailors at Weston were rigorous and thorough and the threads unwilling to give way--a brass button free. He tried a deep breath, but that was a mistake: inhaling merely sucked the sack into his nostrils. Colin managed to snort it back out again just as he was unceremoniously dumped into a chair, righted by two large hands planted on his shoulders when he began to trip, and abandoned. Help me out. Maybe my brain is too tired but does any of this make sense? Yes if you wanna get technical that last quote--if you focus real hard--you get the gist of it, but damn if I have to read a passage 5 times before I can process what the author is trying to convey then you've lost me already. I don't need my readings to be like a complicated algebra problem. Not the writing at least. The words need to flow in a rhythm that doesn't feel like a rubik cube. It's supposed to be brain food. If you wanna pour out run-on long winded sentences, fine, just have it make sense. I'm not looking for perfect. And another thing that I found odd and annoying was her strange habit of italicizing words that didn’t need emphasis. Especially in the context used. It just made some of the dialogue come off strangely obnoxious and (even more) tedious.Example 1:His smile was rueful, but this time it reached his eyes. “I’m not. At least, I’m not certain they all will be happy. But I am certain you will be paid to return me to them. For we’ve honor, you see. We Everseas do.”“Mr. Eversea, more specifically, it’s urgent that I am paid very quickly. I haven’t time to waste on-.” Example 2:“Well, I’m humbled,” Colin Eversea finally said.“I doubt that,” she retorted dourly.He laughed at that, and she shushed him.Well, it was your objective , wasn’t it? Do you think my ego is so very impenetrable, Miss Greenway? That it’s impossible to wound me? He still sounded amused.“Stop it,” Madeline said through teeth all but clenched.“Stop what?”“Stop trying to win me over, Mr. Eversea. It’s...unnecessary.” It's. everywhere. on. every. page. Because people always talk this way. Oy. Just...stop. I guess a part of why I'm so hung up over this or I should say surprised is all the rave reviews and unanimous gushing I've seen over this author's writing capability. I can see she likes to get fancy with her turn of phrase but for me the writing needs to be tighter and clearer. Even with mistakes, the way she words things just doesn’t mesh well for me. The writing just felt too laborious for me. Everything is a mouthful when it doesn't need to be. And what also worked against it here was just the simple fact that I had no interest in the story nor the hero or heroine. Two major strikes. If the story was interesting or the characters then maybe I wouldn’t keep counting the mistakes and clunky prose. It’s a bad sign when you start to make it a game and continue reading just to see if you find more weird trip ups. Like OOOh! Ha. Another one. Go Fish! Yeah no. I honestly gave this book a shot because I wanted to read Book 11 but thought I may get too lost. LOL. Oh the irony.I'm giving Book 11 a try for the hell of it. Cause a. I'm a sucker for the star crossed Romeo & Juliet theme and b. I'm a masochist. Miss Julie Anne Long, I'm giving you one more shot.