Fight, Bicker, Love

I've never been a fan of romances in which the couple bicker and fight their way to "love."  Love, to me, is a much more peaceful emotion, not one in which the participants must be combatants.  Obviously, this isn't true of other readers.  Some like the barbed by-play followed by bedroom moments. 

For those who do, Kate Angell's No Tan Lines, which is reviewed on AAR today, might be a keeper.  I gave it a low B grade because Angell's a slick writer, who's easy to read.  It's not until I stopped to review the book and had to come up with a plot synopsis that I realized how much of the book was sniping and angling by the couple.

Seems to me that there's enough sniping and angling in the day-to-day world that there should be a respite somewhere.  To my mind, love is kinder and gentler.  If it isn't and physical chemistry is the only thing the couple has going, is it really love?  Or is it just sex?

Fortunately, the couple in Angell's book share so many other traits that believing that they are in love isn't difficult.  What strains credulity is their attraction in the first place.