review: Human Blend by Lori Pescatore

pub date: 2010
publisher: self published
pages: 234
source: ebook from author
challenges: ebook
appeals: paranormal, romance, love triangle,
content: lots of kissing, sex that is left to the imagination, violence, some swearing

goodreads:
Marion, Virginia seemed like a nice place to live a normal life, but she is not a normal girl. Laney has special abilities that keep her looking over her shoulder as she makes her escape from the men who had kidnapped her. A young doctor's interest is piqued when he witnesses her mysteriously curing a young child's illness. He befriends her due to his growing fascination with uncovering the true nature of her abilities, but not without harboring secrets of his own. Laney's budding relationship with a local boy puts both of them in danger when the men she was hiding from find her. All of their lives will change forever as ancient secrets become unearthed.

me:
I thought Laney's abilities were rather cool. And later on in the book when the reader, and Laney herself, discovers why she has the abilities she does, that was neat, too. There are exciting things that happen in the plot, a lot of characters with unique skills that make them interesting to read.

So while I liked the concept of the book, I had a hard time reading it because I thought the characters were underdeveloped and acted in ways that made no sense to me.

For example:

Laney is hiding from an evil man. She is afraid of him and afraid what he would do if he found her and anyone connected to her. So she moves around a lot and changes her name and hair color before settling in Marion.

Though Laney says a couple of times that she shouldn't get attached to anyone because she puts them in danger, her behavior does not match her worry. Within two days she's sleeping with her new boyfriend. For someone who has been through traumatic experiences with other men, she sure is trusting.

Laney has the skill of healing people so she wants to volunteer at the hospital so she can use it. But for someone on the run from an evil guy who knows her abilities, she isn't worried about instantly healing people who are really sick. I would be worried this would attract attention. And it does--the doctor, Eli, realizes rather quickly that something is going on. Luckily Eli doesn't want to expose her.

But Laney doesn't know this. Within minutes of meeting Eli, Laney is telling him everything about her healing skills. I just don't get why she would be so trusting of strangers when she knows what others have done with this knowledge.

There is one guy who does act suspiciously around Laney, but it doesn't raise any red flags for her. She just finds his nosey behavior rude and annoying.

But what really bothered me was the way Eli kept touching Laney's cheek and kissing her on the mouth and hugging her. Touchy, touchy! Laney thinks nothing of it, doesn't find it at all odd that this man who is practically a stranger is touching her so much. Eli obviously likes Laney, but Laney is clueless and accepts all this attention without batting an eye. All the while Laney is sleeping with someone else.

And then of course there are the other men Laney kisses. Wow. And it never crosses her mind that she is cheating on her boyfriend. It bothered me and I thought it should have bothered her.

So, mostly I had a hard time with this book because I didn't understand why the characters, especially Laney, behaved the way they did. The relationships aren't developed. And because of Laney's loose lips, I didn't really like her much.