Desperate Play

Watch Me is the first book in the Dark Obsession series by Cynthia Eden. I went into this book with high expectations based on prior experience with the author’s work. This book made me realise that there will be times when our favourite authors do not deliver as expected.This was a short and easy read, but it did not pack the punch I expect from this author. The story move quickly, which is not necessarily a bad thing. However, in this case the events were rushed. It felt as if chunks of the story were missing. This is the first book in the series, but it read like a sequel.It was evident from the start that the protagonists (Chance and Gwen) have prior knowledge of each other, so their chemistry immediately jumped off the pages. They were in love with each other for a long time, but circumstances prevented them from getting involved. Therefore, there is no insta-love in this story. However, because of their limited back-story I did not connect with them either as individuals or as a couple. Things would have been so much interesting if I had information about how they first met, how their feelings for each other developed and the events that led to their current situation.I did not appreciate Chance’s decision to lie to Gwen. There was no justifiable reason for him do so. I am still trying to figure out why. I knew the reason he lied, but it made little sense. He had several opportunities to come clean, but he failed to do so.The suspense was not as good as I expected from Ms. Eden. There was a suspect, and all the evidence pointed to that person. The author also threw in a few twists, which threw me of the scent. However, I did not get nail biting or edge of your seat feeling one would expect to get from stories such as these. I believe this was due in part to the ease with which I figured out the villain’s identity, despite the efforts made to disguise the true villain. In addition, the excitement factor, which usually accompanies the genre was lacking. For me the entire scenes were fluffy and easy to predict.Conclusion/RecommendationDespite the issues, I liked the story. It offered me the escape I was looking for at the time I read it. Although, it did not go as I had hoped; I plan to continue the series. Not a bad read but my least favourite from the author.