Intensely Focused

Katie MacAlister's story was okay. It's a paranormal romance story set in a pre-existing universe.

My favorite was easily Connie Brockway's. The love interest is a literal genius with limited social skills but she has a good heart and tries very hard to follow social cues. I have to give credit to Brockway. I really liked this story even though it involved a single parent. I have almost zero interest in reading about children.

Finally there was Vicki Lewis Thompson's story. I hated this story. A lot. I know Jon is supposed to be (endearingly?)arrogant and supposedly he's (still?) in love with her. The problem is that he clearly doesn't respect her. When she's angry his thought process is basically "oh, she's upset. Isn't that just the cutest thing?" As opposed to, you know, actually respecting her feelings. I realize the ruined pan (to take one example) may on the surface be a silly thing to argue about, the thing was, they were also arguing about philosophical differences. When he has something that is ruined/broken etc. he just buys another one because hey, he's rich, why not? Kate, on the other hand, tries to salvage what she can first. And, of course, he thinks that's just silly.

Jon thinks several times about the fact that Kate doesn't like to be bossed around and has to keep reminding himself not to do it. But I don't get the sense he's doing it respectfully. It was more that he was just indulging her foolishness.

But what bothered me the most was that the relationship "works" in the end because Kate decides to become a completely different person. So I guess the message is you too can have a great relationship if you just stop being who you are. She comes from a family that was in the spotlight when she was younger and she's clearly an introvert. And her sister and Jon both think it's great that she's now willing to talk to his fans, give up her privacy, and basically be "on" all the time. For an introvert, that kind of life is miserable. Extroverts get charged up by dealing with crowds and strangers. Introverts find it immensely draining. I'm not saying introverts and extroverts can't have happy relationships but that involves compromise on the part of both parties. This is clearly Jon giving up exactly nothing while Kate thinks she can radically change who she is to please Jon.