BOOK REVIEW: In The Arms Of My Enemy by Mellicent Martinez

Photo c/o Precious Hearts Romances

 

 

TITLE: In The Arms Of My Enemy (4623)

AUTHOR: Mellicent Martinez

FROM: Precious Hearts Romances

PAGES: 128

“Stay away from Dylan. You’re ruining his life.” Iyon ang mga katagang binitiwan ng guwapo, matangkad, at mestisong si Filan Walterson kay Vanna nang bigla na lang itong sumulpot sa harap niya. Nakaawang ang bibig na tiningnan lang niya ito na parang ibang lengguwahe ang inusal nito.

Nalaman ni Vanna na ito pala ang nakatatandang kapatid ni Dylan, ang nobyo ng stepsister niyang si Erin. Hindi niya lubos- maisip kung paanong siya ang pinaghinalaan nitong nobya ni Dylan. Isa lang ang alam ni Vanna: hindi niya sasabihin kay Filan ang totoo na hindi siya ang girlfriend ng kapatid nito sa takot na si Erin naman ang guluhin at pagbantaan nito.

Pero nabisto pa rin sila nito nang mabuntis ni Dylan si Erin— isang bagay na isinisi sa kanya ni Filan.

Paano pa siya makakalayo sa anino ni Filan ngayong konektado na ang mga pamilya nila dahil sa batang nasa sinapupunan ni Erin? Ngayon pa namang kailangang-kailangan niyang makalayo rito dahil in love na siya sa lalaking ginawang miserable ang buhay niya.

REVIEW

GENRE

Romance, Humor, Drama

PLOT

Good plot. Something interesting happening at every turn. Good development. I’m just not sure about the ending. 

POINT OF VIEW

The “omniscient POV” was kind of awkward. Aside from that, the hero’s POV was handled well enough. And I liked the heroine’s POV.  

CHARACTERS

VANNA

I like her. Especially when she’s in a scene with her scooter. It was funny and tragic at the same time. I like her loyalty, too, and how she spoiled Erin and Dylan (and received the consequences later). She’s an interesting character—she has emotions, motivations... She has depth. This is the type of heroine that I can immerse myself in.

FILAN

I like his strong character, but I think it was not explored at its best. Kaunting kaunti na lang at makukumbinsi na akong mapanganib talaga siya. Kaunti na lang at totoong threat na talaga siya kay Vanna. I wished his “evilness” was shown earlier—in his POV, perhaps? That way, mas convincing ang first confrontation between him and Vanna—and the unveiling of his true character. Medyo inconsistent lang siya madalas. If he changes when he’s with Vanna, there should be some opposition from his true self. He should be hesitating, battling what he’s becoming with Vanna. His character screams to be explored. I like him, though.

DYLAN

I like this character because he’s the conflict. I like how he messed up and created hardships for the main characters.  

I knew the hero and heroine would fall for each other eventually, but their relationship development fell short of what I expected. Lucky that the interesting story made up for it.

MEANING

Too much love (spoiling) will kill you.

COMPARISONS

n/a

OTHER DETAILS

First few pages and it got me excited. Even before the hero was fully described, I already liked him. But the meeting of the hero and heroine didn’t live up to my expectations. It could’ve been handled better.

Ang ganda sana ng mga eksena kung nailahad lang ng mas maayos. Dito talaga papasok `yong technique ng writer, eh. Pero patok pa rin naman siya sa panlasa ko. Medyo nakulangan lang ako. It was “almost there”.

I’m not sure I liked the “omniscient POV”. I feel cheated when romance authors use that.

I’m also not sure the confrontation, the burst of emotions, between Vanna and her step mom was done at the right time. Parang kulang pa ang naiipon na emosyon para sa eksenang `yon. It would have been more interesting to see how Vanna will be pushed to the edge by all her problems, and how she will explode in the end. This confrontation should have been in the latter part, with the climax or something.

Oh, the humor! Nabitin ako. It’s “almost there” na naman. Nakakapanghinayang. Ang laki ng potential na nasayang. If only the scenes were approached in a better angle... But it’s too late for that. I’ll just have to settle with the contents. I’m just frustrated that the scenes started out good, but went... awry afterwards. There was so much potential in this book.

The conflict was not explored properly, but it’s funny that I understood what the author was trying to convey, what she wanted to write about. I guess the author still needed to polish her technique to obtain her desired effects. But the intent was clearly there.

I’m not sure if I have a favorite scene. I’m relieved enough that the story went well.

Well-written dialogues. Isa sa mga nagdala sa librong ito bukod sa kuwento.  

CONCLUSION

I liked it. I felt the emotions, and the characters seemed realistic. With some polishing, it could be a really nice romantic-comedy on TV. Or in a movie. I'm just not sure of the ending. I also felt that the author was still too soft on her characters; a sword is forged in flames. Nevertheless, it's an entertaining read. 

RATING:  4 STARS  ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆