Liquid Silver Books, $4.25, ISBN 978-1-59578-655-5
Contemporary Romance, 2010

Okay, tell me if you have heard this one before. Once upon a time, Sophia Love and Ethan James were having the time of their lives. They laughed, they loved, they had wild monkey sex… and then Sophia decided that she was in love with Ethan. Ethan however decided that he was not ready to be hog-tied to one woman, so he walked away.

Of course, since they have mutual friends, including the predictably irritating ones who keep insisting that Ethan and Sophia are meant to be together, it’s not like they can avoid each other forever. In fact, when the story opens, he could show up at a friend’s party that Sophia is supposed to attend. Well, showing up and acting like she doesn’t care could be a good way to prove to everyone (including herself) that she’s over Ethan. Since this is a romance story and not a Why Men Are Assholes tragedy, Ethan is predictably remorseful for being stupid and he wants Sophia back.

Reading this story, I can’t help thinking that it would be so much better if the author had removed Jami, that irritating and potentially offensive stereotype of a matchmaking busybody best friend. Why not let the two get back together without resorting to forced external mechanisms? I personally would love to see Ethan grovel more, preferably while being on his hands and knees as Sophia whacks his behind with a flogger.

At least, that story will be one to remember. Loving Sophia is a pleasant but rather predictable and familiar read, and it would be forgettable were not for the fact that it also comes with its resident Jar Jar Binks to annoy me.