What do you think about romance and relationships in this book?

Use this forum to discuss the June 2019 Book of the month, "Cynthia and Dan: Cyber War" by Dorothy May Mercer.
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AntonelaMaria
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Re: What do you think about romance and relationships in this book?

Post by AntonelaMaria »

Nisha Ward wrote: 30 Jun 2019, 13:42
AntonelaMaria wrote: 30 Jun 2019, 06:00
lucia_kizas wrote: 30 Jun 2019, 04:42 OK, I actually have read insta-romances that were well written and quite believable, but in this case - no spark, no tension, and then out of the blue - they are having sex... Not to mention the entire first meeting was like "what?" I mean, she stops a stranger who then drags her to the cafe, still not knowing who the man is, she basically gives him the brand new car with keys inside... Then goes to his place... All the while Skye is behaving like a cliche of spy movies (hence the cigar part) and Cynthia is behaving like a damsel in distress, not a supposed bodyguard...
Also, the first page - and I could already feel the author's stance towards Dan - the boyfriend. He was already presented as faulty and dull, even without meeting the character at all...
Sorry, but cheating is something I will never find romantic.
Yes, I feel what you said about Dan too. Because it was obvious the way the author would go as we met Dan after all the affair with Sky happened. It feels like she prepared us for Dan and for her cheating being justified. So ridiculous.
Yeah. The thing about it is that we never even see him being dull. We're just told that.
The obvious problem in many romance books is that things are told and not shown. I don't mind flwed heroine but still just because her boyfriend is boring is not a justification or reason for cheating. And even though I don't condone cheating that part of this book is not the worst part for me. There are many red flags in Cynthia relationship with both men.
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Post by Bluebird03 »

Sky and Cynthia jumped into their relationship so quickly, that I thought it a bit fast and unrealistic. I prefer a romance that develops a bit more slowly and not a whirlwind day.
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Post by Janalyn101 »

I know and now I just think Sky just came on so strong.
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Post by juliusotieno02 »

I think those were the main themes in the novel, not the cyber war as suggested by the book's title.
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Post by Sam Ibeh »

I think the author needed to have done more in developing the relationships that existed in the book. Cynthia's relationship with both guys was nothing of the ordinary. It was all too basic. I guess the authors focus was more on the techy aspects of the book than the romantic part of it.
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Post by Robyn_original »

There's no excuse for cheating. Also, I always find instant love or close relationships in books and tv to be really suspect and fake. The relationship should have been given more time to develop. It was badly written.
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Post by Letora »

Robyn_original wrote: 03 Jul 2019, 07:04 There's no excuse for cheating. Also, I always find instant love or close relationships in books and tv to be really suspect and fake. The relationship should have been given more time to develop. It was badly written.
I agree. Cheating just shouldn't happen. As I was reading how Sky wanted to go for food and then go to his apartment with Cynthia, I wanted to yell at her to not trust a stranger. You just met this person! In real life that would be a major mistake, you could end up in a horrible situation. It just felt weird that she immediately trusted him and they fell in love on the spot.
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Post by Maelo1 »

I think it rather reflects on the relationships of the modern day society and the challenges couples do face.Additionally, Scott through Cynthia highlights the causatives to cheating while also depicting romance as an act that has no formality whatsoever.
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Post by Maelo1 »

Sorry wasn't supposed to post this here kind of mixed it up with Scott's new release Justice.
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Post by danielleamy »

I really didn't enjoy the romance aspects of the book, they seemed unrealistic and rushed
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Post by Robyn_original »

Letora wrote: 03 Jul 2019, 08:29
Robyn_original wrote: 03 Jul 2019, 07:04 There's no excuse for cheating. Also, I always find instant love or close relationships in books and tv to be really suspect and fake. The relationship should have been given more time to develop. It was badly written.
I agree. Cheating just shouldn't happen. As I was reading how Sky wanted to go for food and then go to his apartment with Cynthia, I wanted to yell at her to not trust a stranger. You just met this person! In real life that would be a major mistake, you could end up in a horrible situation. It just felt weird that she immediately trusted him and they fell in love on the spot.
Exactly! So weird that you would just immediately trust this strange person. Completely unbelievable situation.
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Post by Rafaella Michailidou »

I will always love reading romance. However, a well-written romance and a balanced couple are really hard to write. I didn't really like Cynthia's and Sky's relationship, I didn't agree with many of their choices and I hope there was more character development.
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Post by Nuel Ukah »

AntonelaMaria wrote: 06 Jun 2019, 13:51 So we have Cynthia and Dan and Cynthia and Sky as romantic relationships in this book? What is your thought on them? How realistic and believable is their behavior? Do you find the reasoning for cheating acceptable? Is our mind as a reader swayed from the beginning with Dan being " a habit" and Sky being " gentlemen"? How likable or believable is instant love in romance books never mind that they are fiction?
How odd is that Cynthia doesn't have any friends?
Sorry people I have so many questions is just that I am trying to get the points that book is trying to make.
Overall I just feel that this should be just a romance book or just a suspense action book, like this is just all over the place.
I think the relationship was more about Cynthia and Sky. As for Cynthia, she's just a character. There are people like that in real life.
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Post by arielkiaira_ »

AntonelaMaria wrote: 07 Jun 2019, 10:28
maggi3 wrote: 07 Jun 2019, 00:12 It felt to me like vilifying Dan at the end was just a way to make Sky and Cynthia’s relationship more acceptable. She should have broken up with Dan before she did anything with Sky. Having a boring relationship is no excuse for cheating, since there was no evidence at that point that Dan was obsessive and controlling of Cynthia. Instant love is never likable or believable to me, because I don’t think you can truly love someone that quickly. Sky and Cynthia’s relationship felt ridiculous to me.
I think for me the biggest problem was reading about educated I guess a woman in her late 20's getting lectured about sex, period, pregnancy and plan b by a man and man she knows no less than a day. She is written as two different people. And I agree for me too insta love is just not realistic. Every time Sky comes with the " I love you" I just cringe, all that love and marriage talk after one day. :roll:
I agree! Planned/Unplanned pregnancy is a very serious and touchy topic and when she wrote about it, it felt like we were bombarded with unnecessary information. The fact that Sky felt comfortable shoving this information down Cynthia's throat, especially after knowing her for only a day was a problem in itself. Also, 'she is written as two different people' I agree with 100% the way her character is when it comes to romantic relationships and her character outside of romantic relationships do not seem like the same person and the fact that they were already "in love' was cringey and awkward and totally unrealistic. There whole relationship was this drawn out infatuation.
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Post by Sakeenah143 »

Sky and cynthia's relationship is unrealistic... It will have been given enough time to build up.
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