The Seduction of Dylan Acosta. Nia Forrester. 2012. 380 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.]
Dylan lives a fairly normal life before a chance meeting with an up-and-coming baseball player, Mark Acosta. She has a singular goal – get into law school — when Mark more or less barrels into her life. He’s thrust into the spotlight when he becomes the hot rookie for the Mets and she’s dragged into the spotlight with him. The struggle of the book lies in how they navigate their relatively new relationship with all the trappings of fame and fortune.
I have to say that I liked the book. It is chock full of drama worthy of tabloids between the players’ wives, the players themselves, and the mess each relationship leaves behind. Of course Dylan and Mark get caught in the crosshairs and it can be infuriating to see how easily some things could be sidestepped but weren’t. It’s interesting to see how Mark, someone who had a humble upbringing, adapts to his new fortune and scrutiny. It’s more disheartening to watch Dylan struggle with the same.
Normally, I find main characters, particularly women, generally likable. I found myself really conflicted with Dylan; she had too many instances of being naive, immature, and at best oblivious if not downright obtuse. I found myself annoyed with her inability to think critically about the situations she found herself in; it showed not only her youth, but her immaturity in relationships and consideration of others’ needs and feelings. Even her responses to various situations showed a lack of care for others and painted her as selfish and shallow. I wanted to believe she wasn’t all of these things, but her actions made me feel like she was an unwilling antagonist at times.
Forrester portrays Mark as a man with traditional Dominican values. He doesn’t mince words and he expects a certain amount of submission from his wife. The love is there, but how he expresses it isn’t always the norm in romances I’ve read. It’s refreshing in that sense. His approach is often at odds with Dylan who spends most of the book struggling to find her identity in her new lifestyle. She’s obviously not used to a strong, caring family, which I think explains some of her missteps. He is, however, generally devoted to her, when times are good. When the drama ensues, Mark is definitely easy to dislike.
I found The Seduction of Dylan Acosta an compelling book. It is well-written and engaging – I read it fairly quickly and never found myself bored. I definitely felt everything while reading it. I am actually quite interested in subsequent books in the series, which I believe will explore the love lives of the other Acosta siblings.
No Comments