Note: Don't read the character data section at the end of the book until you've finished the novel. There are at least a couple major spoilers.

Naotsugu Toudou is a hero summoned from another world (more than likely ours) to defeat the Demon Lord Kranos. Only the hero has the necessary divine protection required to defeat the Demon Lord, but others may accompany and aid him. All heroes start off at the lowest level and have to work their way up from there. Theoretically, the hero's party members should all be high level, but this party is...different.

Limis Al Friedia is a Level 10 elemental mage who can only use fire magic, even though all elemental mages are supposed to be able to use two different elements. Aria Rizas is a Level 20 swordmaster who recently switched to a completely different school of swordsmanship. Also, even though higher level techniques require at least a little magic, Aria has absolutely no magical ability. (It isn't until nearly the end of the book that readers are finally told that the maximum level for humans is probably 100. I don't consider this to be a spoiler, so I'm mentioning it here for context.)

Ares Crown, the priest assigned to be the group's healer, is the only one with any battle experience. In fact, his level is so high that he worries the rest of the group might use him as a crutch, so he lies and says his level is only 3, the last digit of his true level. He somehow has to get everyone in the party leveled up as soon as possible and keep Nao alive long enough to defeat the Demon Lord, no easy task considering that Nao soon becomes convinced that Ares' assistance is unnecessary.

In terms of flow and general readability this was one of the better light novels I've tried. I never got bored or bogged down by the writing. The battle scenes were relatively easy to follow, and I blew through the whole book much faster than I expected I would. I enjoyed Ares' crankiness, and his "keep moving forward and make the best of the crappy hand you've been dealt" attitude really worked for me.

That said, this book missed the mark in a lot of important ways. For starters, the cover art/title led me to believe that this was going to be a bit lighter and more ridiculous than it actually was. I figured that Ares would be the put-upon healer constantly saving his party members from certain death while the idiots kept obliviously charging forward. There was a little of that, but the brutality and bloodshed kept it from being the light read I expected.

At one point, Ares stumbled upon the aftermath of a fight in a tavern. An aggressive mercenary had freaked Nao out, and, as a result, Nao accidentally maimed nearly everyone in the building. Nao then ran off, basically leaving everyone to die, and only Limis knew that Ares then healed everyone and hushed the whole thing up. This incident was never mentioned again and seemed to make zero impact on Nao. In fact, a short while later, Nao came across a seriously injured monster (secretly injured by Ares, who was hoping Nao would kill it and thereby manage to level up a bit more) and, horrified, said that whoever had hurt it so badly and left it like that must be a monster. There were multiple times in the book where Ares wondered whether Nao was unstable, and I have to say that I wondered that myself. This particular volume provided no answers.

Ares was not a nice guy, and he definitely wasn't a devout priest, but he was absolutely a professional. He did his job, no matter how much the people around him pissed him off. The book included several brutal multi-page scenes in which he beat up and/or maimed monsters and demons, including a monster that looked like a little girl, in an effort to aid Nao or obtain more information (the violence is of the bone-crunching variety, but there is thankfully not much in the way of "gory squishy bits" descriptions). As ruthless as he was, I still preferred him to Nao. It really bothered me that Nao seemed unaffected by the fight at the tavern, and Ares' experience and practicality worked better for me than Nao's boneheadedness.

There were some POV issues. The bulk of the book was first person present tense POV from Ares' perspective, and the author was clearly most comfortable with this. Unfortunately, this resulted in a story that was mostly Ares running around and reacting to things. After a certain point, he was cut off from Nao's party and reduced to guessing where they might go next and what they might do. He was also in the dark as far as the Church went - Cardinal Creio kept saying that the Church had its reasons for assigning Ares to this job, and Ares just had to keep doing his best despite everything. His POV also put limitations on the things readers got to learn about the other characters. Ares wasn't the sort of person who made friends, and he really didn't care about anyone around him, beyond what their level of usefulness might be in battle. I had a better idea of most of the female characters' breast sizes than their personalities.

And speaking of breasts... I think the only female character whose breasts weren't described was maybe the one female mercenary. For a guy who seemed to care more about work than about romance or sex, Ares sure noticed breasts a lot. The breast thing irked me but was mostly ignorable, until the end, when it was revealed that leveling up could affect at least one character's breast size. Yes, the author wrote magically growing breasts into this world. ::sigh::

The overall world was painfully generic, the breast thing was annoying, and there was more bone-crunching violence than I expected. Still, there were some intriguing aspects that might prompt me to at least read the next volume. There are indications that Nao might morph into a more interesting and difficult-to-handle villain than the Demon Lord. There were brief mentions of Ares' workaholic tendencies being his biggest weakness - he isn't good at or used to delegating work, and he uses holy energy on himself to keep himself going past the normal limits of human endurance. This particular volume didn't really demonstrate the drawbacks of his way of operating, and I'm hoping that future volumes do a better job of digging into this some more. Volume 4's cover art features most of the female cast in bikinis, though, so that isn't very encouraging.

Extras:

• Character data for most of the book's prominent characters. The only information not included that I would have liked to see was character ages. There was a bit on page 30 that seemed to indicate that Ares was only 18 years old, and that can't possibly be right.
• An afterword written by the author.
• Several black-and-white illustrations throughout. 
• A couple color illustrations on a folded sheet at the beginning of the book. The illustrator seems to have forgotten that Amelia's hair is supposed to be blue.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

2018 habe ich mir vorgenommen, in der Weihnachtszeit endlich mal Weihnachtsbücher zu lesen. Da es mir immer schwerer fällt, Weihnachtsstimmung aufkommen zu lassen, hoffte ich, dass mir weihnachtliche Geschichten dabei helfen könnten. „The Gift“, ein Buch der Bestsellerautorin Cecelia Ahern, war eine naheliegende Wahl, denn es spielt nicht nur in der Weihnachtszeit, sondern befindet sich auch auf der Liste der modernen Klassiker der Bücherkultur-Challenge. Wie praktisch. Cecelia Ahern gehört sonst nicht zu meinen bevorzugten Autor_innen, weil ich sie in die Chic-Lit-Ecke sortiere, aber angesichts dessen, dass ich ihren Erfolgsroman „P.S. Ich liebe dich“ unerwartet gut fand, wollte ich es trotzdem mit „The Gift“ probieren.

Lou Suffern ist ein Überflieger. Er wohnt in einem eindrucksvollen Haus, fährt einen schnittigen Sportwagen und ist äußerst erfolgreich in seinem Beruf. Mit seiner Ehefrau Ruth hat er zwei bildhübsche Kinder. Doch sein rasanter Aufstieg der Karriereleiter fordert Opfer. Täglich kämpft Lou gegen die Uhr, um immer der Erste, der Beste zu sein. Er führt ein Leben auf der Überholspur und vernachlässigt für seine ehrgeizigen Ambitionen seine Familie. Bis er eines Tages kurz vor Weihnachten einem Obdachlosen einen Kaffee spendiert. Der Mann stellt sich als Gabe vor. Seine bemerkenswerte Auffassungsgabe imponiert Lou. Er besorgt ihm einen Job in der Poststelle seiner Firma. Diese Entscheidung beginnt er schnell zu bereuen. Gabe drängt sich nachdrücklich in sein Leben; ständig schaut er Lou über die Schulter, nervt ihn mit kryptischen Ratschlägen und wie gelingt es ihm eigentlich, an zwei Orten gleichzeitig aufzutauchen? Lou fühlt sich von Gabe bedroht. Er missversteht seine Absichten. Aber er wird verstehen. Schon bald. Denn Gabe macht Lou das wichtigste Geschenk überhaupt: Zeit.

Mich versetzte „The Gift“ nicht in Weihnachtsstimmung. Für mich ist dieses Buch von Cecelia Ahern nicht weihnachtlich genug. Zwar behandelt die Autorin darin unmissverständlich das Läuterungsmotiv, das in vielen Weihnachtsgeschichten prominent vertreten ist und verankerte ihre Erzählung in der (Vor-)Weihnachtszeit, doch atmosphärisch klingt die besinnliche Jahreszeit nur selten an. Ich wurde nicht von Gedanken an Plätzchen, Kerzenschein und Nächstenliebe verzaubert. Das klingt negativ, ich empfand es allerdings nicht als hinderlich, weil ich erkannte, dass der Mangel eines weihnachtlichen Ambientes auf den Protagonisten Lou Suffern zurückzuführen ist. Lou ist ein Workaholic. Es ist naheliegend, dass Weihnachten in seiner Wahrnehmung nur eine geringe Rolle spielt und das Buch daher kaum mit festlicher Stimmung dienen kann. Ich hatte anfangs große Schwierigkeiten, mich Lou zu öffnen und eine Bindung zu ihm aufzubauen. Cecelia Ahern beschreibt ihn als gewollt unsympathisch und geht dabei so weit, dass er mich unangenehm an Pat Bateman, den psychopathischen Serienmörder in Bret Easton Ellis‘ Skandalroman „American Psycho“, erinnerte. Deshalb wollte ich ihn erst gar nicht kennenlernen, obwohl ich natürlich wusste, dass er eine Katharsis durchlaufen würde. Lous Sinneswandlung vollzieht sich graduell. Er ist keineswegs von heute auf morgen ein neuer Mensch und fällt bis zum Schluss in alte Verhaltensmuster zurück, was ich sehr realistisch fand. Darin unterscheidet sich „The Gift“ von klassischen Weihnachtsbüchern wie Charles Dickens‘ „Eine Weihnachtsgeschichte“. Weder ist Lou Suffern ein Ebenezer Scrooge, der über Nacht sein weiches Herz entdeckt, noch ist der Auslöser seiner Veränderung, der Obdachlose Gabe, ein Engel oder ein Geist. Tatsächlich erfahren die Leser_innen nicht, wer oder was Gabe ist. Seine wahre Identität bleibt ungeklärt, womit Ahern reichlich Raum zur Interpretation offenlässt. Persönlich sehe ich in Gabe Lous personifiziertes Gewissen, weil sein Einfluss subtil ist. Er wedelt nicht mit dem mahnenden Zeigefinger, sondern stimuliert Lou zur Selbsterkenntnis. Stück für Stück begreift er den Stellenwert von Familie, Wertschätzung, Dankbarkeit und Demut. Grundsätzlich mochte ich diesen Wandel, ich fand jedoch, dass sich „The Gift“ zu sehr auf Lou als Sündenbock fokussierte. Seine familiären Probleme hätten niemals so gravierend werden müssen. Seine Ehefrau Ruth, seine Eltern, seine Geschwister – sie alle hätten intervenieren und ihren Unmut über sein Benehmen längst verbalisieren können. Ich hatte nicht den Eindruck, dass das jemals geschah. Mir schien es eher, als hätten sie ihm nie vermittelt, wie verletzend sie sein Verhalten empfanden. Eine typische Kommunikationsstörung. Erst Gabe verschiebt Lous Perspektive. Dennoch konnte ich Gabe nicht als Wohltäter betrachten, der eine verlorene Seele zurück auf den rechten Weg lenkt, weil mir seine Rolle am durchaus überraschenden Ende des Buches nicht gefiel. Ich wünschte, ich könnte konkret werden, ohne zu spoilern, aber leider ist das nicht möglich, also muss ich es dabei belassen, euch zu berichten, dass ich glaube, hätte sich Gabe bedachter verhalten, wäre Lous Geschichte anders ausgegangen.

„The Gift“ von Cecelia Ahern erinnert an eine moderne Variante von Dickens‘ „Eine Weihnachtsgeschichte“. Die Thematik der Läuterung des Protagonisten Lou Suffern bestimmt die Geschichte, Ahern interpretierte sie allerdings zeitgenössisch und hielt sich mit der Verwendung mystischer Elemente zurück. Sie involvierte Szenen, die unerklärlich und fantastisch anmuten, doch den Roman deshalb als übernatürlich zu bezeichnen, wäre übertrieben. Ich mochte Aherns pragmatische Herangehensweise an Lous Bekehrung und die Botschaft des Buches, laut der Zeit das kostbarste Gut ist, über das Menschen verfügen. Ich fand es nachdenklich und angenehm unaufgeregt. Ich glaube, es ist das unkitschigste Weihnachtsbuch, das ich je gelesen habe und könnte somit sogar Weihnachtsmuffeln gefallen. Schade nur, dass ich den Kitsch offenbar brauche, um in Weihnachtsstimmung zu kommen.

Mary Smith is on a winning streak with her second book in The New Hampshire Bears Series, The Workaholic and the Realist.  New Hampshire Bears’ defenseman Keaton Jaco is a workaholic.  Editor Harlow Goldsmith is a realist.  The question is, are they compatible?  This contemporary sports romance is suitable for new adult and adult audiences.

Mary Smith does a fantastic job with both her character development and plot.   Keaton is very likeable.  He is hard working and motivated.  He does not want anyone to know about his goals and aspirations.  I love that age is not an issue for him, and he looks deeper at people.  Harlow is forty years old and knows what she wants.  She has rational expectations.  Being in my forties, I related to Harlow a lot.  She has great taste in music.  I love her sarcasm and dialogs. I love their pet names for each other.  Their verbal banter was entertaining.  Both characters have a lot of depth.

I like how the characters from the first and second book interrelate to each other.  It made for a nice transition.  I revered Keaton’s grandmother.  She was a good person that everyone adored.   The plot was worthy and well executed.  I felt bad for Keaton and the things he went through.  The hockey scenes were well described.  The story was full of humor. I thought it was funny when Keaton rescued Harlow from her date.  The conflict between Keaton and Felicia was believable.  I enjoyed the ending, and I look forward to the next book in the series. 

Complimentary copy provided in exchange for an honest review.

I would love to see more romances address work as an addiction. 

Here are some Romances that feature Workaholic leads. These books vary from hard working, work as an excuse not to feel, to work as an destructive force. 

Do you have a love story you like that deals with work as an addiction?  Let me know!

My lists are never in any particular order. Enjoy!

1. The Cinderella Deal by Jennifer Crusie

Daisy Flattery is a free spirit with a soft spot for strays and a weakness for a good story. Why else would she agree to the outrageous charade offered by her buttoned-down workaholic neighbor, Linc Blaise? The history professor needs to have a fiancée in order to capture his dream job, and Daisy is game to play the role. But something funny happens on their way to the altar that changes everything. Now, with the midnight hour approaching, will Daisy lose her prince, or will opposites not only attract but live happily ever after?

2. Turning Up the Heat by Laura Florand

fter eleven years of marriage, Léa Laurier knew her husband. Knew how he could take on responsibility for a world-famous restaurant, a wife, and her two teenage siblings at nineteen years old and never falter, never tire. Knew his drive and his ambition, that took him to the stars. Knew how brilliant his gray eyes looked when they met hers for just one moment across a host of cameras. She didn't know why she was so tired. She didn't know why she needed to just get away. For a while. Maybe a week or two. A month. She'd be back. 

After eleven years of marriage, international superstar chef Daniel Laurier knew his wife. Knew how she could lavish caring on everyone, her siblings, his staff, and most especially him. Knew the way her face lit up when he won yet another television contest, and the way she hugged him for it. Knew how her hair smelled when he sank into bed exhausted at one in the morning. He didn't know what to do when he came home from a consulting trip to find she'd disappeared to remote South Pacific island: I just needed to get away for a little while. A week or two. I'll call you. 

As the whole solid world under his feet turned into a sandcastle in the tide, Daniel knew only one thing: whatever was wrong with his marriage or his wife, he wasn't losing her. So as a top chef, he did the one thing he always knew how to do: turn up the heat.

3. Kissing Mr. Scrooge by Kary Rader

Maddie Timms’s workaholic, type-A boss is forcing her to accompany him on a business trip where she'll miss Christmas at home, but it might just be worth disappointing her family if she can convince the tall, dark, and sexy humbug to embrace the season…and her.

4. The Courting Campaign by Regina Scott

Emma Pyrmont has no designs on handsome Sir Nicholas Rotherford—at least not for herself. As his daughter's nanny, she sees how lonely little Alice has been. With the cook's help, Emma shows the workaholic scientist just what Alice needs. But making Nicholas a better father makes Emma wish her painful past didn't mar her own marriage chances. 

Ever since scandal destroyed his career, Nicholas has devoted himself to his new invention. Now his daughter's sweet, quick-witted nanny is proving an unexpected distraction. All evidence suggests that happiness is within reach—if only a man of logic can trust in the deductions of his own heart.

5. Wolf Flight by Vivian Arend

Tad Maxwell's workaholism serves to keep his bush-pilot company in the air, and his inner werewolf in check. In the two years since he discovered his heritage, he's resisted the longing to test the power of his wolf side. It would mean compromising his human principles.

Then Missy Leason re-enters his life. Ten years ago, their teenage attraction never went beyond hand-holding. Now their chemistry is off the charts, pushing him closer to the step he's not sure it's safe to take, especially with a human.

But Missy is more like Tad than he realizes. She's wolf too, and a wolf pack is a dangerous place to have secrets. Missy's Alpha has sniffed out her carefully hidden Omega powers. Her first response: run from the corrupt Alpha's plan to make her his mate. Step two: get to Tad, and hope like hell his untapped powers are strong enough to negate her own.

Every touch with Missy is hot, hot, hot, but even finding out she's pure wolf doesn't solve Tad's dilemma. Is she using him, or are they truly destined mates? Only one thing is certain. He will defend her to his last breath--on his terms. Even if it means losing his life.

6. Making It Last by Ruthie Knox

A hotel bar. A sexy stranger. A night of passion. There’s a part of Amber Mazzara that wants those things, wants to have a moment—just one—when life isn’t a complicated tangle of house and husband and kids and careers. Then, after a long, exhausting “vacation” with her family, her husband surprises her with a gift: a few days on the beach . . . alone. 
 
Only she won’t be alone for long, because a handsome man just bought her a drink. He’s cool, he’s confident, and he wants to take Amber to bed and keep her there for days. Lucky for them both, he’s her husband. He’s got only a few days in Jamaica to make her wildest desires come true, but if he can pull it off, there’s reason to believe that this fantasy can last a lifetime.

7. Forever and a Day by Jill Shalvis

ove can happen in a heartbeat... Grace never thought she'd be starting her life over from scratch. Losing everything has landed her in Lucky Harbor, working as a dog walker for overwhelmed ER doctor Josh Scott. But the day his nanny fails to show up, Grace goes from caring for Josh's lovable mutt to caring for his rambunctious son. Soon Grace is playing house with the sexy single dad...

With so many people depending on him, Josh has no time for anything outside of his clinic and family - until Grace arrives in town. Now this brainy blonde is turning his life inside out and giving a whole new meaning to the phrase "good bedside manner". Josh and Grace don't know if what they have can last. But in a town like Lucky Harbor, a lifetime of love starts with just one day...

8. Just This Once by Rosalind James

Everyone needs to be rescued sometimes. 
Everyone but Hannah Montgomery, that is. She just needs a vacation. Three weeks in New Zealand to sort out her life, figure out what she wants, seems just right. Oh, and to relax. She should definitely put that on the agenda. She certainly isn’t looking for a sexy fling with a professional rugby player, no matter how attractive he is. Hannah doesn’t do casual. But maybe just this once ... 

As much as he’s shared with Hannah, Drew Callahan has kept one very big secret: that he's the captain of the All Blacks, New Zealand's international rugby team, not to mention the best-known rugby player on earth. And learning the truth, now that she’s back home again, has made Hannah warier than ever. Drew knows that she’s right for him. But how can he convince her to let down her guard enough to explore what they could have together?

9. Embraced by Love by Suzanne Brockmann

osie and Cooper were one of those couples everyone envied: gorgeous, successful, and so deeply devoted. Even though Josie tended to work too hard, putting in long hours to lift her fledgling company off the ground, and Cooper could be wild and unpredictable, the two complimented one another. It seemed their love would last forever.

But sometimes love just isn’t enough. When a tragic accident leaves Josie and Cooper with two young children to care for, their bond will be tested. Now the pressures of their commanding careers are compounded by the needs of the children, and they find themselves drifting further and further apart. They will have to work to find the way back to each other, to the incredible passion that was once at the center of lives–and still burns deep in their hearts.

10. Icebreaker by Deirdre Martin

Good thing high-powered attorney Sinead O' Brien has a rule about never dating clients. Because Adam Perry, the newest star of the New York Blades-and her newest client-has her headed for the penalty box. If only she could prove he's just another jock... 

Adam's been charged with assault after a borderline hit on another star player, but off the ice he's a private, no-nonsense guy who knows the Blades are his last shot at Stanley Cup glory. Assembling her case, Sinead tries not to get distracted by Adam's dazzling good looks or strong work ethic, but she quickly discovers that there's a wounded man under that jersey, and she's starting to fall for him-hard. 

Now Adam's having trouble focusing on the goal with Sinead in his sights. And Sinead is tempted to break her 'no dating clients' rule. Can they play on their newfound feelings without penalties?

Vote for the best of the best on my Goodreads list:  All Work: Workaholics in Romance Novels