[Review] Julie Cohen - Nina Jones and the Temple of Gloom

Title: Nina Jones and the Temple of Gloom
Author: Julie Cohen
Publisher: Little Black Dress
Year: 2010
Pages: 384
My rating: 3/5 stars




Synopsis:

All work and no play makes Nina a dull girl... But when you're PA to a celebrity chef who's even tastier than one of his delicious dishes you can't help loving your job. And what's wrong with fancying the pants off your boss? Erm, everything if he's married to someone else. So when Nina meets sexy Spaniard Juan, she's thrilled to escape to a new life abroad... until Juan does a runner with her hard-earned cash. Nina has no choice but to head home and brave 'The Temple of Gloom' - a gothic flat with some unusual inhabitants. Nina's had enough of bloodsuckers. But is her mysterious neighbor Viktor really a vampire?

Review:

This book is divided into 3 parts, the first one called Fairy Castles and Prince Charmings. Basically it was the part when she work as a PA, love her boss a.k.a Edmund, kiss him even though he's married, met Juan, dating Juan, and finally decided to move to Spain with him. The second part of the book named A Land Far, Far Away. This part of the book happened during her time in Spain. How she and Juan re-build El Flor Anaranjado until Juan ran away with her money. The last part is Temple of Gloom, consists of her time in her dead uncle's flat.

At first I don't really like this book. I started reading it on October 2014, and finished this book on January 2015. For me, that's a very long time to procrastinate a book. It's not the way Julie Cohen write the story, because I kinda liked her way with words. Yet I can't pinpoint the exact reason why I put this book on hold for so long. Finally on January I push myself to read this book before donating it somewhere if it turned out really boring for me. Turns out the first part is the boring one, the second part is the you-are-kidding-me moment for me, and the last part is my favorite part of the book.

The main reason why I love the last part is because I always has a soft spot for a caring old woman/man in books that I read. They remind me a lot of my parents. Which is why I really love Evangeline and Michael, Nina's neighbor in Temple of Gloom beside Viktor. And from all of the male characters (lovers, more precisely), I love Viktor much more than the other. He got that extra credit from me because there's plenty explanation of his job (zoologist, studying and observing bats) and I just found that he's lovable.

'He made the most enormous crash, darling! Woke me up with the worst start. And he's got a lump on the back of his head the size of a goose egg. You have got to have a headache, Michael'
'My head's as hard as a rock' (pg. 227)

'What is it about bats, anyway? Why are all of you so crazy about them?'
'For one thing, they're endangered. But they're also incredible creatures, one hundred per cent adapted to their natural environment. They can navigate in pitch darkness using the most subtle sonar in existence, they contribute immeasurably to their ecosystem, and even their shit is useful.'
'Wow,' I nod. 'That's something. Useful shit.' (pg. 282)

Overall, I give this book 3 stars. 1 for the cute cover, 1 for Michael and Evangeline (and the bijou shop, too!) and 1 more for Viktor.