Joint Review: Seduction and Snacks by Tara Sivec

Publisher: Self-published
Where did you get the book: Purchased
Release date: Out now

Claire is a twenty-something, single mom that grudgingly helps her best friend sell sex toys while she attempts to make enough money to start her own business to give her foul-mouthed, but extremely loveable (when he’s asleep) toddler a better life.

When Carter, the one-night-stand from her past that changed her life forever, shows up in her hometown bar without any recollection of her besides her unique chocolate scent, Claire will make it a point that he remembers her this time.

With Carter’s undisguised shock at suddenly finding out he has a four-year-old son and Claire’s panic that her stretch marks and slim to none bedroom experience will send the man of her dreams heading for the hills, the pair will do whatever they can to get their happily ever after.

Warning: contains explicit sex, profanity and enough sarcasm to choke a horse.

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*blurb taken from goodreads*

Lou: I was recommended this book by Has who told me, and I quote, ‘OMFG this is fucking hilarious’. This book is crude, full of swear words and at times very funny. It was also refreshing having a heroine who didn’t want or think about having babies. Sometimes I do get sick of books that have epilogues at the end that make having babies be the ultimate be all and end of a female. So Claire’s views on motherhood and babies did make for a welcome change, and I enjoyed that aspect. This also features a baby secret trope, but not the kind that makes you want to rage.

Claire had a drunken one night stand in college, and never found out the name of the hero. When she finds out she is pregnant, Claire tries all her worth to find out who the man was, but to no avail. Claire gives birth and brings up Gavin, her four year old son, on her own with her dad. It’s not until a chance meeting in a bar that Claire once again comes face to face with her one night stand, Carter. This book had humour on every single page, and whilst I found myself chortling aloud, I did find that the humour was too forced in occasions, and there needed to be more emotion on the romance.

Has: I saw this being recced on twitter by a friend, and I was in a mood for something funny and snarky. I needed a change from the angsty and dark romances that seem to be really popular at the moment. And I am glad I did pick it up because it made me laugh out loud so many times that I got strange looks from my family on what the heck I was reading. However, I agree with you that the humour was too forced at times, and I wished there was more focus on the romance, which only seemed to get going halfway through the book. I also felt Claire’s son, Gavin, suffered from the trope of precocious child syndrome, but in this case it was potty mouth but with cutesy speech. I get there are kids who do pick up bad language but most of the instances I found where it was forced with the humour involved scenes with Gavin. (Disclosure – I am not a huge fan of kids in romance, especially if they have cutsey speech).

However I loved how real Claire’s situation over being a single mother, especially in the beginning of the book, where her feelings on being pregnant and facing the prospect of raising a child alone was realistic and authentic. It wasn’t idealised or romantic and I liked that this aspect wasn’t glossed over like a few romance books I’ve come across.

Lou: I’ve been reading a lot of self-pubbed titles lately, and it’s been some months since I read one that was full of humour such as Seduction. But my biggest issue with the book is that it was overkill with the humour. There had to be a catch-line or funny phrase in every single page, and the effect became very diluted. The potty mouth kid was just incredibly weird. I agree that kids do pick up language from their surroundings, but this kid was almost lecherous which was so creepy and weird. The kid had no discipline, and why was the Grandfather letting a four year baby watch adult films. It didn’t make any sense than to try and up the comedy stakes, but in this case it fell very flat. Claire’s romance with Carter is slow, and whilst there was no mountain climbing barrier between them which made for easy reading, there was something missing. The emotion was missing, because everything was solely concentrated on the humour. Carter was made out to be just as funny as Claire, and whilst it worked in some parts, I found it, once again, to be overkill – especially when his friend Drew was acting like Gavin.

Has: I totally agree. I think it affected the pace as well, because I only felt the development in the romance and characters really started to develop and evolve. But nonetheless the humour when it worked for me really shines. It may not appeal to those who don’t like snarky or sarcastic humour which in this case got really crude at times. But I found it refreshing and honest and it was a cute read and there was a few scenes which I felt I wished I had a pair of Depends. I loved the inner narration when Carter finds out he fathered a child.

‘What the fuck is happening right now? This couldn’t be real. My sperm betrayed me. I suddenly had a vision of my sperm swimming around and talking in Bruce Willis’s voice like in Look Who’s Talking. “Come on! Swim faster! This little shit has no idea we escaped from the condom! Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker!”
My Bruce Willis sperm is bad ass and thinks he’s John McClane from “Die Hard.” That is the only explanation for this fuckery.
“Who are you?” I asked the kid with my eyes when I finally found my voice. “I’m Gavin Morgan, who the hell are you?”

’

Lou: That was hilarious, and the author definitely has some funny bones. I wished though that the humour was used naturally, and not as if its been whacked over your head with a hammer. The romance between Claire and Carter was sweet at times, but the interruption of Gavin got old a little fast. Some scenes were too contrived, and at points I found myself distancing myself from the book and being disengaged with the characters. Carter seems to be able to get to know Gavin too easily. Everything went too easily, and towards the latter stages of the book I felt the tension seep out the book. This is another case of a self-published book needing an editor.

Has: I agree about the tension and the editor, but I also felt the story only got going halfway through, but any chance of tension kind of tapered out. It also felt unfinished, because of the setting up of Claire’s new store with her friend Liz. But there is a sequel which follows on from there. I also felt that sometimes the inner narration between Carter and Claire was too similar, although in the book it is stated that they are so similar and share the same taste and humour, but I would have liked some differentiation between them.

Overall, despite it flaws, Seduction and Snacks was a fun, snarky and enjoyable read. It is rare for me to really laugh out loud (and I did a few times, where I wished I had Depends) and there was some amazingvaginadoozies of one-liners here. And although I wished it was a much tighter book, in terms of plotting and less of the cutsey kid, this book was cracktastic and cheered me up over a downer of a weekend.

I give Seduction and Snacks a C+

Lou: I’m glad I got this book because it did make me laugh, but I wished the romance was as strong as the humour. And I wished that at certain points the humour was dialled down so that the story felt more natural. I hated the portrayal of the kid because NO kid ever acts like that, and it was just weird. I don’t think I could recommend this book for romance lovers because I definitely think the humour is subjective, and the romance isn’t strong enough. All in all I give Seduction and Snacks a C.

Note: Whilst writing this review last night, it came to our attention that this book is in fact P2P fiction of Twilight. If we had known that originally, we would not have reviewed this.