Review! The First Affair by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

Jamie McAlister has resigned herself to the fact that in this job market, her painfully expensive degree might only get her a position at Starbucks, when she suddenly lands a prestigious internship at the White House. Although she doesn’t hit it off with the other interns—lockjaws who come from so much money that ten weeks without a paycheck doesn’t faze them—she is eager to work hard and make the best of the opportunity while it lasts.

An unexpected encounter late one evening with the charismatic President Gregory Rutland seems like just a fleeting flirtation, but when he orchestrates clandestine meetings and late-night phone calls, their relationship quickly escalates. Jamie knows what she is doing is wrong: he’s married, he has kids, he’s the President. Yet each time she tries to extricate herself, Greg pulls her back in.

With the conflicted desires of the most powerful man in the world driving her to her breaking point, Jamie can’t help but divulge intimate details to those closest to her. But she must have confided in the wrong person, because she soon finds herself, and everyone she cares about, facing calculated public destruction at the hands of Greg’s political enemies, and—perhaps no matter how much he cares about her—at the hands of Greg himself.

Review: I was really looking forward to reading this book. I love this combination of authors and have enjoyed so many of their other offerings, however, I have to say I was a little disappointed in their latest novel. I really enjoyed the very beginning of the book and the drama increased considerably towards the end-which was excellent. For the most past though, I found this novel hard to follow.

There were a lot of different people involved throughout Jamie's work and personal life and I felt that it was never fully explained exactly who these people were. There were shades of excellent characters but they just weren't developed enough for my liking....

I loved the concept of Jamie having a relationship with the president, and there were some excellent scenes between them that got me seriously hot under the collar. Unfortunately this part didn't last long enough. Jamie ends up in serious hot water, which as I have already stated, resulted in some brilliant dramatic scenes but the relationship between these two events wasn't exactly seamless or well transitioned.

I really enjoyed the storyline involving Jamie's family. There are too many novels which portray every family as a happy family. I loved the fact that Jamie's relationship with her sister was strained, that she left her family early at thanksgiving because she couldn't stand them any longer. Her father almost deserves his own storyline-I'd really like to find out a bit more about his background!

All in all I'm glad I read this book because I'm a fan of these authors, however, I felt it was a departure from their usual style of writing and so this novel wasn't for me. I have no doubt that other people will enjoy their latest offering, and it certainly won't discourage me from reading any other novel by these great writers!