Book Review: At First Sight: Global Security Unlimited 1
At First Sight: Global Security Unlimited 1. Sharon Michalove, Self-Published, October 22, 2021,
342 pages.
Review by Paula Mikrut.
Written by Sharon Michalove, At First Sight falls into romantic suspense. The predictable attraction between the Scottish Max Grant, formerly an M-16 operative in England, and Cressida Taylor, the talented but withdrawn writer, plays out in a series of opulent settings around Chicago. Michalove misses no opportunities to describe the hero’s luxurious belongings, from Max’s collection of expensive cars to his bespoke suits.
At forty, Chicagoan Cressida is a successful writer of historical fiction. When she is shortlisted for the Hugo/Dumas Award for her latest novel, Queen of Nowhere, a fictionalized biography of fifteenth-century queen Catarina Cornaro, Cress heads to Everest, the renowned Chicago restaurant, to celebrate with her friends. Just being a finalist for the prize will boost her public recognition. In fact, Cressida has a television interview scheduled for the next day. Unfortunately, the gorgeous but klutzy writer skids on her stiletto heels outside the restaurant entrance, which sends her possessions flying. Her shopping bag hits a man entering the same eatery. Mortified with embarrassment, she notices that he is amazingly handsome, even as she blurts out apologies. Cress is unaware that they have met twenty years before when both were students at Oxford University. However, the man, Max, remembers her clearly because she has been in his mind ever since they met.
The book’s emotional tone is not one anchored in reality. The fact that both individuals are impossibly good looking with no financial problems, and that Max—after guarding his emotions for twenty years—is instantly certain that Cress is the love of his life, takes this book out of the realm of the reasonable and puts it into the sphere of a fairytale.
Despite the backstory given, it strains credulity that two such intriguing and bountifully endowed individuals would both be near celibate for twenty years. But the story plays into the romantic notion that there is one ideal mate for each person, and when that person appears, all doubts and previous neuroses can be overcome.
The book often reads like an e-advertisement for luxury goods, supplying details of wealthy lifestyles instead of real dramatic action. As a result, the suspense seems contrived, and the danger is resolved without either protagonist having used wiles or courage to confront Cress’s assailant.
This robs the plot of the satisfaction a reader feels when the hero outsmarts or physically overcomes the evildoer.
On the plus side, At First Sight’s supporting characters, Cress’s friends Micki and Paul, along with Max’s Scottish family, are all believably quirky and interesting. In addition, Michalove gives us mature heroes in their forties by presenting that romance can happen past one’s thirties. Readers from (or familiar with) Chicago will also enjoy all the references to the city’s iconic restaurants, bookstores, and other landmarks.
At First Sight is a book to take to bed on a cold winter night when the reader wants a fanciful romance rather than the boredom and uncertainties of real life.