Review & Giveaway: Core Attraction by Ashlinn Craven

Core Attraction by Ashlinn Craven
Published by Crimson Romance on April 27, 2015
Genres: Contemporary Adult Romance 18+
Format: eARC
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What do you do when your worst enemy is the one who understands you best?

Living with her dad and single since the Ice Age, Fiona Halpin’s plan is to get a promotion, a swanky house, and a boyfriend--strictly in that order. So when Dr. Declan MacCarthy and his protest leaflets turn up outside the power plant where she handles public relations, she’s almost too busy doing damage control to notice how gorgeous he is. Almost.

Declan has returned from Japan to settle in his Irish hometown and live a meaningful life by treating his cancer patients and joining a campaign against the biggest local employer’s deadly radiation risks. But that means facing off with the fierce Fiona, who’s as protective of her company as a pack of Rottweilers.

As Fiona slowly warms to Declan and his passion for his cause, a strong compatibility and common ground develop between them. But can she let down her defenses enough to let him reach her inner core, or is their passion only heading for meltdown?

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The title of Ashlinn Craven’s novel Core Attraction is actually a play on words with it’s reference to the core reactor of a nuclear power plant.  When Fiona Halpin first meets Dr. Declan McCarthy while she is out running and he is busy protesting against her employer, the attraction goes to the core and is definitely nuclear! It’s Fiona’s job as Public Relations Officer for DunCore, a nuclear power plant, to promote a positive public image of nuclear power and her employer.  As a pediatric oncologist, it isn’t Declan’s job to participate in protests, but as a man who has suffered a devastating and disillusioning loss related to nuclear power, he feels bound to make his voice heard on the subject.

Back then, before the earthquake, before the tsunami, before the nuclear meltdown, he’d considered himself so worldly-wise, living so far from Ireland and the provincial thinking of his colleagues and family.  How naïve his worldview had been, grounded in the belief that life had some meaning, a rewards-based, karmic view of existence whereby you added points if you did good, and if you had enough good points, then bad things wouldn’t happen to you.

At their initial meeting Fiona pretends to be a fellow protester, but she is unaware she is talking to the local hospital’s promising new specialist. Declan is just as unaware that he is consorting with the enemy until they meet a second time and their true identities are revealed.  From that point forward these two strong-willed and strongly convicted people continually butt heads over their respective causes.

As I was reading Core Attraction, I was struck by its similarity to our present climate where protest is such a common thing.  The author certainly lends insight into how these situations can escalate and get out of control.  She also addresses the fact that many times the protesters are nothing more than bystanders who jump on the bandwagon or outsiders recruited to pump up the numbers rather than those who are really invested in the cause.  Fiona is a strong woman and a very likable character.  She just wants to do a good job, get a promotion and buy herself and her father a new home.  A man would be a nice add-in, but she is very focused on her goals and is unprepared for Dr. Declan McCarthy with his angst, his baggage and his opposing views.  She is also unprepared for the sexual harassment and covert activity she encounters in her workplace, but she deals with the issues very effectively. I think Declan is the most conflicted of the two characters. He seems to be constantly torn by his devotion to his patients, his bitterness and grief over the loss of his wife and the obligation he feels to an angry teenager, his brother-in-law Taro, who has lost his family.  He must also make a decision as to whether he can remain in his hometown and continue to do the work he loves when his employer is largely funded by the company that is the object of his protest. Core Attraction has romance, suspense, humor and characters with stories that are very relevant in today’s world. Throughout the book, I often speculated as to how the author was going to believably resolve all the issues confronting her characters and still have a reasonably happy ending.  Ashlinn Craven does just that while presenting persuasive arguments on both sides of the nuclear energy question and writing her story line to a conclusion that will be very satisfying to readers.

 

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