Review: The Scent of Rain by Kristin Billerbeck

Book Cover and Synopsis:

Daphne Sweeten left Paris—and a job she loved—to marry the man of her dreams in the U.S. But when he stands her up on their wedding day, she's left reeling and senseless. Literally. She's been trained as a perfume creator and now her sense of smell has disappeared along with her fiancé.

She has to figure out why her nose isn't working, fix it, and get back to Paris. Meanwhile, she'll rely on her chemistry skills and just hope her new boss at Gibraltar Products, Jesse, doesn't notice her failing senses. They'll be working together on household fragrances, not posh perfumes. How hard can it be?

As Daphne and Jesse work on a signature scent for their new line, she feels God at work as never before. And the promise of what's possible is as fresh as the scent of rain.

My Thoughts:
I really wanted to like this one. The premise sounded unique, but unfortunately I wasn't able to connect with the story or the characters.

The over-abundance of office politics at Gibraltar was too much for my taste, and I just couldn't bring myself to be excited about the relationship between Daphne and Jesse. I know there was supposed to be an attraction between the two characters, but I had a hard time seeing why. Jesse's constant attempts at convincing Daphne to leave the company in order to further her career got somewhat old, and the fact that it was an attempt on his part to atone for failing his late wife, well, that was just a bit creepy to me.

Daphne as a whole wasn't quite as developed as I would've liked; especially for being a main character. I felt like her abandonment at the altar should've affected her much more than it seemed to. And not having a sense of smell? I think that would be cause for major freaking-out, especially for someone with her position, yet she never seemed much more than neutral about it.

I hate to write such a mediocre review for any book, but I simply couldn't "click" with this book and ultimately the whole thing just fell flat for me. I'm sure there are others who would enjoy it very much, I'm just not one of them. I do have to admit the cover is gorgeous, although I don't feel it fits the story tone very well. If you're looking to try a Kristin Billerbeck novel, I would recommend "Split Ends" instead, which is one of her earlier works.

My Rating: 3 stars

Thanks to the publisher (Thomas Nelson) for providing me with this e-book via NetGalley for review.