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All my reviews can be found at The Tiny Reader's Reference! Come on over and say hello!Short n Sweet: Despite an interesting premise, [b:One 34273826 One (Count to Ten #1) Jane Blythe https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1487021613s/34273826.jpg 48786607] grapples with unpolished writing, frustrating main characters, and insta-love. This is a quick and delightfully bloody read, but it simply isn???t finished. This novel was given to me for free from the author, as part of Goodread???s group Shut Up and Read???s Read it and Reap program, geared toward shining a spotlight on independent or lesser known authors. In exchange, I would provide an honest review.There is a story here. That???s about all I can say.[b:One 34273826 One (Count to Ten #1) Jane Blythe https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1487021613s/34273826.jpg 48786607] suffers not from lack of plot, or characters, or intrigue. It suffers from the very same affliction that other independent works suffer from - lack of editing. This comes out in a myriad of ways. Allow me a demonstration:???How???s Annabelle doing???? Xavier asked once they were back in the corridor.???Actually, she???s pretty exhausted. I don???t want you interviewing her today; she needs to rest,??? Dr. Daniels challengingly arched an eyebrow.Xavier exchanged a glance with Kate, ???We can interview more relatives of the Jenners today and speak with Annabelle in the morning,??? she proposed.He nodded his agreement, ???Tell her we???ll be here early in the morning,??? he informed the doctor.It is like this, save a handful of times, in the entire book. It began to slow my reading pace, and I started skipping over everything typed after quotation marks. Without the tags, the dialogue became natural. However, when the dialogue became unnatural, it was surrounding ???Well, as you know Bob?????? issues. A group of detectives, medical examiners, and forensic scientists are not going to stand in a circle and repeat the obvious. We are clobbered over the head with conclusions. ???The Englewoods were all dead when their bodies were mutilated,??? Billy explained. ???That girl was lucky to survive; you think whoever it was got spooked when you two showed up???? When no one responded, Billy???s dark eyes grew wide, ???You think she???s the killer? Murder/suicide? Or at least murder, attempted suicide. Why? What possible reason could this young woman have for killing her family? And the way she did it,??? Billy shuddered. ???She must be one angry girl.???You???ve been in the field for years, Billy the Medical Examiner. Why are you acting like this is the first case you???ve ever worked?The romance is insta-love. Xavier has only seen her in hospital gowns, spoken with her for one minute, and is then suddenly in love with her, dreaming about her, wanting her. We are told very little about who Annabelle is as a person, save for a tendency to become a pushover, and ~sky blue eyes~ (which we are, again, clobbered with).Originally, I was going to give [b:One 34273826 One (Count to Ten #1) Jane Blythe https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1487021613s/34273826.jpg 48786607] a three star rating, because editing is relatively independent of the story and characters itself. But then, this gem scraped across my wholly unprepared eyeballs:And, as much as he hated to admit it, the first thought that had jumped into his mind was that once they found the killer, there would be nothing left standing between him and Annabelle.Annabelle lost her entire family. The young brothers she cared for, the parents who housed her, the entire support system she had collapsed around her in a vicious, bloody mess. And the detective can only think about her family???s killer as standing in his way to get into her pants. My desire to root for him was destroyed with one small, yet powerful, line. The whole romantic situation felt very power-imbalanced.On that note - rape. Rape is present in [b:One 34273826 One (Count to Ten #1) Jane Blythe https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1487021613s/34273826.jpg 48786607], not in description, but used as a plot device. A poor plot device. When the killer's motivations are revealed, none of them involve sexual deviancy of any type - and yet, rape is used liberally as a device for angst, and a way to illustrate that the bad guy was just terrible, you guys. I object to this on a moral stance, as rape is not something to spread around like butter on the horribly burned toast of your story. It is a very real, very horrifying, very destructive act of violence, that is used as a literal weapon in real life. Not for you to further your angsty writing needs. I will leave you, dear readers, with a hilarious tidbit I couldn't help but laugh over:???Because I thought she needed a break,??? Dr. Daniels??? face turned a bright shade of red. ???You???ve already harassed her twice, both times I needed to sedate her. She???s just lost her entire family, you accused her of being a killer, then changed your mind, then came back and dumped a truckload of questions on her when she was in no condition to deal with them. She needed a break. I wanted to let her have some time to try to sort things out before you unleashed another tirade on her.???Hell yeah Dr. Daniels you got this the only person in this whole book who has his head on straight GO DR. DANIELS-I knew she was not a killer from the second they brought her in,??? he announced adamantly. ???Anyone with such amazing eyes could never take a life.???WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU DR. DANIELS