Review: Dating a Cougar by Donna McDonald

Author - Donna McDonald
Genre - Contemporary
Series - Never Too Late #1
Format - eBook (262p.)
Rating - DNF

After several decades of looking for true love and never finding it, aging model and lingerie designer, Alexa Ranger, has finally given up the search. A couple years ago, she got tired of the game completely and just stopped dating. Now friends and family keep her mostly content, so it’s shocking at 50 yrs old to find herself suddenly wanting a sex life again. It’s even more shocking to be attracted to a much younger man this time. She definitely thinks Casey Carter is sexy, but not handling her own age well, Alexa just can’t get passed their twelve year age difference to even consider a fling. Not that it matters anyway, anything resembling a normal dating relationship is totally out of the question because Casey is related to and living with her daughter’s boyfriend. The very last thing Alexa needs is yet another talk-show worthy drama in her already complicated life, no matter how amazing Casey’s kisses make her feel.

For a couple of years, 38 yr old, medically retired Marine, Casey Carter, believed his military injury had made him impotent. Having lost his wife to cancer, he hadn’t exactly been worried about the problem. Most days walking with cane was enough challenge for him. But now that he was ready to move on with his life, he had become more worried when none of the females his cousin brought around held any interest for him. So the last woman in the world he expected to start his engine revving again was the mother of his cousin's girlfriend. Even at fifty, Alexa is drop-dead gorgeous, and his libido certainly keeps reminding him she is the first woman he has wanted in a long, long time. Ironically, the more Casey gets to know and like Alexa, he finds out desiring the older woman is the easiest part. Jaded and cynical about love, Alexa is a difficult woman to convince of anything, but her kisses are all the proof he needs that they belong together. The former Marine decides his next mission is figuring out how to fit himself into her life.

• Review •
I really, really wanted to like Dating A Cougar. Unfortunately about 9% of the way in I was ready to give up, but I do love the concept of the story. So I forced myself to ignore the bad characters and the bad editing, and keep reading. I thought, mistakenly, it would get better.

The only other thing, besides the already stated concept part, that I somewhat liked, was the flashes of intelligence that Alexa showed. Even though she was shallow, melodramatic, superficial, vain and self-absorbed… I still enjoyed reading about her because of the intelligence. Which made her actions and thoughts, whether I agreed with them or not, believable.

Other issues I had besides the characters and editing was:

• Pacing was extremely slow
• Casey was creepy so I couldn't like him at all
• The mistakes with names and actions. Is her name this or that? They were leaving after eating, but now back and they're eating. Etc. What? O.o

I really wanted to like Dating A Cougar, but when I realized I was starting to get royally miffed while reading it, I knew it was time to walk away. If it had been a short story or novella, I would have continued on, but as a full-length I just didn't have the patience. And I doubt I will check out the other books in the series.

DNF