Night and Day: A Review

'Night and Day' is a concept as old as time itself, a fundamental dichotomy that shapes our understanding of the world and our place within it. It's a duality that has inspired countless works of art, literature, and music, each seeking to capture the essence of these contrasting forces.

**On one side, we have night:** a realm of mystery, shadows, and the unknown. It's a time for introspection, for dreams and nightmares to take hold, for secrets to be whispered in the darkness. Night can be both alluring and unsettling, a canvas for the imagination to roam freely.

**On the other side, we have day:** a time of clarity, activity, and connection. It's a time for work, for play, for forging bonds with others. Day is filled with the warmth of the sun, the bustle of life, and the promise of new beginnings.

The beauty of 'Night and Day' lies in the constant interplay between these two forces. They are not mutually exclusive, but rather complementary, each influencing and shaping the other.

**In literature, 'Night and Day' can be seen in the themes of darkness and light, good and evil, hope and despair.** Authors like Edgar Allan Poe and Mary Shelley explore the darker aspects of human nature, while authors like Jane Austen and Charles Dickens focus on the brighter side of life.

**In music, the contrast between night and day is often expressed through tempo, melody, and instrumentation.** A slow, melancholic melody may evoke the stillness of night, while a fast, upbeat tune might capture the energy of day.

**In visual art, 'Night and Day' is often depicted through the use of color, light, and shadow.** Artists like Vincent van Gogh and Gustav Klimt have captured the ethereal beauty of night, while artists like Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir have celebrated the vibrancy of day.

**Ultimately, 'Night and Day' is a timeless theme that resonates deeply with human experience.** It reminds us of the cyclical nature of life, the constant ebb and flow between darkness and light, and the importance of embracing both the shadows and the sunshine.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. The synopsis of this mm title made me want to read this book, but it was so poorly written that I stopped after a handful of pages. It was like two teen boys rather than the man on the cover.

Thank you to the netgalley and the publisher for giving me this eARC to review.

I hate to say this but the little I ended up reading (I DNF'd very early on) was terrible. It all felt very forced and didn't seem to flow. I think the author needs some more time to develop their skills.

I received a copy from Netgalley in exchange of a honest review.

This was really bad, first of all: names. Every single phrase had their names on it.

The plot was a mess, the lack of chemistry, everything happening doesn't make sense, Joel being a master shooter after one-day lessons, so many stereotypes about Japanese people.

The flaws goes on and on, and I believe that most of it happens because the author wrote the book in 10 years, so there's a lot of inconsistency on the plot and writing style.

Night and Day by Georgia C. Williams is a contemporary romance. Joel Schiff’s life has hit rock bottom. He has wealth and luxury but no one to share it with, he’s trapped in a job he loathes, and he’s lost sight of what he was passionate about. Thirty-five and single, and a virgin to boot, Joel realizes that unless he changes something soon, he’ll be miserable the rest of his life. But change finds Joel, and his name is Raiden Noboru. Flirtatious, spontaneous, and living each day in the moment, he’s Joel’s opposite in every way. All it takes is one smoldering, impulsive night together for Joel’s life to turn upside down. When dangerous figures from Raiden’s past make a target of them both, Raiden and Joel find themselves on the run from New York to Tokyo. Danger and mutual attraction bring them closer together, and Joel can’t deny his feelings, like himself, are changing into something he never thought possible. But for Raiden, jumping into gunfights is easier than opening his world-weary heart to Joel’s love. Each fears taking risks to their hearts, but time is running out. Raiden and Joel will have to fight for a chance at a once-in-a-lifetime love, or risk losing it all in a haze of gun smoke.

Night and Day is a book that I had trouble staying with, mostly because sometime I knew something bad was coming and I just was not in the right headspace for it. I did like the characters, both the main couple and the secondary characters through out the book. I thought the characters, their interactions and history, and the story were all well written and built. There were a number of twists and turns, more often than not I expected something coming, but the actual twist or the way it came about surprised me. The violence and action that was part of the story was more than I was prepared for, but that is on me not the author, since it was completely in line with what was happening in the story and the personalities and motivations of the characters. I think fans of the subgenre will absolutely love this book, as a reader that is not a fan of gang and violence plot line I still saw the talent and skill in the book and was about to enjoy the well written characters and well woven story.

Night and Day is a novel with plenty of action and angst, and a solid dose of heat.

Ugh. I wanted to love this book. I adored it in concept - an opposites attract, M/M romance, with Asian-Pacific and LGTBQ representation? sounds amazing. Unfortunately it went off the rails for me at about the 40% mark and I just couldn't finish.

Joel is a straight-laced (well as conservative as a queer man can be) attorney at his family's corporate law firm. He is bored and slowly losing himself in his boring, beige life. When he meets Raiden, a Japanese man who is tatted up and muscled like an MMA fighter, he takes a chance on opening himself up to a sexy exciting fling. He gets way more than he bargained for with Raiden. Raiden is on the run from the Japanese mafia and wanted for a horrible murder of a family in Japan. So as things progress he and Raiden have to return to Japan to try and confront and bring down the organization that wants Raiden dead.

Here's the thing - I really liked Raiden at first - but when we are confronted by his past and the pacing of the book switches from opposites attract city romance to some weird blend of romantic suspense fantasy - I was completely lost and disoriented. In the end the switch - especially the shift in Joel was just too much. This was a DNF for me at 50% mark.

I received this as an ARC via NetGalley, but these opinions are all my own.

Oh my stars, this is baddd. The writing is terrible, the characters are what the author thinks a billionaire and a Japanese guy are, and there is no chemistry at all.. Honestly I could go on and on. This book was extremely lacking and I just had to DNF it.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing an ARC to review.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this book at about 40%. Joel and Raiden weren’t very likable or even interesting characters and they also didn’t really make sense as a couple, I didn’t feel any real connection between them, as they basically just both thought the other was hot, instantly hooked up and there was nothing else there.

While it makes me sad to give bad reviews, this one was just not the book for me.

2 stars

This was....bad. I hate leaving a less than stellar review (especially for a debut) but this needed a loooooot more editing. The story was all over the place and honestly made no sense. Things just didn't connect at all. And Joel was a bad MC. How can you be a lawyer but not know your rights when talking to cops?? And I've also never known a lawyer to be "shy and timid". I wish we could've gotten Raiden's POV so I maybe might have grown to like him. Because I felt like his only personality trait was being Japanese and a jerk.

Hopefully this authors next book has a better editor.

* spoiler alert ** 2.5 but rounded up to a 3 star

I really wanted to love this book, the cover is amazing and it sounded so good but unfortunately that is were it stopped for me.

I couldn't connect with either Joel or Raiden. I also felt they didn't connect to each other, there was no chemistry no build up of tension/feelings.
they were each other's first but Joel got to look Raiden in the eyes, where he didn't give Raiden the same treatment

At some stages there seemed like there was no danger to their lives as they went about sight seeing in Japan and meeting Raidens mother with no precautions/weapons, with no sign of the Mafia.

The plane caught fire but there was no mention of what went wrong or why just that there was smoke and they had to wait a few days, pointless.
There could have been a change over with a delay in their fight rather than that pointless scene.

The Mafia was so easy to defeat, there was no challenge to any of it

At times it didn't flow (much like my jumpy review, sorry)
There were SO many things that needed work with this book, it had great potential but unfortunately fell very flat for me

Special thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of Night and Day by Georgia C Williams. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley and NineStar Press, LLC for providing an ARC to review.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this book at 40%. I really wanted to like Joel and Raiden, but they did not make sense as a couple or even layered characters. All their actions had me raising my eyebrows and muttering to myself, "really? over and over. Joel kept seeing people die around and by Raiden and yet still got back together multiple times was so unrealistic. Also, the whole going to Japan thing made no sense, and I decided to bail.

DNF at 38%.
I really wanted to like this because the synopsis actually sounded very interesting and up my alley. Sadly there is so much going on here and I couldn't help but feel confused and lost with the pacing of this story. The characters lack depth and chemistry, I don't like Joel as a lead character, he is a big shot lawyer and is rich bit somehow timid and shy at the same time... It doesn't add up for me, it just seemed like it was convenient for the character to have a lot of money but there were different ways for that to have been put into play. A big plot hole for me here is when the police come to question Joel and he somehow doesn't know his own rights or what he can and can't say to the police as a lawyer. Raiden is just here to be some sexy guy that is on the run but for some reason is totally untouchable and can headshot anyone just because he feels like it. It really made the "intense" moments anticlimactic because there is an action scene literally every other chapter and for absolutely no reason at all. I think this story could have been good if the setting was different and if it wasn't trying to do the most. The last straw for me was them deciding to go to Japan just because going to enemy territory is just the smartest thing to do since Raiden doesn't want to leave NYC. This is basically a bad gay action movie but in a novel form.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This just wasn't for me. It sounded interesting but ultimately fell flat. The dialogue was all over the place and incredibly hard to read and take seriously and there was just too much going on in the plot with no consistency. I couldn't connect to either of the characters and it was just overall eh? I did finish it but honestly forgot most of what happened within a few hours. Interesting idea, just wasn't for me.

The description grabbed me but when I finally read it the execution of the story was ehh. This is disappointing as I love a mafia/gangster trope but here we are.

Did Not Finish at 10%

I knew almost immediately I wouldn't be able to read this book but gave it a fair shake by reading the first 10% anyway because you never know sometimes books just start awkwardly and then get better! ;however, this book continued to get more awkward. The writing was best described as "random". One second one of the main characters is spilling coffee on the other main character and the next paragraph they're at a museum before work?

A lot happened in two chapters, most of which made zero sense and none of it set up any sort of plot. Sprinkle on top fatphobia, lack of boundaries, very rude side characters, misunderstanding of consent, purchasing Christmas trees and visiting museums before work, and problematic insertion of a white dude being obsessed with Japanese culture, and you can see why I had to DNF at 10%.

When Joel Schiff meet Raiden Noboru at a coffee shop, he knew his life would change. His life went from humdrum to trying to evade a powerful gang from Japan.

Before Raiden, Joel was just going through the motions — except in bed, there’s no motion going in there. He’s a 35-year-old virgin who lives in a New York City penthouse and is about to be named partner in his dad’s company. Sounds unbelievable? It sure does. I didn’t buy it. 

Places to hook up roulette, would you pick a huge penthouse or a place where someone shares it with a grouchy roommate? I know what I would pick. The setup for this conflict was cringy. I dislike unbelievable scenarios that are set up to move the plot along. Heck, this ambush could’ve happened while someone was carrying a Christmas tree, I’m just throwing it out there. 
I do love Joel and his convictions. He knew how skittish Raiden was when it came to emotions and trust. Yes, Joel is clingy but Raiden was all too willing to physically give in except he is unwilling to accept his feelings for Joel due to his trauma.

There was great potential in this book. The mafia trope is one that I love. I had an issue with the 3rd person's POV. A few paragraphs in the first chapter read like a kid wrote an essay an hour before it was due. The execution when it came to conflict setup and plot progression could have been smoother but I still very much like the thought of Joel and Raiden. 

3/5 stars on the spice scale.
3/5 stars overall.

There was a lot going on here.

Plot:

The plot was essentially ten action movies stuffed into one book. It would have been better served to delete half the action scenes, and expand the remaining so that the story has a chance to breathe. This would give the characters time to interact during the scenes and react to things as well. And the reader. I needed a break too.

This ended up with scenes like a plane mechanical failure(?there was smoke in the cabin?danger??) taking up about half a paragraph, and never being mentioned again. Quality over quantity - pick a few scenes and then make them matter.

There were endless continuity, logic, and timescale errors. I didn’t even note the specifics down because there were just so many. This could have used a bit more Hollywood Action Movie level “realism”, there were just too many glaring issues for me to just roll with the ridiculous.

Characters:

My impression of Joel is that he’s a sad little pocket calculator of a human, allegedly a 35 year old senior corporate lawyer (nepotism!) who hates his life but does not change anything. Until he runs into Raiden in a coffee shop, and then somehow things cascade? I’m not sure. It’s not an uncommon set up, but I never felt like Joel was anything but a nervous little hanger-on.

Raiden I never got a feel for. It’s all Joels POV, and with his denial towards things Raiden actually says to him, I don’t feel like we ever knew much about Raiden. His backstory is a bit infodumped later on, so I guess it was nice he shared at all.

There were so many side characters. I was skimming by the end, and wow I had no idea what was going on with all those people. The endless new groups of people were one of the reasons I started skimming in the first place, so….chicken, egg?

Focusing on a select few high priority characters (MCs, Ren and police guy?) would give the story a core group to work from, and then all the tertiary characters wouldn’t be such an issue.

Romance:

The romance didn’t work for me. It’s written there, we’re told its happening, but I never felt it. Lots of oddly placed dramatic moments. I have no idea why Raiden likes Joel at all. Joel is also a Stage 5 Clinger:

"Raiden had mentioned he didn’t do relationships, but Joel was certain he was an exception to his rules."

This kind of thing is a big part of their interactions - Raiden says he doesn’t do relationships, sleep with the same person twice, etc etc. Obviously there’s some differences for Joel already, but the amount that Joel protests against Raiden saying these things…dude, take a hint.

Basically, I can see what the intent was, but ultimately it didn’t work for me.


Other:

The parts of this set in NYC are like taking a city tour. I’ve never been to NYC, so the street names and neighborhood names are lost on me, and mostly just distracted me from the story. It doesn’t need to be exact cross street specific.

We also toured bits of Hawaii and Japan similarly, though for some reason in Hawaii we got a literal tour guide talking about feral chickens.

I did see at the end that the author started writing this when she was 17, and has been working on it for a decade. It being started as a teenager would explain the somewhat immature approach to relationships and drama. The decade of (I’ll assume off and on) writing would also likely explain some of the choppiness and disconnect happening throughout the whole book. I mention this because if this is the case - perhaps working on something new work will let the author make things work better.


Overall, not totally irredeemable. It shows potential I think, but ultimately this one did not work for me on many levels.

As a bonus note, this was one of the most accidentally hilarious lines I came across :

"He opened his drawer to start packing and was met with a flash of vibrant color. Among shades of white and black was the pastel-green shirt."

Vibrant…pastel.

In this story, we have Joel, a 30 year old fella who has never been kissed, who lives in NYC. We know that this is New York due to all the details we were given. I know some readers were stuck on the actual details, but for me, it was the Duane Reade that took me out of the story.

Now the other mc in here is Raiden. Yes, his name really is that and he has cherry blossom tattoos and is very very tall. He is also Japanese. I am not sure what was going on in this story, but to me, this was less a real Japanese person and more of a fetishization of what one would assume a Japanese guy would be.

I could have overlooked most of that, but the story itself needed editing. Like when the Yakuza were using revolvers. Or when Joel became the savior. Or sentences that did not flow at all.

The lack of chemistry between them is what made this hard to read. I can let things just go along, no matter how bad, if the story hooks me in. But this did not

I am giving it 2 stars cause I made it to the end of the book to see that they danced to Journey's Open Arms. .

DNF'd about 34% in, it's just too unrealistic and the dialogue was so forced out of them, nothing about the story or the characters felt organic at all.
I mean, I didn't feel it was realistic when a rich guy who lives in a $6 million condo didn't want to pay delivery costs on an Xmas tree, so the direction it took after that was all just downhill form there if we're expected to believe without ever handling a gun he becomes a perfect shot.

I think this book was pretty good
Joel was super cute and awkward and while Raiden scared me a bit at times, he was super cool.
This book definitely confused me a bit though, but I guess that confusion comes with a third person POV and a foreign country with names I've never heard before. I did really enjoy it though. I think Ren was probably one of the best characters, the cute little badass she was.
3 stars overall, and you should check it out ASAP.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this ARC!