Friday, July 13, 2012

“Having Come of Age” Romance Hits the Spot with 5 Stars!




I loved it!

Feisty Heroine Gives Comeuppance to Snarky Seniors!

A wonderful 'If-I-knew-then-what-I-know-now' Romance You'll Enjoy -- Every Page of the Way!





Love Inspired
Jul 2012
Miniseries: Men of Allegany County
Category: Inspirational Romance
Paperback and Kindle


"A Family to Cherish" is a joy to read on many levels.  The author's voice is a delight. Ruth Logan Herne is old enough to know that being old is no excuse for being rude or unkind ( or even nasty).  Her feisty heroine doesn't take any guff from the senior citizens who used to terrorize her with their gossip when she was a teen. The heroine has come back home after years away and is now of age and she acts like it.

For such a sweet book, with such adorable children, the older folk are shown in vivid living color without any blemishes covered up.

I kept chuckling and thinking, `this is so darn true'...the author is a genuine wit. She may be snarky at times but thist really spices up her prose. And I mean machine gun prose. At some of the fast moving points in the book, I believe the average sentence length is just a little over four words!


***


“Show-off.”
She grinned at Meredith and splayed her fingers as if reaching to catch the notes, hinting at the woman within. Strong. Assertive. Charming. Ambitious. Industrious. And a stunning talent, to boot.

***

Heather met his droll look and laughed as she nudged Rory’s arm. “And they keep growing. Needing things.”
“Shoes.”
“Coats.”
“Boots.”
“School supplies.”
“But we’re cute,” Rachel cut in, head tilted, looking like purity personified. “That’s gotta count for something, right, Dad?” 
***

The author also shows you what is happening and then she tells you what she just showed you. I call this demonstrative telling. I can't remember reading a more crystal clear presentation that was more fun to read.

Demonstrative telling

"The heavens opened. By the time she got to the car she was soaked through.
Yes, she was cold, wet and messy. Wretchedly so. But she felt great."

***
"He felt better, and that was kind of strange, because he rarely felt good when he finally dropped into bed at night, and today of all days he should be hating himself. But he didn’t, and that felt nice. Real nice."

***

'Show, Don’t Tell' in Dialogue

"Love them. That emotional truth bit deep, but wasn’t that exactly what Simon said today? To show our love, not just voice it. So she would, because hanging with Sophie and Rachel should never be about her, but about them."


***

Best of all...I couldn't stop reading this book.

Now, that's not a cliché.

Repeat: that was not a cliché.

With over 1,100 books on my Kindle, (and Amazon can verify this!) it doesn't take much boredom to cause me to switch to another book. In fact, of the last twenty-two books I've started to read, I've only finished five of them!

I read "A Family to Cherish" straight through with joy and anticipation. About 70% of the way into the book there is even a little feel good Christmas Carol moment when 'Scrooge', the hero, at long last, goes out and buys gifts!  Let it just be said that the clueless hero finally sees the light about the need for girly stuff for his two daughters. It's a hoot!  This happy moment is happier than some of full HEA's that I've read!

The Story:

As provided by the publisher:

"Wanting to do right by his impressionable daughters, widower Cam Calhoun knows they need a woman's touch. But when his high school sweetheart returns to town to open a beauty spa, Cam plans to keep his distance. Meredith Brennan left him without a word over a decade ago. Now talk of hairstyles and nail polish have his tomboy daughters way too excited. Yet when Meredith hires him to make her dream come true, Cam discovers he just might have what she needs most: the love of a family."

This book will make you feel good!

Five Stars and Refreshingly Delightful!
 


To read my reviews of all of Ruth Logan Herne's books click here.



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