Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Going Through the Motions of Romance

Whoop! Moving right along - who's that other author whose constant strem of new books I continue to read, though they are sometimes less than crazy exciting? You can get it, I know you can... Okay, it's Robin Lee Hatcher, the queen of Christian romance herself - just counted and this will be my fifth review of one of her books - not bad, not bad for around a year and a half.  This one is, I think, a new series (or at least not the same one as the last few of her books I've read).  It's the usual - turn of the century small-town Idaho, gruff man meets sweet and faithful woman.  This was gruff widower meets schoolteacher, which I think she's done before (at least gruff widower meets governess).  I'm not sure why she finds this particular matchup so compelling, but I suppose it's as good as any.  Gives a girl a good reason to come out West, and gives a man a good reason (his kids) to get to know the pretty newcomer.

I think I've said everything there is to say about the plot of this book.  What about the more important elements, like the romance? Well it was there, I don't think there was anything I can complain about - no getting together too early or breaking up for stupid reasons.  But at the same time... it just wasn't.  The little heartaches, the breathless moments, the unexpected longing - they happened, but only because they had to.  I just felt like the book was moving along, progressing now and then, regressing now and then, but really biding time between the "real" moments.  And in this book, more than in any other RLH so far, I think, the reality was all about religion.  Well you know I don't have anything against religion per se - but I don't even want to read about it when it's my own and you can bet not when it's someone else's :)  The best Robin Lee Hatchers were those apparently adapted from the time before she was born-again.  It seems like the worst are those influenced most by her time since.  This book did have a little more substance than the Bethlehem Springs books, which I think allowed it to go on longer without seeming dragged out.   But it never really had a place to fall from - it just never got that exciting.  Not that it was that bad or anything, but maybe I need a *little* more than the bare bones of an RLH Idaho cowboy romance.

Verdict: 2.5/5

No comments:

Post a Comment