Jennifer Lohmann

This is a self-published novella from Jennifer Lohmann. I read and liked Lohmann's debut Harlequin SuperRomance, but I haven't read the followups.

This novella is in the style of others I've read, where there is a very tight focus on the romance and there isn't much plot to speak of. Cassie Sumner is a recently divorced mother of a college-age daughter. She's about to turn 40, and her best friend has persuaded her to celebrate it with a skiing week in Utah. Skiing is one of the many things Cassie stopped doing when she married very young. The Best Friend breaks her leg on the first day of ski lessons, so Cassie is suddenly on-on-one with the younger, hot, ski instructor, Doug Vanderholt.

Doug has sworn off flings with his students, not only because the ski lodge frowns on them, but also because a previous fling put the nail in the coffin of his already failing marriage. Now Doug is focused on his job and being a good parent to his two young children. Lohmann is very good at writing not-entirely-admirable men in the hero role, and while I didn't think she pulled it off in the HSR I read, I liked Doug and thought he worked. The age difference thing was also well handled.

I like Lohmann's books because they are intelligent as well as romantic. Not showoff smart, but the characters are thoughtful and reflective. And they have friends! And families! Even in the relatively short space of a novella, Cassie has meaningful interactions with her daughter and her friend, and the reader gets the sense that Doug is embedded into the life around him.

My negative is the usual one: I prefer stories that have more plot. This has a fair amount of sex (all nicely written and fitting the story), which I guess is the point, since it's about a weekend fling that becomes something more. I believed in the possibility of the more, I just wanted more non-romance stuff. But that's asking a lot for a novella.… (mehr)