Sedona Hutton has written a well-constructed contemporary romance novel with interesting characters, complex subplots and a splash of metaphysical theory. This is a book that many will enjoy. However, if you don’t like coffee, and I prepare you a well-made cup and then flavor it with French vanilla (which you do love) you probably won’t like the beverage, no matter how well made it is or how much French vanilla I add. Right?
So, that’s the problem I have with this book. I happen to not enjoy romance novels, with all due respect to those who do. I try to avoid reviewing genres I don’t appreciate, but because of the misleading blurb, it happened. Whatever else has been mixed into the plot, at its heart, this book is written in the romance genre. From the large amount of time characters spend lusting after each other to the focus on appearance and clothes (always beautiful, always hot) the book speaks the language expected by romance readers. I don’t fault the author for doing that, and doing it well, but it’s not what I enjoy or was led to expect.
What I liked best:
1. The book is well crafted. The pacing is nice, the changing points of view are well-handled, the mix of dialog, action and description is effective.
2. The characters are the best part. They have quirks and interesting back stories and occasionally behave in unpredictable ways. I also liked her multi-generational approach. Teens act and talk like teens, older adults are believable and not relegated to bit parts. The emphasis on families is warming.
3. I genuinely enjoyed the story line about the daughter given up for adoption and her reuniting with her birth mother.
4. There is this one scene where Katie-in-a-coma gets to see the energy that connects all of humanity. I loved it.
What I liked least:
1. The book is chiefly driven by a smoldering love affair between two side characters. As much as anything, this is the story of how the two of them finally have sex.
2. I was disappointed in the metaphysical aspect. Maybe a third of the word count during the first half of the book (so like 15% of the story) is about Katie’s time in the clouds where she is being told about the Law of Attraction. Katie is supposed to be an intelligent woman, but her reaction to this philosophical education is in the vein of “I can have anything I want if I believe hard enough? Cool. Good to know.” I am certain that if I found myself on a cloud with two “beautiful” spirit guides and my dead dog and they assured me I could fix everything in my life, I would have a lot more to discuss with them.
So while I don’t recommend this book to a nerd like me, who loves sinking my teeth into a hearty analysis of metaphysical theory, I do recommend this book to anyone who likes contemporary romance and wouldn’t mind a dab of basic new age philosophy with it. ( )