Grade: C-
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Published 8/27/13
Reviewed by Anne
427 pages
DJ is a librarian, recently hired to take over a library in a small town in rural Kansas. Scott is the pharmacist, long time resident. DJ is shocked to recognize Scott as her one youthful indiscretion – a spring break fling back in college. She’s even more shocked when Scott doesn’t recognize her back.
OK, so let me start by mentioning that this is a 427 page book. So, it’s longer than I normally read. But, hey, it’s about a librarian, and it’s about small town Kansas, so these factors work in it’s favor and I decided to read it.
And it’s pretty good. Not fabulous, but it gets better as the story goes on. Watching Scott work hard to pursue DJ is pretty fun. He has no idea why she has such a negative opinion of him. DJ is so conflicted. She hopes he’ll never remember it was her (I guess because she’s worried about the repercussions in this small town?) but at the same time she’s offended that he can’t remember her!
There’s also a secondary storyline involving Scott’s mother. His father passed away about a year ago and she’s acting ok to the outside world, but inside she’s really suffering. Her story, along with all the other small town residents is really well written. The book as a whole is really well written excepting some really detailed pages on wheat farming and pharmacy that weren’t necessary to the story.
So, it’s a pretty good book. And then it ends. And the ending is horrible! It’s the emotional equivalent of shutting the bedroom door after a whole book’s worth of foreplay. And it made me want to howl! Why in the world would we bow out of this story just as the main characters we finally making an emotional connection??? And mom’s storyline is at a pretty critical juncture, too. Wham. Book is over.
If you’re interested, I’ll explain below, but beware as it is spoilerific!
I just can’t believe the book ended this way. I invested over 400 pages and never got the emotional payoff. I feel robbed.
*(spoiler below)
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DJ kept a momento from her fling. A belly chain Scott bought for her. Throughout this story, DJ never tells Scott that she was his fling. He thinks she reminds him of the girl from the fling, but never figures out it’s really her. Then she decides to tell him, and in that same moment he finds the belly chain in her jewelry box. Wham. Book is over. (Well, there’s an epilogue that lets us know they’re happily married and having great sex 8 years later. With children.) And it’s the same thing with Scott’s mom. She’s been considering SUICIDE throughout the book. In the final chapters she cooks herself a botchilism pie (no, really) but when the dog eats it instead, she induces vomitting in the dog and decides she wants to live. Wham. Book is over. (Well, she also appears in the epilogue. So we know she never killed herself.)
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