September Reads

Summer of Two Wishes by Julia London: Macy and Finn Lockhart’s story is maybe too current not to be a bit uncomfortable for me to read. London does a great job of telling the story of their early love. How they struggled to build a horse ranch in Texas, then Finn joins the army.

Right there I’m struggling with understanding Finn a bit, mostly because I never did feel the passion a man would have to feel to do this when he loved his wife and farm so much. Oh, I understand defending this country and the feelings that go along with that. I’m married to a Marine. I’m just saying I didn’t get this from Finn, so I didn’t understand why he went, especially as strongly as Macy was against it. Oh, I understand stubbornness, but this just didn’t ring as true as I needed.

After Macy gets the devastating news the Finn had been killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan it takes her three years to pull herself together, sell the ranch and marry again. Wyatt Clark, a land broker, is appealing enough, but he too, seems drawn a bit lightly.

Then the news that Finn is alive and coming home breaks and Macy is torn between two husbands. A great and interesting conflict, but through the whole book I was frustrated by the characters. Macy was wishy-washy, Finn-inconsistent and Wyatt, so much of a jerk sometimes I couldn’t understand Macy every falling in love with him. Some of that would have shown its self before now, I think.

Truthfully, though I enjoyed the read—London does a great job of dialogue and writing the scenes, but I had a hard time liking any of the characters much. The conflict seemed manipulated and I got frustrated with the three characters.

For this type of story, I would recommend LaVyrle Spencer’s Twice Loved. Though a historical, all three characters involved are loved so much that just the reading of the story tears at your own heart.

Red’s Hot Honky-Tonk Bar by Pamela Morsi: I have loved Morsi’s writing since she first started writing. She has the most beloved, quirky characters. They’re just like me. Wonderful, nice people with common, everyday problems they handle in the best, flawed way as they can.

This story was no exception. Red Cullens is not the typical grandma type. Not at all. She owns a Honky-Tonk bar, sports an armadillo tattoo on her sweet little armadillo (you know what I’m referring to) and tight jeans. Now, suddenly, she is responsible for her young grandchildren. She hardly knows them and hardly knows how to take care of them. She has rowdy friend, she works late and lives in a tiny apartment above her bar. Not only that, but she has a young fiddle player she’s dallying with.

This story just puts a smile on your face as you read it. You’ll love Red, you’ll love Cam, her lover, you’ll love the two kids and you’ll love how Red faces the challenges in her life. This book is a sweet, heartbreaking story of second changes.

Cloud Nine by Luanne Rice: This is another story about second chances. Sarah Talbot has beaten brain cancer against all odds. Every minute, every new experience fills her with a joy she can hardly contain. A friend’s birthday gift brings to her what she never could have hoped for. A new love. There was much in this book that touched me. I was never as close to dying as Sarah was, never as sick, either. Although, I never want to feel like I did, so this story touched me. I know a little of what Sarah was feeling.

Maybe that was why I felt almost reluctant to keep reading. It was a very tender book. Almost too tender.