Jane's Melody

Jane's Melody by Ryan Winfield
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Jane first sees Caleb at the cemetery, standing at her daughter's new grave, but he vanishes before she can talk to him. She next runs across him playing his guitar on the streets of Seattle, where he is reluctant to speak about her daughter, Melody. The third time she finds him, he has just been mugged, robbed of his guitar and hence his livelihood, so she makes the impulsive decision to take him home with her, hire him to do a major yard renovation, in the hopes that he'll open up and tell her more about her daughter's last days and weeks before her drug overdose. She soon learns that Caleb is mature far beyond his 24 years, and his presence in her life might be the balm she didn't know she needed, if only she is brave enough to take the necessary leap.

For a romance novel, there is an enormous amount of grief and melancholy permeating the pages. Jane's life hasn't been easy--from her family of addicts and enablers, to the boyfriend who abandoned her when she got pregnant in college, to raising her daughter on her own on an insurance agent's unpredictable salary, to the heartbreak of losing her daughter to drugs and alcohol. Still, she has created a life for herself in spite of her obstacles. She has a close circle of friends and a nice home. What she lacks is self confidence, which is one of the three reasons I had difficulty suspending disbelief on occasion. I just couldn't always buy that Caleb would be so attracted to a woman who had no concept of her own self-worth that he'd think a 16-year age difference was irrelevant. What did he find irresistible about a grieving woman who had no faith in her own lovability?

The second quibble I had with the story was also related to Caleb's age. Twenty-four is still in the "Knight" phase for men (see Alison Armstrong's PAX Program) where they are seeking adventure and testing their mettle. Had Caleb been a few years older--say, 30--it would have been far easier to believe he was wanting to find his "Queen" and build his castle, so to speak. Likewise, it would have been more plausible that he had had time to cultivate domestic and handyman skills. It jolted me out of the world of the story every time Caleb demonstrated knowledge and aptitude for something that it didn't seem likely he'd have learned while homeless or couch-surfing, although I suppose some of those skills might have been learned when he was still a kid.

My third bone to pick with the book happened mostly in the middle of the novel when Jane and Caleb were having sex in every conceivable room on every conceivable surface all the time. I think it's a male delusion that (sorry for the blunt language ahead) women orgasm due solely to penetration. Almost no women can do this (see Mary Roach's book Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex). I guess it just makes men feel better to believe what works for them also feels earth-moving to their partners? So it was absurd to have Jane in raptures at Caleb's prowess when most of the time he was just demonstrating stamina, not finesse. My eyes rolled so hard, I think I sprained muscles.

That said, I really did enjoy large chunks of the story. The scene where Jane reads Melody's baby book had me bawling. Jane's friendship with Grace was beautiful and also had me in tears sometimes. When I could forget the age, self-esteem, and sex issues, I was totally absorbed in the book.

For readers' advisors: character doorways is primary, story and setting (Puget Sound area, mostly) secondary. Clearly there are sex scenes, so don't suggest it to anyone who asks for "clean reads." It's a contemporary romance, the first in a series that continues with Jane's Harmony.

I received a free ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

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The Inn at Rose Harbor

The Inn at Rose Harbor by Debbie Macomber
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It took me several tries to get into this book. Not because it wasn't interesting, but because it hit a little too close to home and revived memories of deep, dark fears.

The book opens with the story of Jo Marie, a recent widow who lost her husband after only a few months of marriage. She was in her late thirties when she met her soulmate, Paul, and they fell in love immediately. Despite his deployment to Germany two months later, they managed to sustain their relationship, and he proposed when he flew home at Christmastime on leave. They married in January, and right afterward his unit was sent to Afghanistan, where he died in a helicopter crash in April.

This is pretty much my nightmare scenario. This is what had me jumping every time the phone rang for the first year of my relationship with my (now) husband while he was deployed to Kabul. I was petrified I would lose the love of my life after having finally found him. I imagine this is the nightmare scenario experienced by all military spouses, girlfriends, and boyfriends: having your future together ripped away in one moment of violence. Then again, given recent headlines in the local newspapers, perhaps this is a fear we all share, military or not.

At any rate, by the time I finally managed to get past the first chapter and into the rest of the book, my egalley copy from NetGalley expired. ARGH! So I had to put the physical book on hold at my library and wait until it was my turn.

The Inn at Rose Harbor is actually the story of three people whose lives intersect one weekend: Jo Marie, newly minted innkeeper of the B&B she bought with the life insurance money, and her first two guests, Joshua Weaver and Abby Kincaid. Josh has returned to Cedar Cove to deal with his dying stepfather who hates him, and Abby must face the guilt she has carried for the fifteen years since her best friend died in a car accident. All three need and receive healing over the course of the long weekend.

For readers' advisors: It was hard to decide how to categorize this novel. It's not a straightforward romance, although there is some romance involved. It doesn't quite fit into "magical realism" either, although the angels/ghosts make it lean into the paranormal. I think it will appeal to people who enjoy Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove series, and fans will recognize some secondary characters. It's a contemporary "clean read," with no sex or bad language--a very sweet novel. Character doorway is primary, and setting (Cedar Cove on Puget Sound in Washington) is secondary.

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The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I still am not sure how I made it through this achingly funny, poignant book without sobbing. Maybe because most of it really is humorous, even the tragic parts. Dark humor sometimes, true, but witty.

Hazel Grace Lancaster is sixteen years old and slowly dying of cancer when she meets the love of her life, Augustus Waters (age 17), at a Cancer Support Group. Gus had lost a leg in his own battle with cancer a year and a half earlier but comes to the support group that night because of his friend Isaac who is about to lose his remaining eye to cancer surgery.

It sounds like this would be a total downer of a book, but John Green refuses to let that happen. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

For readers' advisors: character doorway primarily, story & language secondary, and there is one not-at-all-explicit sex scene.


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Remembering Raquel

Remembering Raquel by Vivian Vande Velde

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Nine years and one day after a boy I knew was killed when he stepped off a curb and was hit by a car, I read a book about a girl who stepped off a curb and was hit by a car. Perhaps this is why this book resonated so deeply with me. The difference between real life and the book, though, is that in real life the boy was well-known and well-liked, whereas Raquel is well-known by only a few people.

Remembering Raquel is told in a series of short "chapters," each told from the point of view of a different person--everyone from the janitor who cleans out her locker, to the EMT who responded to the scene, to the driver of the car, to Raquel's friends, family, and classmates. Short, poignant, and even sometimes humorous memories and regrets that together paint a picture of a girl I wish I'd known. This book may haunt me for a while.

For readers' advisors: character doorway


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