Alice Wootson

Arabesque

1-58314-249-5

October 2001

(4)  Jeanette Cogdell

Contemporary Romance

PLOT SYNOPSIS: 

REVIEW: 

HOME FOR CHRISTMAS is one of the sweetest romance stories I’ve read in a long time.  It’s a second chance love story of high school thru college sweethearts who let their dreams and unbendable ways stop them from having a life together filled with everlasting love.

Jeffrey Hamilton had always dreamed of working in the space industry.  With the nickname, The Brain, Jeff was sure to achieve his dream, but at what cost?  His senior year in college, Jeff applied for and was offered a job in Houston doing what he always wanted.  He neglected to tell his girlfriend about it.  He knew she would understand, because this was his dream, something he couldn’t turn down.

Sheila Miller had been dating Jeff since high school.  They were in love and had made plans for the future.  When she graduated from college next year, they would get married.  She would become a middle school math teacher and he would find a job at one of the factories there in Philly.  At Jeff’s graduation, Sheila learns from one of his classmates that Jeff has accepted a job in Houston (so much for their plans).  She is shocked, feels betrayed and ends their relationship.

Now 11 years later, Jeff is returning home after learning that no matter how successful he became, his life was still empty without Sheila in it.  He had to go back to Philly to try and get Sheila back, not knowing if she was married with children or not.

This was such a great relationship story.  Although the couple claimed to have loved each other, they had yet to learn how to trust that love and how to compromise.  Marriage is not all fun and game just because you’re madly in love. It takes a lot of give and take just to make a successful relationship work.  This was something Jeff and Sheila had to find out the hard way.

The chemistry between the hero and heroine was unfathomable.  Whenever they were together, it was like watching two star-crossed lovers afraid of saying or doing the wrong thing; Jeff fighting not to touch her and Sheila having to use everything within her to not rush into his arms.

Ms. Wootson did an excellent job in developing these characters.  Even though I saw Sheila’s heartache coming, when the scene emerged, I could feel not only her pain, but Jeff’s too.  You felt his remorse from the onset and his internal struggles between his life long dream and the woman he loved.  You came to care about this couple and longed for things to work out for them.

I was a little confused by the disappearance of a character who was introduced at the beginning of the book then never mentioned again once Jeff returned home.  This however, did not take away from this delightful story.  It was good to be able to read a true romance story once more.  HOME FOR CHRISTMAS is surely one I will be enjoying again.

jeanette@romanceincolor.net (1st October 2001)