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IF YOU WERE MINE - J.S. Hawley Kensington Dafina/Romance February 2008 |
SYNOPSIS: After the death of her father, Jailyn Wyatt puts her energies into a ramshackle old Connecticut inn. Real estate mini-mogul Caleb Vincent is glad to collaborate with Jailyn, and the two discover that the chance to build real love from the ground up comes once in a lifetime.
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE |4| Dianthia Lemons
REVIEW:
IF YOU WERE MINE introduces us to Jailyn Wyatt, a
beautiful multi-cultured entrepreneur and one of the owners of Creative
Forces. Creative Forces is a well lauded media firm, known for
revitalizing companies in an innovative way. It's because of the success
of her firm that Jailyn crosses the path of Caleb Hamilton Vincent. He
is the owner of the family construction firm in need of a corporate
makeover. Jailyn has had a nurtured up-bringing with her mother and
father and is very comfortable with herself and the fact that she is
multi-racial and multi-lingual. Caleb, however, is a handsome man who
upon first glance one would think he was Caucasian. He is the product of
Irish/African ancestry and has been chastised and made to feel less than
a person by his step-father. Jailyn and Caleb are both instantly
attracted to one another by just talking with each other on the phone.
Jailyn's accepting nature and loving ways are just what Caleb needs to
realize that it's the inside that counts, not the outside coating we
see.
The setting of the story is the Connecticut farmhouse and Caleb's
boyhood home after leaving his step-father and mother. The author gives
painstaking detail of the surroundings and the farm house in general so
that the reader can truly enjoy and absorb the story. The story has an
interactive flow where each chapter leads into the next. The story
maintains a steady pace until Jailyn has to return to New York because
of double dealing in her business by a shady partner. the story leaves
us hanging on our own with bits and pieces until it picks up for the
finale. I didn't like being left hanging and would have loved to read
about Jailyn dealing with the problem with her business having to close.
IF
YOU WERE MINE by J.S. Hawley
focuses on the trend of multi-racial children and the effect of how they
are treated and accepted by family members and society. Mixed heritage
or parentage was taboo many years ago. Slaves had no choice in their
parentage but now interracial couples and families are mainstream and
accepted to a point. There is still much racial discord in society and
especially in the African American Culture in general. Dealing with
rejection from family is one thing but having to deal with rejection
because your skin is dark or light, hair straight or kinky is
another. Once a child is comfortable with themselves, society cannot
cause any harm.
Though Ms. Hawley deals with
this serious issue, it doesn’t take away from the wonderful romance.
reviewer@romanceincolor.com | 19th March 2008