 Contemporary Romance |
SAY YOU LOVE ME Adrianne Bryd BET/Arabesque January 2000 (4) Melanie Schuster |
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PLOT SYNOPSIS: |
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REVIEW: |
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SAY YOU LOVE ME by Adrienne Byrd is the third book I have read lately that takes the reader into the ‘ever after’. And the ‘ever after’ is not what it’s cracked up to be if these books are to be believed. This new approach is quite controversial, to judge by the buzz on various chat forums dedicated to romance. Some readers enjoy looking at a couple after a period of time has elapsed; if the couple is experiencing problems, this represents reality and brings a down-to-earth element to romance. Other
readers are quite vocal in their disapproval of this tactic.
Once the curtain is down, leave
it down unless it’s to assure the reader through brief vignettes in other
books that their favorite couple is doing well and prospering. That, in the minds of some readers, is the essence of
romance. Once in love, the hero and heroine should stay in love forever and just
have beautiful children and a wonderful life. That
is certainly what Christian Williams thought would happen with her husband
Jordan. After a rapid and romantic
courtship, he vowed to love her forever and dedicate his life to her.
But now, 15 years after the fact, they have become strangers.
The children they so desperately want have not come, and Jordan’s
prosperous software company seems to be his first priority. Christian
has fulfilled her dreams of becoming a writer—she has several books out and
her own magazine. But the closeness
and sharing that she desperately needs are not there.
She feels empty, lonely and isolated, so much so that she files for a
divorce. This is the wake-up call
that Jordan needs. He is determined
to prove to his wife once and for all that he is still the man that she married
and it is never to late to honor the vows that bind them together. Ms
Byrd paints a compelling story of a couple caught up into the traps of modern
marriage; no time together, no communication, etc.
The story is, in fact, so compelling that I wish she had stuck to that
and not covered so much ground. Those
of you that read
I
PROMISE,
part of the June Brides Series, remember Jordan’s twin brother Malcolm and
Christian’s best friend Alex. Their
aborted love affair was the teaser in
I
PROMISE—I,
like many others, was hoping that they would mend their differences and get back
together, but not at the expense of Christian and Jordan.
And I was a bit surprised that it took 15 years for them to start
speaking again…that would have been hard for me to take, had I been the lovely
Alex. These
were some strong and passionate people and I was hoping they would have a book
of their own. Instead, their story
is told along with Christian and Jordan’s which was for me, unsatisfying.
We also revisited Jordan’s parents and the dynamic of their marriage;
it was nice to get the loose ends tied up, but I really wanted to stick to the
matter at hand, Christian and
Jordan. I can’t help it!
I liked these people and I wanted to understand better how their promises
had turned so bitter. Those
quibbles aside, it is a book worth reading.
Any time an author makes her characters so real that I am want to spend
more time with them, she has done a good job, in my opinion.
I just felt the way you feel at a large party where there are a bunch of
old friends you haven’t seen in awhile. You
want to sit and have a long chat with each of them, but all you can do is a
quick hug and an “I’ll call you”. It’s
fun and somewhat fulfilling, but you’re left wanting a little more.
If you haven’t read I PROMISE, by all means do so. And then jump right into SAY YOU LOVE ME. As for the question of whether or not authors should go into full sequel mode, I will leave that to someone else to decide. Anything that keeps the genre fresh, exciting and keeps us reading I am all for, especially if it gets readers talking. |
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25th January 2000 |
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