Katherine Allred - For Love of Charley

It's been ten years since Cole Jordan was run out of Canyon Bend, ten years he spent accumulating a vast fortune. Now he's back with only one goal in mind. To win the woman he left behind, the woman he never forgot. This time, not even her wealthy, overprotective uncle will stop him. Because everything he's done, he's done for love of Charley. After Cole made passionate love to her one night, he vanished without a word, so Charley doesn't trust him worth a damn when he reappears. Especially when she discovers it's his company that bought half of her business, the Red Dog Saloon. But Cole has big plans for the town that once shunned him, and as Charley finds herself working with him daily, the love she's tried so hard to suppress blooms again. Only one thing stands in their way; Cole's refusal to tell her why he left so abruptly. While they fight their way back to each other, outside influences work to keep them apart at any cost...even death.

Comment: I got this book around the same time I got the others by the author. This didn't feel much interesting to me based on the blurb. I'm not a fan of lovers reunited plot themes and I dreaded this reading even with this book being small. Still, I decided to get it over with because I hate the idea of leaving books unread if I already have them. Better go with the flow on this.

This story presents us Cole and Charley. They were an item years ago but a threat made Cole leave in order to protect his mother but he never explained why to Charley so one day he just left and she thought he didn't care for her, especially after he had proposed.

Now Cole is very rich and has plans to improve the small town where things happened a long ago, but will he get Charley back?

Well, by this blurb alone, one could say this is one of the most repeated plots in romance books since ever. I wasn't very interested in reading about the couple's romance because it would mean memories from times back and a lot of time remembering and rekindling. I managed to read this story faster than I could say but being a small story helped, as did the fact I skipped a sentence here and there. I know, shame on me, but some parts were really too manufactured to be realistic. 

I think there are several parts or scenes in this book that were probably the author's imagination running free and things she felt like would suit the plot. I think anything is possible and those things might have worked if the story had a bit more purpose, more feel about it. I had the sensation this was the result of a lot of scenes that had to be there but the tools to make everything work together weren't the best one in my opinion.

The romance, like I predicted, wasn't amazing for me. Sure they had had their issues, there were thing to talk about but I think they got together so easily after what they described as painful years in the meantime. I don't know but this romance didn't feel very powerful or meaningful. I understand the point, the difficulties but I have to be honest, they didn't win me over.

I think the biggest issue is, this book has a big misunderstanding, something that could have been worked out way before, even considering the surprise we get close to the end which I didn't even imagined - which kind of "saved" this book from a worse grade from me. But the big misunderstanding, like most of them are, could have been solved with some honesty, some daring and a little bit of that thing, what is it called, ah yes, communication. Share your thoughts with the person you love and explain the situation. Then you could work together to solve it somehow. 

Of course, this would mean no story. Wrong! In my humble opinion, if Cole and Charley had talked they still wouldn't fix the problem because let's face it, it was about money, which they didn't have then, at least not in a way that would allow a solution so, the problem would remain but then so would their relationship.

One could say, if they did talk, then the story wouldn't have gone this way. I say, well then, the author could have written a different outcome or a different story altogether. Which wouldn't be bad if one measures by this one. The big surprise would still be there too.

Anyway, this is all speculation, personal ideas about it, but the truth is, this story didn't feel as strong as some of the others by the author. To me it could have been better, so... I think the writing wasn't as polished and "serious" to me, at least not throughout all the plot and in the key moments. It's a style I didn't cherish much, I'm afraid.

Grade: 5/10