Forced to return to the Delaware Indian community where Lucas was raised, Tyne and Lucas are tempted by the heated passion that consumed them as teens. Tyne rediscovers all the reasons she found this man irresistible, but there are scandalous secrets waiting to be revealed, disgraceful choices made in the past that cannot be denied. Love is a powerful force that could heal them both—if the truth doesn't rip them apart.
Comment: This book caught my attention when a reader in a forum I used to follow mentioned that the romance would feature an interracial couple and the hero would be Native American. I can't explain why, but romances featuring characters who are Native American seem to intrigue me and I was hoping this would be a winner.
In this novel we meet heroine Tyne Whitlock at the moment she arrives at a police station to know what happened to her teenager son. It seems the 15 year old has been apprehended along with other youths while they were painting stuff on public buildings and now Tyne is in a dilemma, should she call upon her ex, her son's father with whom she hasn't spoken in 16 years and who doesn't even know he has a son, or find a lawyer she can't fully afford and who might not truly care about her son's case? She decides to take a chance on her ex Lucas, who is a successful lawyer, but the judge imposes a sort of punishment on her son, he must learn about mistakes and being in the Native American community where his father grew up might be the answer. The thing is, will Tyne and Lucas be able to cope with being reunited or will their feelings resurface again, even though things wouldn't work out for them all those years ago?
Depending on one's POV, this does sound like a possible sweet story about lovers reunited with some secrets between them and how would they fall in love again. Added the cultural differences, and this could also be a good way to present those differences and show how it might work out anyway. Sadly, in my opinion, there were just too many elements in this story which were not dealt with properly, and that made the story feel very weak.
The most disappointing element in this book to me was the fact none of the characters and the situations they faced had any kind of depth. The writing felt very superficial and heavy on the "telling" instead of the "showing" which, if there, might make me empathize with what the characters were going through. The way this was portrayed was basic and weak and not really engaging. In fact, the more I think of this, the less impressed I feel and I will even lower my initial grade on GR.
At first, it seemed things were OK, Tyne had a son and we learn she never told Lucas but now the boy is in trouble and his father had the means to help. I figured this would be dramatic and tense and they would have to re-hash things from their past - how not to? - but I thought the idea would be to let Lucas in to their lives again and how would they work out as a family, how would the change in their relationships affect them. Well, Tyne tells Lucas about this secret which she had for 15/16 years and then, the very next chapter, right after she tells him this sudden and huge piece of news, the scene starts right away at the courthouse where Lucas is now representing his son in the hearing with the judge!
I mean! What, where was the obvious necessary scene where they meet for the first time, where we have to see and read about their reactions and impressions? Well, it seems as if the author's style is to present interesting/vital information and then we have to accept the characters have already faced it out of page. This method certainly works out in some novels (I know I've read other books with this technique but for the life of me I can't remember a single one) but here I don't think it was a good choice.
Well, I could highlight each plot situation which I feel didn't work out, but in general I suppose I can say I understand the economy of text, the simple way things are meant to be said and presented, but it doesn't really help to make the story better or more captivating, isn't it? Besides that situation, there wasn't that much on why them being Native American was special beyond the basics (like Lucas kind of losing his identity or what mattered in regards to his roots but now he rediscovers it in a cheesy way), or why being in that community made the situation different, I think they all only interacted with a few other characters, and in very mundane situations. There are references and a wise uncle of Lucas shares a traditional Indian story which we have to infer tells them all a message but it's so obviously used that it lacks any meaning it aimed to convey.
Since Tyne's childhood was spent in the town closest to the Indian community, of course another issue to be dealt with is the reason why she left home when she got pregnant and why her parents didn't help her, so they have been estranged for all these years but now she's back, she doesn't plan on speaking to them or exposing her son to their racism but, in an incredible turn of events, they are different! At first I thought, this must have some trick to it, some hidden plan but... it doesn't. They aren't amazing people but they now embrace her and her son and even Lucas. It feels.... ridiculous, I'm afraid to say, and a testament that there wasn't truly any depth nor plan to composing this book.
Ye gods, this sounds like a decent enough category-style premise that was dropped in all the wrong places.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the big revelation scene (where Tyne would tell Lucas about their son): I could imagine cutting away from her picking up the phone to call him to the courtroom scene *if* (and only if) the scene after the courtroom involves either of the main characters thinking about the big revelation scene (something along the lines of, "after Tyne dropped the bomb on Lucas, his first priority was to help his son, but now she'll have to explain" or some such, addressing the shock, anger, resentment, etc. from him and how they all cope with it). That really would have to be the main thrust of the novel: beyond the right in their relationship back then, it's the consequences in the present--for all three of them!--that would have to be the focus of the story for me.
From your review, the "protagonist is Native American" aspect is just the usual racist window dressing a lot of white women use to sell books: appropriate a cultural identity then never actually explore what it means to the characters (mostly, because to them it's nothing more than a label, like "the noble savage" trope of yore)
Hello!
DeleteRegarding the Native American elements, yes, I think this was an absolute fail. I even read a few reviews after I've finished (for me it's rather cathartic, to see what others would have noticed which I might have not) and a few were so... enthusiastic, about that content, as if it had been an amazing inclusion.... I can't really say but I've figured those readers are likely white women.
Although, I must say I've read some Catherine Anderson books, she has several with Native American characters, and in some I've found Native American characters and their thoughts to be more valid. I can't explain it and I might be wrong or perhaps it was just a lucky example, but it felt those books I liked were better thought.
I would say this is a very superficial story. Has the words, has the scenes but none of the emotional impact we wish to see in a romance novel. Perhaps that revelation detail didn't feel that important for the author? Who knows.