Issue Romance

I love a good "issue romance", a type of story that Harlequin Super Romance used to specialize in (and still does, sometimes). There's something compelling about a hero or heroine who is able to open her heart and find love, even while overcoming a personal obstacle.

Warning: there's a bit of a spoiler in the review of this book, although I don't think it's a major spoiler.

The Word of a Child by Janice Kay Johnson (HSR 1009)
(2001, Contemporary Series) 1/27/07
Grade: 4

Three years earlier, a police officer came to her door and accused her husband of molesting a child. It ended Mariah’s marriage, even though the charge was never proved. Now, as a middle school teacher, Mariah has to deal with that same officer to help one of her students - and she finds herself more attracted to him than she’d expected.

An interesting and well-written book, although as is often the case with Johnson’s books, the secondary storyline is more compelling than the romance. I wanted to know what happened to Tracy, the student who accused a teacher of rape, and I was tempted to flip ahead to see how that part of the story would turn out. Sometimes the romance between Mariah and Connor seemed like an intrusion. But both the hero and heroine were well drawn, and they were both nicely mature people, capable of dealing with Mariah’s ex-husband as well as their tentative relationship. It was interesting that the question of the ex-husband’s guilt or innocence is never completely cleared up - unusual in a romance.

I've been looking up some older books by Janice Kay Johnson, since I've enjoyed so many of her books that I've read so far. How nice to have found a new author (or at least, new to me) that I enjoy reading!