Harlequin Everlasting

This is the first book I've read in Harlequin's new series line, Harlequin Everlasting. Based on the books I've seen so far, I'm not quite sure what they're going for - some of the books are more like stripped-down sagas, while others are straightforward reunion or "marriage in trouble" books. I'm not sure how the "saga" stories will work in the short format, but I hope they can find some good reunion stories - I'm always looking for good ones.

Fall From Grace by Kristi Gold (HE 2)
(2007, Contemporary Series) 7/23/07
Grade: 3.5

Although Anne and Jack were divorced several years before, after Jack has a stroke, Anne decides she has to take care of him, for their daughter’s sake. But she knows he’ll go back to his workaholic ways once he recovers. As we see their marriage unfolding in a series of flashbacks, we understand the love they once had - and how they might find it again.

An interesting story, but it suffers from too-perfect-hero syndrome. At the beginning, we’re told that Anne and Jack divorced because Jack never devoted time to his marriage, and always put work first. And yet, in every flashback, he’s shown as a devoted husband. Anne feels that she has reason to be upset, but her view of the marriage is never shown, so she comes across as “making too much out of nothing” which doesn’t really sync with the story. This may be a problem because the book is so short - it’s hard to tell a story in the present and have extensive flashbacks in just 280 pages - but it left me wondering which version of Jack was the real one. I appreciated the story about Jack recovering from his stroke, but the book was too short to really get into that part of the storyline - I found the flashbacks a bit predictable and wished more time was devoted to Jack’s recovery in the present. Still, I liked the characters and found them sympathetic, I just felt the book was too slanted toward Jack.

Although I like reunion stories, they definitely walk a fine line. Many of them are disappointing. I was really hoping that this book would be an improvement on Theresa Weir's One Fine Day (which I didn't like as much as I'd hoped) but unfortunately, it didn't have the depth I was hoping for.