Lawson’s review of The Perfect Match by Kimberly Cates
A contemporary romance released by HQN/Harlequin December 1, 2007
Blurb:
SHE’S GOT A KNACK FOR TROUBLE—AND IMPOSSIBLE DREAMS…
At twenty-seven, free-spirited Rowena Brown has never fit in anywhere—not with her ambitious family, not at veterinary school and certainly not in any relationship she’s ever had. But surely the good people of Whitewater, Illinois, will welcome a pet-store owner whose talent is finding the perfect home for “problem” animals, even if they do have names like Destroyer.…
When a hundred-pound monstrosity of a dog appears at his door, Whitewater deputy Cash Lawless knows he’s in trouble. A single dad with two young daughters, Cash wants more chaos in his life about as much as he wants to find himself drawn to the eccentric Rowena. But if he’s not careful, the
Unruly hound and his unconventional owner might reignite Cash’s hopes along with his heart—and help them all find home at last.
Read an excerpt.
Rowena has gone through life being free-spirited in a world of logical people. Her mother is a doctor, as is one of her sisters, the other sister is a lawyer. She’s constantly told she’s too nice, soft hearted, etc. by her family. She’d been in school to be a vet, but instead heads to whitewater to be a pet store owner. Does this make sense? Sure, in the world of the romance novel, it makes a lot of sense.
Being the caring person she is, Rowena adopts Destroyer (she names him Clancey), who has been the town menace and gets her involved with Cash. Cash has no time for a free spirit, even if she is trying to pair up Destroyer with his lonely daughter Charlie (short for Charlotte). What starts as a cute contemporary love story slowly becomes a struggle for being a good father and dealing with what life throws at you.
Cash has two daughters, Charlie and Mac (MacKenzie). Both smart and loyal, but Mac has some medical issues that scared off their mother, not that she wanted to live in small town America anyway. They all blame themselves for Mac’s condition and Cash constant feels he needs to prove he can do it all on his own. Rowena comes along and proves he can’t, which he doesn’t like, and he realizes he can’t live without her.
Though Cash can be annoying at times with his fierce independences, he clearly loves his children and wants what’s best for them. His guilt over Mac makes him spend less time with Charlie, and Rowena helps with that, especially with Destroyer by her side.
Rowena has a good heart and wants to believe the best for everyone, except herself. Which is why she’s been hurt so much over time and why she wanted to get away from her “I told you so” family. When push comes to shove however, Rowena thinks that life doesn’t have family and happiness in store for her and she turns away from what she really wants. Which definitely doesn’t make sense.
There are some very heavy messages dealt with in the story. What it takes to be a good parent, how blaming yourself over something out of control can wreck your life, how divorce needs to be friendly for the benefit of children and of course how unconditional unconditional love truly needs to be. All of this begins to overwhelm the love story in the end.
Though a sweet story, there’s too many pshycological needs that should be dealt with between the main characters and the other secondary characters. The love story seems to get lost, though the caring for Cash’s girls is a wonderful aspect of the story.
Grade: C
