Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Someone Like Her by Janice Kay Johnson
Contemporary romance released by Harlequin SuperRomance 14 Apr 09
After reading last year’s, and now RITA-nominated, The Man Behind The Cop, I knew I would be reading more Janice Kay Johnson. While I didn’t flat-out love this latest book, it still packed quite an emotional punch. Reading portions of this story I had my heart in my throat, and tears misting at the corner of my eyes.
Adrian Rutledge is a high-powered corporate attorney who only has vague memories of his mother, who abandoned him with his cold-fish father when he was 10-years-old. Despite a lack of closure, and a private investigation that came up negative some years ago, Adrian assumed his mother was dead. Then one day Lucy Peterson shows up at his office, without an appointment, and tells him his mother is very much alive.
Known as “The Hat Lady,” Elizabeth Rutledge is tiny Middleton’s only homeless person. Several people in the town look after her. Lucy lets her eat at her cafe. The local priest lets her sleep in the church basement on cold nights. The man who runs the grocery store leaves out food for her. It never occurred to any of them that their eccentric, confused homeless lady had relatives, until after she’s hit by a car and slips into a coma. That’s when Lucy goes rifling through her things and finds out that The Hat Lady has a son.
What follows is the story of Adrian finding his way back to his past and into Lucy’s arms. With his mother’s abandonment, that left Adrian to be raised by an emotionally distant father. He slipped into the role of prodigal son, mostly because he knew his father would be upset if he didn’t. But he desperately missed his fun, playful mother. The woman who took him on ferry rides, loved hats and flower gardens, and read books to him.
Lucy grew up in Middleton with a dream that a lot of small-town raised kids have – getting out. What started as coming home to save some money after college, turns into her owning the local cafe and testing out her culinary skills on residents who wonder why she doesn’t offer the delicious potato soup every day of the week. She’s also chafing under the ever watchful eyes of an extended family. A family that has simply taken her for granted. Nice, dependable, boring Lucy. Not a beauty like her two sisters.
The best moments in this story revolve around Adrian’s relationship with his mother. Allowing himself to remember the past, and getting to know the woman she has become. His romance with Lucy also has a nice gradual build to it. These are two people attracted to each other, for different reasons, but who need each other desperately. There were moments where I thought Lucy was a little too good to be true. Also, she’s downright obstinate during the final chapters, and there were moments where I felt she was expecting entirely too much from Adrian. The guy has had a shock. Cut the man a little slack.
Still, it’s a nice, emotional, heart-warming story and Johnson is still firmly on my auto-buy list.
Grade: B-
Summary:
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Finding his mother is the only reason Adrian Rutledge would set foot in this backward place. In fact, he can’t get out of town fast enough. At least, that’s his attitude before Lucy Peterson works her magic on him. The café owner is nothing like what he thought he needed, yet she’s all he wants.
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Then the job pulls him back to the city and Adrian slips into the life he once worked hard to achieve. And while it may not fit the way it did, he can’t simply abandon it. Or can he? Because suddenly he’s tempted by everything Lucy’s offering.
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Read an excerpt.
