Stevie‘s review of Late Last Night (River Bend, Book 1) by Lilian Darcy
Contemporary Romance published by The Tule Publishing Group LLC 09 Jan 14
I’m intrigued by stories set in small US towns; there are elements within them that are very similar to the stereotype of rural life in the UK, especially the strong sense of family and the way everyone knows everyone else, but there are also aspects that are totally alien: towns rather than villages as the units of community, and the fact that farming takes place on a much larger scale, to name just two. Relationships between teachers and law enforcers also appeal to me: the two vocations have a lot in common and there are plenty of reasons why that pairing lends itself to having to work together as well as spend time together outside work. However, I did have one major niggle with this particular book, which tended to throw me out of the story and worry over whether I could trust the veracity of the storytelling in other areas.
Vintage cars are mentioned in the blurb and the term is used multiple times in the text, but wrongly. As well as being around motor sport since my conception, I spent a lot of time clambering over, and riding in, old cars from when I could move independently, and ‘vintage’ is a very precise term, referring to cars built after 1918 but before 1931. Anything built after that is either a post-vintage thoroughbred or a classic (and the arguments over what qualifies a car as having classic status can go on for hours!). The two magnificent cars that are an important feature of the prom story in this novel date from the 1950s – vintage they ain’t – and the detail caused me to complain loudly at the book every time the wrong word was used about them.
Rant over, there was a lot to like about the romance plot and character development in this novel. Kate needs to learn that her overly-dependant family – her brother, his wife and their five children – can cope perfectly well without her trying to put in a full day’s work helping out in the house and on the farm as well as holding down a fulltime job at the school, and Harrison needs to move on from the aftermath of his divorce and decide what to do about the house and land that suited his ex-wife but is too much work for a single man. Of course, if Kate’s going to move out of the family home, then she needs to buy a place of her own, and Harrison’s house might be just what she wants. Except Harrison finds himself falling for her after just one date, and then can’t bear the idea of selling his house to anyone else when there’s the chance that he and Kate together might one day fit it perfectly. Cue the big misunderstanding, which almost had me getting cross with the book again, except the external tension suddenly gets ramped up when one of the high school seniors goes missing during a post-prom party, and the latest of a series of break-ins in town leaves a man dead.
And then we never get the resolution to either of these subplots. Kate and Harrison get their long-term happy ever after, but we’re told nothing about whether or how either mystery gets solved. I know this is the first book in a series, and so loose ends can potentially be tied up in later stories, but I feel let down. A shame, because I do like the setting and the various characters we see only glimpses of in this one, but who will hopefully play a greater part in other books by this author.
Overall, I really couldn’t make my mind up whether to love this book for its mid-1990s, small-town setting or to get very cross with it for the errors and omissions, which in some cases are admittedly only going to bother people who happen to be me. I’ve got the next one in the series to review as well, so I may have more of an opinion after that one.
Grade: C
Summary:
It’s May 1996 and Marietta High School English teacher Kate MacCreadie is almost at the end of her rope, torn between the demands of her work and her heavy involvement in helping her younger brother Rob and his wife Melinda take care of their five young children on the MacCreadie family ranch.
When Marietta’s fine-looking new sheriff, Harrison Pearce, pulls Kate over for her third traffic violation in as many months, they both know it’s a sign that something has to give.
Kate finds it almost a relief to be told by this calm, strong man to get her life in order, and then she just keeps on seeing him – at school after there’s been a suspicious break-in, on the evening of the prom when he’s off duty and driving his nephew and friends to the event in one of his brother’s gorgeous vintage cars.
Late that night, after prom is over, a tragedy at River Bend Park brings Kate and Harrison together yet again, and this time, in the highly charged atmosphere, Kate discovers that she never wants to let him go. But with his divorce still fresh, is Harrison ready for someone new?
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
