Veena’s review of Change of Heart (Edilean, Book 9) by Jude Deveraux
Contemporary Romance published by Pocket Books 21 Oct 14
I thoroughly enjoyed the original Montgomery/Taggert stories and one of my personal favorites is the novella in a Christmas Anthology where two teenagers acted as matchmakers. For a while I wondered if they would ever get their own story, but then time and distance got in the way and I lost track of future works by Ms. Deveraux, as well as the teenagers. Those wonderful old feelings all came back when I read the back blurb for this book and that rekindled all those forgotten feelings.
Eli and Chelsea’s love story remains faithful to the original promise, but I have to admit I am somewhat disappointed that it is shorter than I expected. The original short story is included in its entirety as the first part of this novel, which is followed by Eli and Chelsea all grown up. Clearly it is refreshing that I could revisit the original story without having to search for my archives, but I do feel cheated to get a novella instead of a full-length novel as the packaging promised.
I will refrain from commenting on the original story and will focus my review on the new story featuring Eli and Chelsea. It seems shortly after they played matchmaker Eli and Chelsea also drifted apart, as is wont to happen with teenagers as they move on to college and then other aspects in life. After all of this time, Eli finally reaches out to Chelsea and invites her to come visit. As Chelsea drives to meet with him, she feels a combination of excitement and fear. Can they really, after all this time, revisit the past and rekindle the relationship they once had?
Eli has perhaps changed the most on the surface. Thanks to his Taggert cousins acquired through his mother’s marriage into the family, he’s no long nerdy looking. He has surpassed the potential that he had as a teen from an intellectual perspective, but most importantly he has now honed himself into a male model of perfection. In fact, when Chelsea first runs into Eli and his assistant, she doesn’t recognize him in his Adonis-like perfection and mistakes his nerdy assistant for him.
Chelsea, on the other hand, is as beautiful and as well put together as always, except she’s very changed on the inside. She is starving for someone to see beneath the surface beauty to the heart of her. Well, she also starves herself in order to maintain the model-like perfection that people consider beauty. It’s very cute how Eli, who has always seen her heart, finds all sorts of excuses to feed her and take away her gaunt look. In his search to hold on to her, he discovers the perfect excuse when they stumble upon a mysterious meeting to expose a dastardly plot. Just like that, the years melt away and they’re back to the two do-good teenagers who want to solve the problems of the world. They did pretty well as kids, but now with the resource that Eli and his stepfather can bring to the table, they definitely kick butt
In their search for justice, they encounter another young teenage couple who are very reminiscent of their younger selves. I like how the author uses their interaction with this couple as a way to fill in their back story and effectively provide a means for them to step back, if you will, into their own past and recreate their current day.
I’m glad I took the opportunity to read this story and revisit the Taggert family and meet a great new cast of characters. I just need to put aside my frustration at the tricks of the trade and move on.
Grade: B
Summary:
Two childhood playmates grow into more than just friends in #1 New York Times bestselling author Jude Deveraux’s full-length romantic novel based on her short story of the same name.
In the hugely popular, New York Times bestseller A Holiday of Love, Jude Deveraux wrote a novella about two kids playing matchmakers—Eli and Chelsea, best friends who were determined to find true love for Eli’s bighearted mother. But what happens when these ambitious children grow up? What exactly made Eli’s mother, Miranda, fall in love with Frank all those years ago? And how does that affect their future together?
Eli and Chelsea lost touch with each other over the years, until Eli bought a house in his father’s hometown of Edilean, Virginia, and invited Chelsea for a visit. She had her own life, and was certain that a childhood friendship couldn’t be anything more, but she went nonetheless—and found herself quite unprepared for the changes she saw in Eli. And neither of them were prepared to run into a mystery, with a family that needed to be rescued. Now, just like when they were children, they must join together to straighten out a very big problem. The question is what happens after the mystery is solved; they are very different people—so can they stay together?
Combining love and passion with sweet, unexpected twists, and shedding new light on Miranda and Frank’s relationship, Change of Heart is an unforgettable addition to Deveraux’s classic bestselling novels.
No excerpt available.
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