Sandy M’s review of A Christmas Wedding by Tracy Wolff
Contemporary Romance released by Harlequin SuperRomance 11 Nov 08

I really enjoyed this book because the hero and heroine are older characters; he’s in his 60s and she’s 49.  They meet when she’s 16 and we get to see the relationship and the characters develop over the years through reminiscing, journal reading, and sparked memories, all the ways you do think back over time when something momentous is happening in your life.  For Jesse and Desiree, their story is not only momentous, it’s near disastrous.

I’m going to start with my only nitpick of the book. I chose to read this book partly because of the Christmas-yness of it, since we’re headed into the holiday season. The Christmas wedding is Jesse and Desi’s daughter’s; it was always her dream to have her wedding on Christmas Day, which we’re told in the book.   But other than that, there’s really no mention of Christmas, no decorations, no tree, no carols, no hot toddies, etc.  So no “feeling” of Christmas throughout the book, which I really would like to have had while reading.  Okay, done with that!

When we meet Jesse and Desiree, right off the bat things are not going well between them, even though it is Christmas Day and it’s their daughter’s wedding. In fact, Jesse gets so frustrated with his wife, he tosses divorce papers at her and stalks out of the room.  Desiree, of course, is blindsided, never thinking their problems were that big.  This is the cause of each character thinking back on those memories that brought them to where they are today, how they look at what transpired at those times.

Even though both are at fault for the deterioration of the marriage, I found myself to be more sympathetic toward Jesse throughout it all.  He’s been one of the best horse trainers in the country for decades; that’s how he met Desi, when he came to work for her father in his quest to win the Triple Crown.  Desi fell in love with Jesse immediately, but because of the age difference and she was the boss’ daughter, he held back and never crossed the line.

It was eventually her fire, her spontaneity, her drive that caught him and he allowed his feelings to show.  They married on the sly, but her father still looked down at Jesse when his promise of creating a Triple Crown winner never came to pass, and even Desiree usually sided with her father in that respect, much to Jesse’s amazement.

She is her father’s daughter, no doubt, she’d been raised to run the Triple H Ranch, and she had no intention of letting her father down, even after his death.  Desiree also felt she had to prove herself capable to the entire horse racing community.  This is where Desi dropped the ball on her marriage, at least as far as I’m concerned.  She never allowed Jesse to be her partner in the ranch; she made all decisions, ignoring everyone’s, even her husband’s, suggestions and ideas.  She even let the ranch consume so much of her that she also missed a lot of her children’s lives as they grew up.  Yes, Jesse could have said something to her, but I really don’t think it would have done any good.  Desi wasn’t about to share her ranch.

And, as we find out in flashbacks, Desiree was so much like her father, she said and did such hurtful things to Jesse over the years, most of it having to do with their failure to still win the Triple Crown.  It’s not until she’s forced to really look at what she’s done to her husband over the years that she realizes the toll her actions have taken.  Even her children have sensed things were not right with their parents.  Jesse had always been the one there for them as they grew up, so I was glad to see the light finally come on for Desi before everything was too late.  They both still loved one another as much as ever, so it was quite depressing to watch them self-destruct scene after scene.

This is a terrific look at love and romance on the backside, a time when those things should be savored and enjoyed more, but we’re reminded how people can drift apart when they don’t communicate or because of actions they don’t think about, feelings they trudge over in the heat of the moment, which can cause lasting damage.

I like reading about mature love once in a while.  I’m the same age as Desiree, so reading about twenty-somethings most of the time gets to be a little much.  This book is well-written, the depth and strength of the characters just perfect, with feelings and emotions that spear you deeply.  A nice blending of life and the consequences of choices we make.

Grade: B+

Summary:

Desiree is determined to hold on to her husband. She’s loved Jesse Rainwater since the day the legendary horse trainer came to work at her father’s ranch. Now, on the eve of their daughter’s wedding, Jesse hits her with a bombshell that forces Desiree to reexamine their life together.

And she isn’t going down without a fight. She hasn’t struggled all these years to lose the thing that’s most precious to her. Desiree knows they share something true and strong, even if they lost sight of it somewhere along the way. Now her toughest battle lies ahead: to prove to Jesse that theirs is a love worth fighting for.

Read an excerpt.