Dinca’s review of A Mother’s Homecoming by Tanya Michaels
Contemporary Romance published by Harlequin American Romance 2 Aug 11
If you like a lot of “the way we were and could be again” in your story, this book might be for you. At first it read like an autobiography of a recovering alcoholic which is not my idea of light romantic reading. I kept thinking it had to get better since it’s a Harlequin. It is a love story in the end… and I mean end.
Pamela Jo returns to her hometown after twelve long years as a recovering alcoholic to make peace with her mother, who is also an alcoholic, only to find she has passed away and left Pam the house she grew up in. Thinking her ex-husband and daughter she abandoned live in another state, she is surprised to find them in town. Not wanting to disturb their life, knowing her stay is temporary, she tries to stay away from them while she gets the house ready for sale so she can leave again.
Nick doesn’t know what to do or how to protect his daughter, or if there is a need to protect her, from Pamela Jo. His daughter wants to get to know her and has set out to do it with or without his approval. He decides if contact is to be made he will be involved in it. Doing so gets him and Pam involved again. Spending time with her brings all the old feelings back. He has to decide if they are new feelings or the same ones that never left.
The book is half over before it turns into a romance. In Chapter Eight they have a decent conversation and it’s much later before any romance develops in this fifteen-chapter story. The rehash of twelve long, grueling years is a little much for me. It is really not my idea of light reading. In the end they start over again, living the teenage years and all its antics. I am surprised Pam fell for that and Nick, since that is what she left in the first place. One would think Nick might have picked a more adult approach twelve years later. I am really happy she cheers for him when he tells his mother off. That’s about twelve years too late, but better late than never.
The book is well written and there is certainly a story to tell. When looked at from that point of view and not as a light-hearted romance, which is usually what I am after, all the informational data and drama is necessary and the author does an amazing job. My hat is off to anyone who can accomplish this feat and turn it into a romance in the end. In the romance element of it gets a C, but it is so well written and detailed I am giving it an A.
Grade: A
Summary:
Welcome Home, Stranger
For Pamela Jo Wilson, returning to her sleepy Mississippi hometown means coming face–to–face with her past. At seventeen, overwhelmed by the responsibilities of a new marriage and family, she fled Mimosa. But Nick Shepard wasn’t the only one Pam left behind. Now, thirteen years later, she just hopes she can make things right with her ex–husband and the child she barely knows.
Nick’s first instinct is to protect his daughter, but his little girl is hell–bent on meeting the woman who left her behind. With his own feelings for Pam being as powerful and all–consuming as ever, how can Nick know what he’s feeling is real? And how can he trust Pam again? First she has to convince him she’s through running. That she’s come home—this time for good.
Read an excerpt.
