Tabs’ review of A Chance of a Lifetime (Tallgrass, Book 5) by Marilyn Pappano
Contemporary Romance published by Forever 22 Dec 2015
Marilyn Pappano’s latest entry in the Tallgrass series follows a number of different plots and POVs. Among them is a veteran struggling with PTSD, a widow confronting her former best friend, another widow trying to start a new business and a new romance, and a lost teenager finding a family of his own.
The primary plot involves veteran Calvin Sweet’s bittersweet return to his hometown of Tallgrass, Oklahoma to received treatment for PTSD during his discharge process. He’s a mess and is very much still struggling with his demons. Coming home also brings him face to face with his former best friend Benny and forces him to confront the dissolution of their friendship years ago.
Calvin and Benny are the primary romance. Benny is a young widow who, along with her late husband Jamal, was best friends with Calvin growing up until Calvin and Jamal joined the military and things changed. Unfortunately, this romance underwhelms. The attraction between Calvin and Benny makes sense given their past friendship, but the pace just isn’t realistic. Calvin, in particular, is so early along in his treatment that it’s difficult to believe that he’s anywhere near emotionally stable or healthy enough for a serious relationship of any kind.
The secondary romance involves Benny’s fellow widow, Lucy, and her next door neighbor, Joe. Lucy and Joe featured heavily in previous books, so it’s nice to see them finally getting things off the ground. It’s also satisfying to see Lucy start her own business. Unfortunately, I thought Lucy and Joe would have made a much better A plot than Calvin and Benny did.
I think this is where the Tallgrass Series and I part ways. I really enjoyed the first few novels, but I have become less enamored with recent entries. This book felt really uneven to me and I think it definitely tried to do too many things. It also felt much more like a fiction novel with romantic side plots rather than a full-blown romance novel.
Grade: C-
Summary:
Sometimes love finds you when you least expect it . . .
To Benita Ford, Tallgrass, Oklahoma, will always be home. It’s where her beloved grandmother raised her and where she rode bikes with her two best friends-the man who became her husband and Calvin. And Tallgrass is where she stayed, even after her husband died while serving his country. Now Calvin is home from that same war, and the sensitive, mischievous boy she once knew is today a man scarred by wounds no one else can see. Falling in love with him is something Bennie never imagined.
Tallgrass still haunts Captain Calvin Sweet. Yet it’s where he must go to see Bennie-the one woman he always loved but could never have. Calvin regrets so much about what happened years ago. Still he can’t deny being with Bennie makes his future feel bright, like anything is possible. But the demons of his past won’t be quieted that easily. As old hurts linger, threatening to pull them apart, Calvin and Bennie must take the ultimate risk for the love of a lifetime . . .
No excerpt available.
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