The Keeper by Margot Early is one of my favorite series romances of all time. It’s serious, but it’s also a wonderful love story – I have read it at least a dozen times. Unfortunately for me, Margot Early likes writing books about babies and pregnancy, which I don’t really like. I’ve tried a few of them, but even a good writer can’t make me enjoy the subject. But whenever I see a book by Early that’s not a baby book, I grab it, hoping to find another book as good as The Keeper. Unfortunately, this one wasn’t it.
The Things We Do For Love by Margot Early (HSR 1546)
(2009, Contemporary Series) 5/4/09
Grade: 3
Mary Anne has had a crush on reporter Jonathan Hale for years, and when she finds out he’s engaged, she decides to make a last ditch effort, and buys a love potion. But the potion ends up in the wrong glass, and is drunk by Graham Corbett, a rude and annoying radio psychologist that Mary Anne tries hard to avoid. But suddenly Graham is paying attention to her – and maybe she’ll discover there’s more to him than she thinks.
This was a hard book to grade. There were pieces of it that I really liked, but that was also the major problem with the book – the pieces just didn’t come together in a cohesive whole. I really liked the hero and heroine, and enjoyed the story of how Mary Anne discovered that Graham was the right man for her. But the story of Mary Anne’s dysfunctional family could have filled a 400 page book by itself. Graham’s issues with his late wife’s death were also too big for the small space they were given. And then there were the secondary characters, not to mention the silly love potion, which got way too much attention. (It was cute as a setup, but I got tired of hearing about it) The book felt like a car that couldn’t quite get into gear – it moved along in fits and starts, and although it finally reached the finish line, it never really got going. Too bad.
One thing I appreciated about this book was the West Virginia setting. Even though it’s set in small town West Virginia, it’s more than an Appalachian stereotype – all kinds of people live there. As a West Virginia girl myself (I spent summers there as a child and still have lots of relatives there), I’m glad to see a book set in WVa that’s not a bunch of redneck cliches.
Karen Wheless
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