Staci Stallings

I have read this author before. This particular book, the author states, was written around 1997, prior to their being a Christian Contemporary Romance genre. I suspect that she had to give something to publishers and decided to dust this one off and polish it up some. She does state that she deliberately did not update technology from the time when she wrote it to the time it was published.

Likes:
*Lane is cute
*Jenna's comfort with children is explained by her teaching and by her being a mother.
*Scott's parents do seem to really care about him and about their grandson, Lane. (Even if in Scott's mother's case, that care seems to come in the form of spoiling her grandson, which makes Lane's behavior harder on Scott after their visits.)

Dislikes (and things that did not make sense to me):
*My main complaint, which is true of most romance genre books, is that there is only a short time that the two characters know each other before they end up engaged. I have heard people tell me they knew from the first time they met their prospective spouse that he/she was "the one" but even so, most of them did not get engaged in the matter of a few weeks after meeting each other. I do worry that some readers might get an unrealistic view of romance from reading books like these.
*Both characters need to work on their communication skills. Scott doesn't reveal he's a doctor or his history with Amber; Jenna doesn't reveal she's a widow and that she lost a child in the accident. Neither really talks to each other about their feelings for each other.
*Scott really needs to tell his mother to stop spoiling her grandson so much and explain what problems this behavior causes after Lane is no longer in that environment. (Note: I'm not saying she shouldn't be able to spoil him some, but it does sound like she went somewhat to excess during their visit at the beginning of the book.)
*The length of time Scott and Lane take to convalesce seems off. Scott, I'm sure, can afford to stay in a hotel, but I'm not so sure about Jenna and Janis. Is the airline paying for this hotel all that time? I'm not sure that's realistic.
*Jenna and Janis must have a mound of flight change fees by now (unless the airline is waiving them as a thank you for not suing us about the plane crash). I can't count how many times one or the other claims they're leaving only to change their plans. Even right at the end, Jenna and Janis have tickets to go to Texas. We don't know if either of them use them.… (mere)

3.5 stars--note: rating seen may depend on whether the site allows half stars to be recorded.

For me, this book got going in the last half or so where the two main characters (Jaycee and Derek) finally admit their feelings for each other and start working on their personal problems that have kpt them from romantic commitments in all their previous relationships. I liked the interaction between Mrs. P and Jaycee moreso than the ones between Pastor Steve and Derek because I felt like the female interactions flowed more naturally than the talks the men had. There were a couple times that both heard Pastor Steve preach a sermon--I have to admit that most of the time when that comes up in a book I tend to start skimming the text rather than reading the full sermon.

I think the readers that gave up on this book missed some good things that came at the end--but I can't really fault them for not finishing the book either because there were times I wondered if I was going to myself. The plot point of characters loving each other but neither being willing to admit it to the other is so over-done in romantic fiction these days. I'd so much rather read about couples that know they love each other but need to work through what life throws at them and come out the other side stronger for it.

This is billed as a Christian romance but the Christian part was hard to see in the early pages. I guess both believed in God but neither was really walking the Christian walk. That is another part that didn't really come to light until they settled in Jaycee's hometown of Ridgemont.

Kate/Katie was a bit of an annoying thorn in the side. I liked the boys (Luke's and Sage's as well as the pastor's boys) and how they helped out in the town after the hurricane. I liked that the town was building the boys's self worth by praising them and by being willing to let them help out and teach them skills. I was also glad to see that Derek made Mrs. P feel useful and made it seem like it was a trade for them to work on her house in exchange for her helping to feed the crew.… (mere)

This book explores several issues within its pages. It explores a woman's wish for "Prince Charming" to treat her like a princess (and the frogs one encounters in the search for Prince Charming). It explores dating across skin colors. It explores the nerd stereotype, the jock stereotype, and how much emphasis colleges and universities put on the sports programs.

Heather resents athletes who get scholarships and special treatment to help them pay for school. She's struggling to pay for her own schooling, and it doesn't help that the work study job she had set up to help with her finances has been discontinued due to funding cuts! Heather is surprised when her favorite English professor asks her to tutor one of his students (a basketball star as it turns out), but Heather needs the money so she agrees to take the job.

Heather finds that Anthony is not at all what she expected. She quickly finds herself willing to go to extra lengths to help him pass his classes. In a strange way, she feels that she can be herself around him, but at the same time, she doesn't want to share certain things with him because of how others have reacted in the past (such as how brainy she is). Anthony also shares things with her that he doesn't share with most other people.

Despite all this, Heather dismisses him as a romantic interest and instead finds herself dating a series of "frogs" that she had hoped would be the man who swept her off her feet.

I recognized the author of this book because I've read other books by her and enjoyed them.… (mere)