Listen to Your Heart

Fern Michaels (Kensington)

[star rating = “3.5”]

A legendary author

Fern Michaels is a legendary author and her story is one of many amazing accomplishments. I am glad I read one of her books and I would definitely read another.

But …

That said, this is a very light-weight story. It’s entertaining and fun, but it lacks the type of “reach into your heart and grab you” type of writing that I was looking for. This definitely isn’t Nicholas Sparks, so if you’re looking for something at that level, keep looking. But it’s a fun, light read and worth a rainy day read, if you know what I mean.

It’s the story of twin sisters, still grieving over the death of their parents in a car accidents. One sister (Kitty) has adjusted, is engaged, is the great cook in the family business, and seems to be successful.

The other sister (Josie) is struggling until along comes a wealthy suitor (Paul) and the two fall in love. There are some minor near misses where they almost fail to connect but the plot is relatively thin and there’s a little too much coincidence, unrealistic behaviors, and easy results.

Spoilers

The wealthy suitor happens to the be the son of one of Josie’s clients. He’s somewhat estranged from his mother (Marie) because she became emotionally disengaged from him due to the death of her other two children. You don’t get a great sense of how this plays out and there are too many unanswered questions. Is it just grief? Is she afraid to engage with him because she may lose him? Why isn’t it more likely that she would increase in her attachment to him as her last surviving child?

In any case, Paul locates and rescues his long lost niece and her child, who lost connection with Marie after the death of Marie’s daughter (Paul’s sister).

Summary

It’s a little trite and it’s rather contrived but it’s got the happy ever after ending and some romantic buzz. The lack of moral depth bothered me and there wasn’t enough romantic tension. But if you want light and fluffy, this will give you a few hours of light-hearted entertainment.