TLC BOOK TOURS and REVIEW: Becalmed by Normandie Fischer

Synopsis

When a Southern woman with a broken heart falls for a widower with a broken boat, it's anything but smooth sailing.

Tadie Longworth doesn't mind acting the maiden aunt in Beaufort, North Carolina. She has a gift shop full of her own jewelry designs and a sweet little sailboat to take her mind off the guy who got away. But now he’s back . . . with the fashion-plate wife he picked instead of Tadie . . . and he’s hitting on her again.

When widower Will Merritt limps into town with a broken sailboat and a perky seven-year-old daughter, he offers the perfect distraction — until that distraction turns into fascination when Tadie offers shelter during a hurricane. Over candlelit games of Slap-Jack and Monopoly, Jilly becomes the daughter she could have had and Will the man she always wanted. Only, he’s sworn never to let another woman in his life. Any day now, he’s going to finish those repairs, and that ship's going to sail — straight out of Tadie’s life.

Paperback, 385 pages
Published July 1st 2013 by Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas (first published 2013)
ISBN  1938499611 (ISBN13: 9781938499616)


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My Thoughts

Out here on the water between Shackleford Banks and the islands fronting Taylor Creek, the wind can turn as skittish as those barrier-island ponies.

Growing up in a coastal town to a relatively privileged family, Tadie is a sailor who has a mostly full life. She has friends and and a business and a beautiful home inherited from her parents. But she is approaching middle-aged, and has never been married or known true love or the love of a child-- until Will and Jilly walk into her life. 

I don't usually read romance.I generally find myself a little frustrated with the simplicity of it, and feel it is sort of...fluff. But I've been reading some heavy stuff for awhile now, and I felt in the need for something "light". This one left me with mixed feelings.

Tadie was a likable enough character, and little Jilly was suitably adorable. But I kept feeling a sense of incongruity, and things with Jilly and Will and Tadie would feel unauthentic. Jilly's perspective as a child would feel off, minor things amid the characters would seem so blown out of proportion. Tadie's brother Bucky seemed pointless, other than to show that Tadie had suffered loss in her life. And likewise I felt no connection to Matt, Tadie's best friend's husband, and figured he was just another means to an end. And why was he being portrayed as an old man? He was in his 30s, but he sounded like an old man!

I enjoyed the first half of this story, but as time worn on, the story wore on me. But to be fair, that may be my fault for trying to read romance again. I get so frustrated with the characters over-reacting to minor things, and everyone being overly dramatic, and what often become rather ridiculous situations, but that's romance for you.

And a relationship in a romance novel goes from 0 to 60 in seconds. Both Tadie's relationship with Will and that with Jilly went from "Hi, nice to meet you!" to "I can't live without you" in what seemed to be days (or at least days of interaction together, even if those days were spaced out over a year).

My final word: I'm a realist. And as a realist, I often have trouble with romance novels. There are very few I've ever loved, and even those I haven't read in ten years. I'm thinking I need to try them again, to see whether I really do enjoy them, or whether I've changed and no longer enjoy romance novels at all. The characters are drama queens, relationships mushroom and combust at super-sonic speeds, and ridiculous storylines and events move things along. However, that being said, I did actually enjoy this book for what it was. It was a distraction, and didn't require me to think too hard, and restored my hope in love. The characters were likable. It even made me tear up quite a few times, so it affected me. I enjoyed the first 3/4. It was the final 50 pages that I really struggled with. If you like romance, I would definitely recommend it. If you are more into literary fiction and just dabble in romance on the rare occasion, then you may want to pass on by.

I would like to thank TLC Book Tours, and the very pleasant and kind-hearted author Normadie Fischer, for including me on this tour. Check out the website for the full tour schedule:

Wednesday, January 22nd: Spiced Latte Reads – Sailing Out of Darkness
Thursday, January 23rd: The Most Happy Reader – Sailing Out of Darkness
Friday, January 24th: The Book Barn – Sailing Out of Darkness
Monday, January 27th: Obsessed Italian Brat – Sailing Out of Darkness
Wednesday, January 29th: Books and Bindings – Becalmed
Monday, February 3rd: Time 2 Read – Becalmed
Tuesday, February 4th: Staircase Wit – Sailing Out of Darkness
Wednesday, February 5th: Sammy the Bookworm – Sailing Out of Darkness
Thursday, February 6th: Good Girl Gone Redneck - Sailing Out of Darkness
Monday, February 10th: Shelf Pleasure (guest post)
Tuesday, February 11th: Cerebral Girl in a Redneck World – Becalmed
Wednesday, February 12th: The Most Happy Reader – Becalmed
Monday, February 17th: Patricia’s Wisdom – Becalmed
Wednesday, February 19th: Cruising Susan Reviews – Sailing Out of Darkness
Thursday, February 20th: Obsessed Italian Brat – Becalmed
Monday, February 24th: Every Free Chance Book Reviews – Sailing Out of Darkness
Date TBD: Mary’s Cup of Tea – Sailing Out of Darkness
Date TBD: Mary’s Cup of Tea – Becalmed

My Rating:

Disclosure:

I received a copy of this book to review through TLC Book Tours and the publisher, in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not financially compensated in any way, and the opinions expressed are my own and based on my observations while reading this novel.