Georgeous cover, huh? The cover (I want that top she's wearing. It would go great with my jean skirt) and the fact that AAR gave the book an A- was the reason I picked up this book.Sweet Water is a totally character-driven romance filled with quirky interesting characters.
Marisa Rutherford has returned to the small town of Agua Dulce in desolate West Texas where she had lived most of her life to care for her mother who has developed Alzheimer's Disease and run her mother's café and flea market. Agua Dulce, population 10, and its surrounding land is a privately owned town with a motel, gas station, and cafe/flea market/hair salon. The kind of town that if you blinked while driving through, you'd miss it. The entire town is thrown into a tizzy when they find out that their town has been sold on eBay.
Terry Ledger is a wealthy real estate speculator who buys the town in an eBay auction and plans to develop the land and replace all the existing businesses with brand new shiny ones. Terry is the kind of developer we love to hate. He's out to get richer and is unconcerned about throwing these people out of their homes and jobs. Marisa is the town's unofficial mayor and she takes on the task of dealing with the new owner to make sure everyone is treated fairly.
Besides the fact I hated the hero's name (Terry), I really hated this guy at first based on my bias against Donald Trump types who are out to get rich on the backs of the sick, elderly, and those just barely scraping by.
When Terry first visits the town and meets Marisa there is instant chemistry between them. But he does not reveal his identity to her (another point against him for me). But his identity is eventually revealed and he gets to know the townspeople and sees them as human beings who need his help with this traumatic change in their life. However, Terry was a rather flat character and I wanted to see more emotion from him.
Marisa is a wonderful character who fiercely defends her town and its people while trying to run her mother's business and care for her ailing mother. Caring for an Alzheimer's patient at home I know from personal family knowledge is extremely difficult and stressful. Marisa comes across as a very caring woman but not a saint or martyr.
There is very little action but the story flows smoothly and I read it quickly. The quirky characters were realistic and enjoyable. The sensual tension between H/H slowly builds into a very steamy sexy love scene which was worth the price of the book :) Although I was a bit disappointed that SW did not lived up to AAR's grade, I still enjoyed it.
My grade: B-
2 comments:
LOL I have this to be read as well ;)
hmmm a b-? I can live with that. I didn't think it would be a DIK but who knows. I had already bought it by the time I saw the AAR review.
Yes, please read it and tell us what you think.
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