Don't Forget to Smile

Tory Duncan is an ex-beauty queen, a former competitor in the Miss America Pageant now disillusioned with the whole pageant industry and her role in it. Divorced and unsure of who she is, she finds herself in Oregon where she eventually opens a bar in Sullivan City, a working class logging town. With her organizational skills and hard work, the bar prospers and Tory begins the task of reshaping herself into a new and better person. Joe Brigham is one of many, many Brighams in Sullivan City, and one of three Joe Brighams. He comes from a large family. Growing up, he was overshadowed by several of his siblings whose talents were more identifiable or traditional than his. He married early, had a child, and settled into the working class homeowner lifestyle his family had patterned. But when he becomes involved in the local union, his work there requires more of him, and his ambitions become larger than Sullivan City can accomodate, his wife objects and decides to divorce Joe and marry his more traditional cousin, Dennis, instead. Joe is left without anything but his job, trying to be more than a weekend father to his six-year-old son, Max. But it's tough. Tory first meets Joe when her bar is held up by an inept pair of armed robbers. No one, including the criminals, knows exactly how a robbery is supposed to go down, and Joe steps in when it looks like their nervousness might result in someone getting hurt. His skill as a mediator impresses everyone, especially Tory who looks past his background and pleasant but generic Brigham looks and sees a born leader. Someone truly interesting and dynamic. I first read Don't Forget to Smile in April of 2001 - six years ago. My primary impression of DFTS is that it was a little depressing. Enjoyable, but a little sad. I felt angry on Joe Brigham's behalf about the shaft he'd gotten in his divorce, and I also felt angry at Joe Brigham that he was planning to spend his son's adolescent years as a weekend and vacation dad in order to further his career ambitions. The idea that he would be able to leave in a few years, that his son would only really need his dad until he was 9 or 10, to me seemed selfish and unrealistic. However, while I still felt both of these things, my reading experience was much more positive this time around. Reading it again, I was surprised to find that the book has an overall very positive message about reconciliation and forgiveness. Don't Forget to Smile fits right in with the rest of the Seidel canon in that it's a low-key story with everyday drama. Readers who like spy stories and shoot-'em-ups probably wouldn't pick her books up, but the way Seidel draws her characters bottom up - from their family origins and dynamics to their interests, abilities and avocations - always makes them seem like living, breathing true-to-life people. Tory, with her disappointment in herself and her past choices, and Joe, with his frustration at being replaced as husband an

I love Kathleen Gilles Seidel and have read most of her books. For people who aren't sure if they have read this one or not, it's about Victoria (Tory) a 'failed' Miss America (third runner up) who has to figure out who she is if she's not a beauty queen. Of course she finds a wonderful man (this is a romance after all!) but she also resolves her relationship with her mother and creates new relationships with her extended family. That's why I love this author - she grounds her characters in real worlds, made beautiful by love. You really hate to finish her novels. If you come across this one, grab it, it's a keeper! ...

This is, without a doubt, the best romance I have ever read. Kathleen Gilles Seidel is a master at developing characters that feel real to the reader. I love everything that she has written, but this one stayed with me long after I read it the first (of many) times. Try to find it if you can