Take Me Home

Everything seems to be going well for Florida Jones. She has her daughter Missouri, her business, and a handsome and wealthy fiance. Until the mother who'd abandoned her shows up, that is. Florida wants nothing to do with Tamara, but her brother Dak has asked her to stay and has offered her the house Florida's living in once Florida marries and moves away. And he's urging a reconciliation. Angry, Florida takes off in her car and ends up in an accident, which results in her losing most of her sight, and she's forced to accept help from her mother and Stan, her ex-lover and Missouri's father. Take Me Home is a painfully intense story. The rug is ripped out from under Florida's feet, and her shock and fear and frustration are very clear. Unfortunately, I found it hard to warm up to Florida. She was determined not to even listen to Tamara's explanations, and that's just not something I can understand. Likely because I'd love to hear explanations from my own parents. If I'd been more able to relate to Florida, this probably would have been a 4.5 or 5 star read for me. Still, she did feel very real--I know people like her--and not wanting anything to do with Tamara made it just that much harder when she was forced to accept her help. The rest of the cast of the story was likewise realistic, particularly given the convoluted relationships between them all. When Florida finds herself in love with Stan again (still), they both have to question if they can trust each other, given their pasts, and Florida's best friend is understandably concerned and angry, because of her past with them. Florida's fiance Daniel made me angry, but I loved seeing Florida understand that his behavior wasn't that of a "typical male," but that of a jerk. She'd been making excuses for him all along, but after her accident, she couldn't make excuses any longer. What really made Take Me Home outstanding... well, aside from the emotional impact, is that finding love doesn't make all Florida's problems go away, and instead of being rescued, she has to solve her problems herself.

I love this authors books. They are so interesting and keep you going without stopping. I hope that she will write more in this series. The people are so interesting and fun. I have read her books at least 3 times. They are keepers.