Talk to Me: By the Year 2000: Celebration

A talk show brings our hero and heroine together nine years after their divorce. Travis Malloy accepts the ticket to this show as payment for services rendered as a fishing guide. Kara Taylor takes her grandmother, who is an avid fan of the hostess, to the touring talk show out of affection. The topic is communication betwen couples, and after considering this, neither character can help but take up where they left off nine years ago.Travis sits in the audience and he commiserates with the men. He eventually becomes their spokesperson. He has had nine years to determine what went wrong in his marriage to Kara and he is voicing his own frustration as he seeks to counsel couples by benefit of prior experience.Kara fumes in her seat as she hears the one-sidedness to the male argument. When Travis answers in a way that brings back the painful memories of miscommunication, she can't stop herself from confronting him on national television.This begins the start of a reunion novel by Jan Freed. It is well written and focuses, throughout, on the lines of communication between men and women. I really enjoyed this aspect of the novel because it was humorous and rang true. As a story, Talk To Me successfully illustrates a few of Dr. Gray's concepts on the relationship between men and women. While reading this story, however, I felt that though Kara argued well on the behalf of women, it was really Travis who succeeded in opening up the lines of communication between the two of them in order to confront Kara's insecurities and to find the happiness they had long denied themselves.

I have been reading Jan Freed since her first title and have been enthusiastic about all her new releases since. Talk To Me was no exception. I found it as soon as it hit the stands and read it in one sitting. (Which is how I tend to read all her work, I can't put it down) She pits a divorced couple against one another after a 9 year separation....they've both grown up and they learn to accept some truths about themselves and each other. It's a realistic look at couples in any relationship, young, old, new or well worn. I'm ready to have my husband take a look...it opens a new line of communication for it's character's, that's for certain. This book also visits the relationships between family as well. The pressures brought to bear by "well meaning" individuals and their subsequent consequences. It's also a fun read....I'm always well entertained with Ms. Freed's writing. She has me running a gamut of emotions....laughter topping the list. There is a scene near the end of the story that had me laughing so hard I was near tears. I have no qualms in recommending this book to anyone...it's absolutely on my list of keepers.....right there with all her other titles!