The Way Home

I gobbled this book up in a day and a half! A warm story full of emotion- people with "ghosts" in their closets, too afraid to believe in themselves and to touch the ones they love. Aaron and Eliza - a couple who fought their own demons before admitting their love for each other. But their love was stronger for that reason. A soft, quiet story but endearing.

This book kept me up all night. I loved Eliza and Aaron's story. I did wish I could find out more what happened to Cole. Did he find love? Is there another story about him in the works? If you love a tear jerker love story, this is definetly the book for you.

I wasn't prepared to like Eliza, knowing that she was the kind of woman who would barter kisses and more for a chance to escape her dirt-poor existence. But Ms. Chance portrayed Eliza's vulnerability and her insecurity so well that I couldn't help but like her, empathize with her, and root for her to have the love she truly wanted and deserved. I even found Cole, the smooth-talking, profligate gambler, understandable. So much so that when he got his comeuppance my sense of justice was tinged with a bit of regret. But Aaron, the shy younger brother forced by duty and guilt to marry his brother's discarded, pregnant lover, was such a deep character, and in my opinion he was the one who needed the most and who grew the most during this story. If you're looking for a light romp, you won't find it here, but if you love gut-gripping emotion, if you love a poignant story about two lost souls who find true happiness in each other when all they expected to find was an endless, duty-bound existence, then this story is for you. Once again I'm reminded why Megan Chance is one of my favorite authors. She doesn't take the easy way out with her characters. They're far from perfect, sometimes not even admirable, but somehow she always manages to make me care--deeply.

Eliza is the illiterate daughter of a poor sharecropper who yearns to escape the confines of her small town and see the world. She is seduced by Cole, a gambler, shallow and self-centered for the most part. When she discovers she is pregnant by him, Cole convinces her to marry his brother, Aaron. Many romance novels put their couples through a convoluted series of misunderstandings and miscommunication that keep them from each other. However, this novel portrays both its characters in such life-like terms that it takes the theme to new heights. Aaron is extremely shy, hesitant and withdrawing around strangers, to the point that he stutters and becomes tongue-tied and awkward, especially near Eliza since he is falling in love with her. He has grown up the object of cruel rumors and gossip in the near-by town, and is afraid that Eliza would be repulsed if he made any advances. His poetry is his sole means of self-expression. Eliza, on the other hand, is deeply ashamed of her humble background, and convinces herself that Aaron is ashamed of her too. The characterization in this novel is superb. Both Aaron and Eliza are very insecure, and especially Aaron, hesitant to communicate their true feelings. Aaron, especially, is well drawn out and a more than welcome relief from the stereotypical handsome, muscle-bound, macho arrogant male lead.

Ms. Chance has written an original romance that captivates and brings a longing to help these all too human souls find an end to their aloneness. Eliza is a much more realistic character then most romance heroines, if for no other reason then she has crooked teeth. The characters are not perfect, they don't look perfect, and they certainly don't act perfect. This makes you care for them all the more. In a twist of fate, Eliza finds a man to love, who "needs her". Aaron, her reluctant bridegroom, is silent and painfully inept in his attempts to develop a relationship. Aaron's brother Cole, who impregnates Eliza and walks away with out a thought, has a few redeeming qualities, but his smooth exterior that originally calls to Eliza, is just that, an exterior. The contrast between Aaron's beautiful poetry and Eliza's simple response sum up this book-it speaks to both their souls and ours.