A Time To Come Home

Diana Smith has returned to her hometown to try and rebuild her life. Her high school sweetheart, Tyler Benton, is now an attorney of the town with his eye on a judgeship. Of course, there is a child involved as well. Isn't it always the case? But Darlene Gardner does something really wonderful in this Harlequin Superromance story. As cliched as the premise is, the details surrounding the premise is fresh and immediate. When Diana left town, she left pregnant with a rumors that she'd slept with half the guys at school. She has her daughter but she has left Jaye in the care of her brother as she is battling back from a prescription pill addiction. The layers of this story could seem soap opera-ish and maybe they are, but in Gardner's deft writing, it works. The story isn't just about Diana getting together with Tyler. It is about Diana getting her life together so that she can be with her daughter. A family with a tragedy that influenced how things got to be the way they are and how they are struggling to get their footing back. Because there is more to the story than the romance, the romance actually comes off as much more poignant. Diana has real obstacles. When she calls her daughter to talk to her and her daughter doesn't want to speak with her, you can feel hers and Jaye's pain. You understand what she is doing even as you empathize why Jaye feels the way she does. It is a wonderful book and if this is what the Harlequin Superromance line is putting out these days, then I have to start looking into them more closely because this novel was very well done. Thank goodness for libraries or I never would have found this book. Now that I have, I have to get it into my personal library because I think I will re-read it several times. I took off a star simply because I felt the ending was rushed. If any story deserved an epilogue to savor Diana's victory, it was this book.