Forever Grace by Linda Poitevin
Series: Ever After, #2
Romance Contemporary
April 24, 2015
Reviewed by Tori
Officer Sean McKittrick has come to his cottage for some much needed R&R after an on the job injury shatters his leg. Expecting peace and quiet, he is shocked to find a child on his deck. Not a fan of children, Sean’s surprised yell scares the child who inadvertently knocks him down in his rush to get away. Sean finds himself stuck on his back with no crutches and no way to get up or inside to house.
Grace Daniels gave up everything to care for her sister’s four children. Overwhelmed by the never ending responsibility and a fear of the police, she neitherless rushes to Sean’s side to help. From there, Sean and Grace form a tentative friendship made sticky by the heat of their attraction. Neither is looking to invest in a relationship but sometimes what you want and what you need are two different things.
Sean knows there is something more to the story then Grace is telling him. Something potentially dangerous. As Sean digs for the truth, the line between professional curiosity and personal interest is crossed and for the first time in his life, Sean wonders if this little family isn’t what he’s been wanting for all along.
Forever Grace is a lightweight romance contemporary suspense about a man who doesn’t do kids and a woman who has four. Readers will remember Sean from book one-Gywnneth Ever After. His cousin, Gareth Conner, met and fell head over heels with a single mother of three children and Sean was there for him when his doubts and fears got to be too much for him.
This mild romance rides side by side with a low key conflict as Poitevin uses a common denominator to provide our protagonists with the means to connect. A heavy hand at foreshadowing tells the reader pretty much what will happen. Solid writing creates an easy flowing if somewhat uninspiring storyline. Extremely character driven, they are the main driving force behind the story. Grace, Sean, and the children are all pieces of a cog that once it is built, becomes part of a well oiled machine. Poitevin initially fleshes out these characters with seemingly good intentions, giving them the backgrounds and base on which to build the story, but they never move beyond a singular level.
Sean and Grace are personable characters whose loyalty, intelligence, and highly protective natures make them natural caregivers. Poitevin uses a meet cute for introduction and then takes a slow and steady approach in the evolution of their relationship, allowing them to build a friendship before taking any steps beyond that. Grace trusts very few people right now and with good reason. The first few chapters point to the “damsel in distress” trope, though Poitevin soon reveals our heroine Grace is anything but that. The children are act appropriate for their age and their circumstances. Unfortunately, they seem more of a plot device in which to facilitate Grace and Sean’s relationship. The most interesting one of the bunch is Annabelle; a 2 year old whose antics are cute.
Sean and Grace’s relationship develops on two levels; Sean and Grace and Sean and the children. Sean’s attitude towards children is negatively affected by his childhood. He doesn’t hate them but he has convinced himself they have no place in his life. That soon changes when the adorable Annabelle suddenly latches on to him like a limpet and makes him her personal playmate. From there, Sean finds himself spending more time with Grace and the kids, using excuses to stay close to them.
The romance itself, as stated early is mild. VERY mild. So mild, you miss exactly when this couple takes it to the next step. Some admittance of attraction, the push away, then the inevitable drawing together under the guise of needing a shoulder to cry on. The love scene is off scene which is unfortunate because had we seen even a small part of it, it may have made it all a little more believable.
That is where my main qualms with this story comes into play. There is a curious muting of emotions throughout by all involved. We are told how these characters feel and see some of it in their internal thoughts and dialogue but we never are able to break through to the actual meat of these feelings. I wanted to feel Sean’s indifference and Grace’s fear at their first meeting. I wanted to experience Grace’s anger, her rage, at her circumstances. I needed to see the sexual tension rise, the passion develop between Grace and Sean. Weirdly, we also see no scenes between Grace and the children discussing the reasons they are hiding out. I also had issues with the conflict. Our villain is the ultimate bogeyman according to the storyline but his actual page time is maybe a few paragraphs. I would have liked more of an in depth look into the events that lead up to this moment and his motivations.
Forever Grace isn’t a bad story, but it lacks the spark and spirit that is essential for any book. It offers us everything we could want in a romance contemporary but in reality gives us very little of anything.
RATING: D
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