At Last [Paperback]

Barbara Bretton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 7, 2000

For generations the old lighthouse had guided sailors home from the sea . . .

But will its magic work one more time and guide a lonely man and woman home to love?

From the back cover:

From the moment they met as children, there was something special between Noah Chase and Gracie Taylor, something that grew and matured right along with them. Despite Gracie's troubled family - and Noah's cold, distant one - they managed to make each other laugh and keep each other's dreams alive. . .

But Noah's father already had plans for his golden boy's future - plans that did not include the likes of poor, ordinary Gracie Taylor. And when he succeeded in tearing them apart - on the night before their wedding - it seemed those childhood dreams and teenage passions had been crushed by more grown-up things, like sorrows and secrets and lies . . .

Now Gracie has returned to Idle Point, Maine - and so has Noah. Over the years they've wondered if those dreams were just delusions, or if a love like theirs could ever happen again. Maybe they'll find out at last . . .

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Gracie Taylor, scared and aware that she is "different," falls in love with Noah Chase in kindergarten when he asks her to sit with him. Noah is the son of the wealthiest family in Idle Point, Maine, while Gracie was raised by her grandmother, the Chase family's cook, because her father is an alcoholic and her mother is dead. Unbeknownst to the children, there is a lot of animosity between the Taylor and Chase families, and when Noah's father, Simon, finds out about the friendship he sends Noah away to boarding school. As teenagers, Gracie and Noah become romantically involved in secret, but once again Simon interferes. After Simon's death eight years later, the thwarted lovers return to Idle Point, and the whole town waits for their happy reunion. But Gracie is troubled by something Simon told her, and Noah doesn't know what's wrong. Bretton's beautifully crafted tale offers a variation on the plot of Romeo and Juliet that transforms the tragedy into a romance. Patty Engelmann
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

" . . . a richly textured book . . . I could hardly ask for more." (Mary Sophia Novak, reviewer) -- All About Romance

4 stars - a recommended read. -- Susan Scribner -- The Romance Reader - November 2000

Barbara Bretton provides her fans with an emotional contemporary tale that hits the guts and heart with its force. -- Painted Rock - November 2000

Bretton's beautifully crafted tale offers a variation on the plot of Romeo and Juliet that transforms tragedy into romance. -- Booklist - September 15, 2000 (Patty Engelmann)

Ms. Bretton takes you on an emotional roller coaster as she guides you through the lives . . . of Idle Point's residents. -- Rendezvous - November 2000

RT Top Pick for November - Ms. Bretton takes the star-crossed lovers plot and turns it into her own convincing and distinctive storyline. -- Romantic Times (Jill M. Smith) - November 2000

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (November 7, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425177378
• ISBN-13: 978-0425177372
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #792,217 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

In the month of February 1982 I wrote and sold my first novel. And no, I wouldn't believe it either if it hadn't happened to me. I sent in my manuscript on Thursday February 21, 1982 and four days later the telephone rang and I heard the amazing words, "We want to buy your book." How I wish you could have seen me. I was standing by the kitchen door of our North Babylon house, the picture of cool sophistication, as I listened to Vivian Stephens explain the terms of the deal to me. You would have thought I'd sold a first book every single day of my life. Yes, I said. Sounds wonderful. Thank you so much for calling. I look forward to our association. That cool sophistication hung on until I hung up the phone, took a deep breath, then promptly threw up on my shoes.

I was thirty-one years old, unagented, unschooled, unfamiliar with anything to do with the business of publishing. To put it mildly, I was in shock. My husband was working in Manhattan at the time (and finishing up his degree at night) so it would be hours until I could break the news to him. This was too exciting to waste on a phone call. I wanted to see his face when I told him that my dream had finally come true -- and came with a $6000 advance!

He pulled into the driveway at midnight. I was waiting in the doorway, holding a bottle of champagne and two glasses. I didn't have to say a word. He knew right away and the look of joy and pride in his eyes warms me now, years later, long after the advance faded into memory.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting romantic drama, November 7, 2000

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: At Last (Paperback)

For the first time in eight years, Manhattan veterinarian Graciela Taylor returns to her hometown of Idle Point, Maine to attend her father's latest wedding. Gracie abruptly left town by herself the night she was to elope with her beloved Noah Chase, who left shortly afterward.

To her chagrin, Noah has returned to sell off the family's newspaper. While he always wondered why she left him, Gracie thinks back to those days when her widowed father Ben hated Noah for no reason except he was a Chase; his aristocratic dad Simon loathed Gracie for no reason except perhaps because she was a Taylor. She still loves Noah though he is the father of someone else's girl and still hurts from the secret that Simon revealed to her on that fateful day.

AT LAST is an exciting romantic drama that highlights the destructive side of obsessive love on innocent future generations. Ben is a pathetic drunk and Simon seemingly in control is as emotionally as unstable as his rival is. The story line uses flashbacks to tell the tale of eight years ago, but although the technique works, readers must wonder why the intelligent and ambitious Gracie would accept Simon's word without talking to anyone else to collaborate it. Still, Barbara Bretton provides her fans with an emotional contemporary tale that hits the guts and heart with its force.

Harriet Klausner

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sequel needed !!, March 16, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: At Last (Paperback)

I loved the characters in this book and the town so much
that I need to lobby Ms Bretton for a sequel!!
This is a story that grabs you from the first page and keeps you turning them until your eyes are blurry from reading too far into the wee nighttime hours. It is a perfect love story that is satisfying and believable. Turn off the tv news of the day and prepare to relax in the sweetness of this love story that Barbara Bretton so skillfully unfolds. You'll be wanting to hear of a sequel too!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I didn't want it to end!, March 26, 2001

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: At Last (Paperback)

At Last is an endearing love story centered around two characters that are meant to be together but have to face the fact that it's impossible for them to do so. The plot is familiar, but the author did a great job of making the readers care about Gracie and Noah. The setting was wonderful and the story got better and better as it went on. I'll be looking forward to reading more of Barbara Bretton's novels.