Customer Reviews

A Chance to Say Yes

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When you grow up with a celebrity obsession, you can't help but identify with a lovelorn, star-struck character like the fragile Poppy Craft-Talbot in A Chance to Say Yes. How many readers out there have daydreamed about Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Antonio Banderas, etc.? (My personal 24-year obsession is Duran Duran's John Taylor.) But Tina Murray's sweet little Poppy gets more than just the daydream when it comes to hunky movie star Heston Demming. She grew up with Hess. They were playmates as children. They were sweethearts in high school. They shared a romantic night aboard his family's yacht out on the Gulf just moments before Heston proposed, just moments before she hesitated over what to do, just moments before a sultry foreign exchange student stepped into the scene and stole Hess away to more exotic realities and Hollywood and nineteen years of living only in Poppy's dreams.

In the vividly depictive scenes of sunny Naples, Fla., Murray brings to life a set of hateful, vengeful, wicked people who work toward their own selfish goals with determination. Yet there are good characters, like Poppy, who are caught up in events that force them to change, force them to re-evaluate where they are and what decisions they've allowed into their lives. All these satellites orbit the stellar Heston Demming, who Murray brings to larger-than-life and whittles down to a typical man with his believable flaws and forgivable mistakes. But are they so forgivable? Does he deserve the redemption the character of Poppy represents? Or can he earn it by the end of the novel?

Anyone looking for a sweet romantic tale with suspense will find it in A Chance to Say Yes. What's intriguing is the different levels of satisfaction Murray offers. While one plot against our heroine is quickly put in motion and just as quickly quelled, another plot pulls the suspense through a variety of twists and turns as you enjoy the overall romance story. It's all nestled among a descriptive narrative that should leave non-Florida-natives hungry to visit our Gulf shores. Sensory details abound bringing not just characters but scenes and surroundings to life for the reader. It's a good paradise to get lost in.

From Sandy Lender, "Some days, I just want the dragon to win."

I just finished A Chance to Say Yes by Tina Murray and thoroughly enjoyed it on several different levels.
Romance is not my typical go-to genre when reading for pleasure but I admit to being totally caught up in the characters and story. The plot was as sophisticated and intriguing as anything I've ever read and the characters were complete and easy to identify with. I love it when good guys are good and bad guys are bad and she nailed the multifaceted personalities. Living in SW Florida myself, the setting was very entertaining. I admit to having an affinity for stories set in locales I know and have visited and this story paints tropical SW Florida in a way that is sure to make readers in other areas want to visit.
My family always laughs at me because I'm such a softy and I admit to getting all misty several times reading particularly poignant passages. The writing is very tight and descriptive without going overboard and the story is well told.
As a participant in the SW Florida chapter of The Florida Writer's Association I have met Ms. Murray on a couple of occasions and when her novel was released I thought I would be supportive of a fellow writer and purchase a copy. Her publisher was in attendance at that luncheon and she had to ask him how much to charge. She was so unpretentious and flattered that her book was actually selling it provided a snapshot of an author who mostly just wanted to tell a story. How refreshing.

Heston Deming grew up in Naples, Florida and struggled through his youth and early adulthood. His relationship with his parents was strained and in many ways he was looking to escape from the environment of his youth. Now, Heston is an enormously successful actor, the leading male sex symbol of the time and a man of substantial personal wealth. Unfortunately, misfortune has walked in lockstep with his success, Heston has had a difficult battle with alcoholism and he is on his third marriage, all to women whose overriding interest is in his fame and fortune. The story opens with Heston purchasing a spacious home in Naples and coming back to live and overcome the baggage of regrets that he carries around.
When he was in his late teens, Heston had a passionate love affair with his childhood friend Poppy Talbot. When Heston asked her to marry him, Poppy dithered, giving a flummoxed noncommittal answer. Heston took that to be a no and by the time Poppy could find him and tell him the answer was yes, Heston had departed with another woman. Poppy has remained in the Naples area and is now the co-owner of an art gallery and in possession of a deep secret.
When the news gets out that Heston is back, Poppy realized that the years have not dampened her love for Heston and when they meet, Heston also realizes that a fire for Poppy still burns within him. While both are married, neither marriage is a happy one, although Heston must contend with a wife that is the poster girl for the concept of "dragon lady." Heston also has a young daughter with his current wife, and he adores her, so the welfare of the daughter must also be considered.
This begins an enormously complex tale that involves Heston's two ex-wives, his son by one of them, a bisexual and ruthless artist, husbands of ex-wives and lovers, a turncoat "best friend" of Poppy, and other assorted ruthless hangers-on and manipulators. With so many characters in the plot, in general it would be difficult for an author to keep the story within the bounds of understanding. However, Murray manages to weave all of them together into a story that is a joy to read. In my reading, I generally avoid romance because it is too formulaic, predictable and the journey to the obvious conclusion is unexciting. That is not the case here, while you know what the happiness result is going to be, that knowledge is almost insignificant within the twists, turns and bounces through the life of Heston. Despite his pampered life of being a movie star, Heston is a man of action when the need arises and in this story, there is a lot of need.

What if your old high-school flame who became one of the world's most famous movie stars moved back to town? What if he didn't know that for twenty years you had been keeping a secret from him?

Heston Demming is at the peak of his acting career - an international celebrity whose face is on every tabloid. He is wealthy, drop-dead gorgeous, and stalked by the paparazzi, but beneath the polished veneer he is a man fighting for emotional survival - a man whose life is falling apart. When he returns to his hometown of Naples, Florida, his lavish lifestyle is declaration of victory over the poverty and hardship of his youth, but deep down inside he is a man drowning in despair. During his attempts to make restitution to those he wronged, Poppy Talbot, a woman he had left behind in his quest for money and fame, comes back into his life. Poppy still retains the same sweetness she had when they were love-struck teenagers and Heston realizes she is the one woman who could save him if he could get her to forgive and forget the past. Poppy is now an art dealer in this wealthy town; married but currently separated from her husband, and yet she had never stopped dreaming of seeing Heston again some day. What Heston doesn't know is that she actually had vivid nightmares about it - about the consequences of a long-kept secret - one so deep that if she lets Heston back into her life it will surely rip their lives apart.

A Chance to Say Yes takes you inside the explosive and private life of this exclusive beachfront community's most renowned son. For anyone who loves celebrity gossip, this book is a must read! The first novel in the Demming family saga from author Tina Murray - this is a love story for both women and men.

A Chance to Say Yes really turned my concept of "romance novel" on its head. I picked it up on vacation and simply could not put it down. I loved the characters, especially the Gidget-like purity of girl-next-door-beautiful Poppy and the dangerously complex and alluring Heston. What woman hasn't dreamed of being the long lost love of a handsome movie star? What stands between them are years of separation, deep secrets and despicable people, including the totally narcissistic ex-wife and the betrayal of Poppy's supposed best friend. I was completely pulled into the little known world of wealth, art and celebrity in Naples, Florida. The passionate, not-to-be-denied romance was compelling enough but the twists and turns of these complex characters and their unexpected choices pulled me deep into this world and would not let me loose. It's got romance and suspense and the hope of redemption set in a lush Florida paradise. Not a frequent romance reader, I read it more for the fact that it's the debut novel of my cousin and life long friend, Dr. Tina Murray. However, I have to say, this is an outstanding debut novel, even if the author is my dearly loved cousin. I highly recommend it whether you normally read romance or not. You'll enjoy this book. I sure did! I'm already eagerly awaiting novel number two, which I happen to know is in the works now. If you'd like to follow the author, you can read her blog here: http://tinamurray.blogspot.com

I started reading this book and put it down only after the plane landed. Drove home and read it until I had finished. Am waiting for the sequel.

THIS BOOK IS A TREAT! I ENJOYED READING THE BOOK COVER TO COVER IN JUST A FEW HOURS WHILE VACTIONING IN NAPLES. I WAS ENTHRALLED AND INTRIGUED BY THE CHARACTERS AND DID NOT WANT IT TO END. WHEN WILL THE SEQUEL BE OUT?? THIS BOOK WOULD MAKE A MARVELOUS MOVIE.

There's so much fakery in Hollywood, it's hard to go back to being real. "A Chance to Say Yes" tells the story of washed up actor Heston Demming. When his life is no longer so glamorous, he has little left to live for, except his old sweetheart Poppy Talbot. But in his quest for fame, he wronged Poppy, and forgiveness is never something that comes easy. "A Chance to Say Yes" is a novel of facing the mistakes of one's past, highly recommended.

A Chance to Say Yes
A Chance to Say Yes is like a piece of chocolate. I savored this book a little at a time, as a reward, and I was truly sad when this treat was over. I loved the fact that this was not a formula book where you can predict each turn of events. A Chance to Say Yes was truly unique. I can't wait for a sequel.