Customer Reviews

Ever So Humble (Avalon Romance)

5 star:		(3)
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This is a 'feel good' book for readers of all ages. With 'Ever So Humble' Ms. Shaff has shown how people can work together to solve modern problems. Her characters are three-dimensional and easy to like. They face troubles and strive for solutions. Shaff also shows that love can come along when you least expect it!

If you have yet to read, Ever So Humble, by Fran Shaff, I must tell you that you are in for a treat. In fact, an incredible treat! Once you enter the world of Marisa and Lee, there are obstacles at each turn. Not only are they challenged at giving in to their feelings for each other but also with the obstacle of trying to keep what they feel is important to them. Lee with his renovation projects and Marisa with her concerns for her neighbors and those close to her. The story was so believable. The characters so true to life. Each character in their own way caring for the things that matter in life. Ms. Shaff has written a story with heart. One that will make you stop and think. One that will make you feel good inside. I also loved the way that Ms. Shaff incorporated secondary characters in the story line. It gave more meaning to the story. And the way she had Marisa care for her mother was indeed so true to life. Ever So Humble is indeed a wonderfully written story. One that deserves ten stars!! It is a truly a great story, one that will touch your heart in so many ways. Ever So Humble would make a great gift for anyone anytime of the year. It is a story that you will remember for years to come. A charming story for all ages.

Since her mother suffered a stroke, Marisa Orlando has lost her home and been forced to move into a deteriorating apartment. But at least the apartment is a wonderful community. She has friends there, a support group. And all of that is going be destroyed by gentrification--by Lee Ramon's plan to turn the apartment into expensive condominiums. Marisa can't afford the down payment on a condo--not with so much of her salary going to pay her mother's hospital bills.

Construction manager Lee Ramon has sunk a good part of his fortune into this conversion--and needs to complete the building on time and on schedule is he isn't going to lose everything. Thanks to the partners he took on to finance the deal, he is constrained on what he can do and who he can hire. But all of a sudden, his worst problem seems to be the sexy spitfire down the hall. Marisa pushes him to look for ways that her community can be maintained. She doesn't seem to understand that bringing the building up to code is expensive--that if he did nothing, her building would be condemned within a few years and that community would be shattered anyway. And with the attraction Lee feels for Marisa, he wants to find a way to make her happy--but not if it means losing everything.

Marisa is always quick to jump to the most negative conclusions about Lee--but it takes her friends to break it to her that she's sabotaging herself--she's so busy protecting her heart that she won't give him a chance. Certainly he does things to her heart that she's never experienced before. Even when he agrees to a 'sweat-equity' plan that will let the residents work off some of their down payments, she insists on looking for the trick, for Lee's way of making his bottom line.

Only when everything seems lost--for both Lee and Marisa--are the two finally willing to listen to their hearts. But then, is it too late?

Author Fran Shaff adopts a highly approachable style in telling a charming story of misunderstandings. Marisa has been hurt before, lost everything, and is afraid to commit--even when true love comes along. Shaff does a fine job balancing Marisa's emotional responses with Lee's more pragmatic, but no less heartfelt concerns and needs. The resolution offers a bit of a surprise, but an ending that offers hope for the future.

EVER SO HUMBLE is suitable for both young-adult and adult romance readers.