4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Keep the kleenex handy...., January 24, 2006
Annie and Andre Harlowe were head over heels in love, with two precocious children. When Andre suddenly dies and leaves Annie alone and pretty destitute, the one luxury she allows herself is to continue paying for his cell phone so that she can still hear his voice.
A year after his death, while she is calling his cell phone, someone answers, but from a very far off place. She suddenly gets the feeling that Andre is trying to talk to her from the grave, but what is he trying to tell her? Was it real, or was she imagining it?
To make ends meet, she takes an occasional job as a waitress for her caterer friend. At a stuffy party for a wealthy bachelor, she bumps into the host and manages to make a ruckus. Thom is immediately intrigued by her, despite the appearance of a wedding ring. When he returns her missing wedding ring, Thom finds himself falling for the whole family, and wants to take care of them. The only problem is she is still in love with her dead husband, and well, he has this fiance...
"Hello, It's Me" will tug at your heartstrings from the opening sentence to the very last page. Author Markham pulls out all stops to tell the charming story of two wounded souls destined to be joined. But rather than being a lighthearted romp like so many of her romantic comedies, this one takes on a more serious tone - dealing with the death of a spouse and the feelings of betrayal after moving on.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Loved it!, May 11, 2005
HELLO,IT'S ME by Wendy Markham
Edited May 19, 2005
HELLO IT'S ME by Wendy Markham was not what I had expected to find. A book that is a little more than the standard light-hearted romance, it delves into the topic of how to go on after the death of a spouse.
Annie Harlowe was married to the love of her life, Andre, and had two children together. They live a simple life on the beaches of Long Island, in a small village called Montauk. It is in the prologue that Annie learns of her husband's sudden death, helping to set the mood for the rest of the book.
The chapter after the prologue begins a year later, and Annie is trying to make ends meet by helping out with her best friend Merlin's catering company and serving food at parties that are held at exclusive summer homes owned by the rich and famous. This is not Annie's favorite thing to do but it helps to pay the bills. She also creates trinkets and other types of souvenirs that the beach crowd may want to buy before going back to their homes in the city. She's an artist first, and always will be, and she refuses to conform to society's expectations by working a 9-to-5 job. This was what she and Andre had always vowed, and she was not going to change now.
Annie has it in her mind that Andre does not want her to move on. Every day she calls Andre's old cell phone number, which she is still keeping active by paying monthly fees despite the fact that she can barely pay her other bills, and listens to his voice on the recording. One day she swears that Andre has picked up the other line and is trying to send her a message. What that message is, she does not know, but she tries to contact him again, knowing that anyone who knew what she was doing would think she'd finally cracked.
At one of Merlin's parties she meets Thom, a very wealthy man, and he finds himself very attracted to her. Annie doesn't realize it, but she too is also mutually attracted to him. Unfortunately, Thom is dating (and expected to marry) Joyce, who is supposedly the perfect woman for Thom. Annie, on the other hand, refuses to take off her wedding ring, feeling that she's expected to love Andre until the day she dies.
Despite these problems, Thom finds a way to get under Annie's skin. Luckily for him she loses her wedding ring at the party and now he HAS to deliver it to her personally. This is the start of their relationship: two people taking a chance on something very uncertain. Annie is not quite ready to move forward, but her kids have already taken it to heart that Thom is going to be their next daddy. This reviewer feels the kids steal the "show", so to speak, and there are a number of scenes that will leave the reader sniffling into a tissue.
HELLO, IT'S ME is a very delightful novel. The two children, Trixie and Milo, will be every reader's favorites. They were both very lovable little children (at the start of the book Milo is five years old, and Trixie is three) and in their innocent ways help bring Annie and Thom together. What was a surprise to this reader is that the novel is not your average light-hearted romance. This story works on many levels, and touches upon a topic that is not often seen in a typical romance, the subject of how to deal with the death of a spouse. This reviewer gives this novel by Wendy Markham four stars and recommends it to all who love a romance with a small box of tissues.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Laughter And Tears!, April 11, 2005
I love a story that makes me both laugh and cry! This story offers just that kind of read, but why not a higher score? Annie. Annie is a character that alternated between entertaining me and annoying me. Not a good trait in a main character.
Annie is a widow. A young widow who is trying to raise her two childeren off of the earnings she makes creating crafty items to be sold to the "city people" that come to the Hamptons for the summer. She has a fixer-upper that is falling apart around her and she is still not over the death of her husband. Enter her best friend Merlin. Merlin has asked her to help him one night at a rather posh party he is doing. Annie agrees despite her misgivings and need for cash. She has a thing against the "snooty" people that will be there and she doesn't want to leave her kids alone with a sitter. Still she goes and works and meets the most charming man in the world. The first man that makes her heart beat a little faster. Thom with an "H."
Thom is trying to find his place in life. He has a mother who is all about pedigree's, a sister that has forgotten how to smile and have fun, and a girlfriend that is just not working for him. Just when he thinks his party could not get any worse he is run over by a petit dark haired waitress. Ann is just the person he's been looking for...now if only he can convince her to take a chance with her heart again and allow him to lover her as he wants.
This is a complex love story to be sure. One person trying to move on from a tragic death, one trying to live period. Add two sweet little kids, a ghost, and a treasure hunt and you have "Hello, It's me." Now overall this was a good read but what kept it from being "Great" was Annie. Again she has her issues but her growth was slow going. The side story of husband Andre coming to Annie from the otherside was rather weak. I truly expected a little more there with that aspect of the story. Otherwise this was a light entertaining read you may want to add to your summer reading list.
Official Reviewer for www.romancedesigns.com
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