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The Last Valentine [Mass Market Paperback]

James Michael Pratt (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)


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Book Description

February 15, 1999
Television reporter Susan Allison is looking for the perfect story about true love, yet she doubts where such a thing really exists, Neil Thomas, Jr. wants to share his parents' bittersweet love story with the world. On February 14, 1944, Caroline Thomas said good-bye to her beloved husband, a Navy pilot sent to the Pacific. For fifty year, she waited for him--until a miracle happened, and she received his last valentine. In the present day, when Susan and Neil meet, can the story of Neil's parents bring them together in a love as powerful as she dreams of and he remembers?


Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

On February 14, 1944, their first anniversary, Navy Lt. Neil Thomas bids his wife, Caroline, farewell at Union Station, Los Angeles. They never meet again. Before he can set eyes on the son born in his absence, Neil's fighter plane goes down in the Pacific. He is declared missing in action, but love never dies in this avowedly "inspirational" first novel from Utah executive Pratt. Each anniversary, Caroline returns to Union Station to await her husband. On their silver anniversary, two days after learning that Neil died a hero's death among Philippine partisans, she makes her final pilgrimage?with supernaturally happy results. The telling of the story by Neil Jr., himself a lonely widower, to cynical reporter Susan Allison, spawns a parallel romance. Originally self-published, the novel is steeped in roses and friendly songbirds. Pieces of the puzzle fall thuddingly into place. Sentence fragments abound. The point of view shifts alarmingly. Yet the book's sincerity is palpable, and the war scenes add a little grit to its anodyne message: that love triumphs over death. Doubleday Book Club and Literary Guild alternates; author tour.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Writer Neil Thomas Jr. wants to share his parents' love story with the world, and unenthusiastic TV reporter Susan Allison is given the "fluff" assignment. Unexpectedly intrigued, both by widower Thomas and his parents' story, Allison feels compelled to learn more about Lt. Neil Thomas Sr. and his wife, Caroline. The novel moves between 1944, with Lt. Thomas stationed in the Pacific and Caroline awaiting the birth of their child in Pasadena, and present-day California, where Susan and Neil Jr. fall in love as he describes events that took place 50 years ago. While the book would have benefited from tighter editing, the story is an interesting and moving one, and readers will be eager to learn how it all ends. Only the most cynical will feel that the word love is used a little too often. This sweet, nostalgic story is recommended for most public libraries. Motivational speaker Pratt's novel was originally self-published, selling over 10,000 copies and netting the author an agent and a major publisher.
-?Elizabeth Mellett, Brookline P.L., Mass.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

  • Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (February 15, 1999)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0312968221
  • ISBN-13: 978-0312968229
  • Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #642,220 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

James Michael Pratt is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling fiction author. Jim recently completed research and co-writing for the documentary and Rex J. Pratt Film, Between Iraq and a Hard Place. He is currently writing a screenplay taken from his regional bestseller, The Good Heart. Called "... a master of moral fiction," by Booklist, his novels are filled with history laden plots, conflict, mystery, and romance.

People Magazine billed Jim's breakout novel, The Last Valentine (1998-1999) "...a return ticket to Bridges of Madison Country territory." It is scheduled for a Hallmark Hall of Fame television "Movie of the Week" in early 2007. The Lighthouse Keeper, (2000-2001) and Ticket Home (2001-2002) hit bestseller charts across the country. Kirkus Reviews called the trio "...the fictionalization of The Greatest Generation," for the vivid portrayal of life and love before, during, and after World War Two.

Paradise Bay, (2002-2003) is a coming-of-age story geographically set between LA and an abandoned fishing hamlet just north of Santa Barbara, CA. Paradise Bay holds secrets for a present day musician son who never knew his Vietnam War hero-father. Sweeping back to the 1950s-60s with social changes, music, horrors of Vietnam, we see a young aspiring "piano man," drafted into the Marines and then seriously wounded. His music sleeps with him for thirty years. He will awaken from a battle induced coma to a strange world with new music, a son he never knew, and a love he had thought lost forever.

The Good Heart, (2005) depicts the entrapping of three troubled lives, one beating heart, and an unsolved mystery. Set in the fast-paced, power-hungry climate of the nation's capital and Tallahassee, FL. Jim's newest novel combines political and medical intrigue with passion and danger while unraveling the mystery behind a brotherly pact that has lain hidden for forty years.

Jim cultivated story-telling from his earliest days of carefree 1960's boy at play in the fields and hills near the old Corriganville Movie Ranch sets in Simi Valley, CA. His father's World War Two combat and two older brother's Vietnam service influenced Jim, at an early age, to study history in gen eral and military history specifically. Fluent in Spanish, he often uses the language and settings of old California and the Southwest where he grew up to add color, realism, and flavor to his stories.

In memoirs created as tributes to everyday parents, Jim reminds the reader in MOM, The Woman Who Made Oatmeal Stick to My Ribs, and DAD, The Man Who Lied To Save the Planet of a time and place when seemingly complex matters of life had simple, straightforward answers colored by time honored and traditional virtues and values. He recently finished two novels in the inspirational category, both available at Amazon.com; The Christ Report and As A Man Thinketh, In His Heart.

As well as author, James Pratt serves as Chairman of PowerThink Publishing, LLC. For more on James Michael Pratt and his writings see: www.jmpratt.com and www.powerthink.com.



 

Customer Reviews

47 Reviews
5 star:
 (32)
4 star:
 (9)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (3)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (47 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars The Last Valentine, November 6, 2003
By 
This review is from: The Last Valentine (Mass Market Paperback)
THE LAST VALENTINE, written by James Michael Pratt is a book of faith, hope, devotion, and most of all never-ending love. A writer Neil Thomas Jr. wants to share the amazing story of the unconditional love his parents shared. Susan Allison just happens to be looking for a love story that she believes cannot exist. The story is of Lt. Neil Thomas and his wife, Caroline. Lt. Thomas must leave his wife and unborn child for war on their first anniversary, February 14, 1944. From Union Station, he gives her a long goodbye and a promise. For fifty years, on the very day they said good bye she returns to Union Station, hoping for the promise he made. On their fifith anniversary, just two days after finding out the true story of her husbands heroic death, she recieves his last valentine. The story of Neil Jr's parents gives him the hope that maybe he will be able to find a love as pure as the love his mother and father shared, and give Susan Allison the faith that there really is love that is strong enough to last through anything.
The Last Valentine was one of the best books I have ever read. At times, I would get confused when the book would continue changing from the past to the present and back to the past, I was unsure of what time era I was reading about. However, I really enjoyed how James Michael Pratt, the author, set up the reading of his book. Even though it could be confusing it allowed for me to understand the whole story. The book allowed for romance and the action of war to keep the story going and it allowed for me to feel and imagine what was happening during the whole book. I would recommend this book for people who don't mind emotional books, and who enjoy reading about romance continuing to last through the burden of World War II.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars For all Cynics and Hopeless Romantics: READ THIS BOOK!!!, July 15, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: The Last Valentine (Mass Market Paperback)
You are reading the confessions of a reformed cynic. This book has a love story in it's purest form, without all the junk that sometimes clouds things. In it you see what true Love is, and it makes you hope. These are not the ramblings of some young love-sick girl, these are the words of someone who had lost faith in real, time-honored, make-it-through-at-any-cost love....this book restored that faith. A Thank you to Mr. Pratt for a novel that touched my heart.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Last Valentine, January 22, 2003
By 
Mary Barrett (Nashville, Illinois) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Last Valentine (Mass Market Paperback)
It was an emotional book to read with tears coming from my eyes as I read it. I got so involved in the book that I lost track of all time. I did not want to put it down. I have read The Paradise, Ticket Home, and I will be ordering your latest book, The Christ Report. I can't wait for your next book to come out.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
Susan Allison guided the rented Lexus slowly down the quiet, magnolia-lined Pasadena street, her fingernails tapping in annoyance against the console as she tried to read the house numbers passing by. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
last valentine, ammo box
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Union Station, Neil Thomas, Lieutenant Thomas, Los Angeles, Captain Ito, Colonel Jackson, Zig Zag Pass, Ensign Roberts, Rio Sombro, Valentine's Day, Manila Bay, David Jackson, Miguel Camacho, Miss Caroline, Father O'Donnell, Rose Parade, Saint Valentine, Alameda Street, Caroline Thomas, Ernesto Rios, Raul Calderas, Union Pacific, Western Union, Bobby Roberts, Chaplain Brady
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