Love Me Tender (When I Fall in Love) [Paperback]

Janice Hanna (Author)

Book Description

Series: When I Fall in Love | Publication Date: September 1, 2010

As "Love Me Tender" plays in the background, Debbie Carmichael determines to salvage her family's restaurant, Sweet Sal's Soda Shoppe, when her father's health fails. Teen heartthrob Bobby Conrad agrees to perform at a fundraiser concert. But just two weeks before the highly publicized event, Bobby backs out of the benefit. Enter Johnny Hartman, a young, unknown singer to take Conrad's place.

Debbie soon realizes the twists and turns leading up to the concert are divinely orchestrated. And it isn't dreamy Bobby Conrad who has stolen her heart - but the tender love of Johnny Hartman.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Summerside Press (September 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1609360176
• ISBN-13: 978-1609360177
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #883,097 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grab your poodle skirt and pick a song on the juke box!, September 7, 2010

By 

Pirate2240 "Kat" (Victorville, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Love Me Tender (When I Fall in Love) (Paperback)

What teenage girl hasn't had a crush on her favorite male singing sensation? Especially if you live in the heart of Hollywood, say in Laguna Beach, where it's likely you'll see someone famous on a weekly basis sunning themselves at the beach, just cruising Pacific Coast Highway or taking in a stroll along the many quaint shops along the beachside community. While you're there, you may even step into Sweet Sal's Soda Shop, a favorite diner of the locals that is famous for it's cheeseburgers, onion rings and out of this world chocolate malts!

Let's take this story all the way back to when teen crushes were all the rage and rock and roll music was taking over the lives of teens everywhere. Enter the 1950's. A throw back to more casual times, where walls of girls bedrooms were adorned with posters of Elvis Presley, Cary Grant or even Dick Clark! This is where the story of Love Me Tender by Janice Hanna takes place! We are introduced to the Carmichael family who owns Sweet Sal's Soda Shop and the entire family works there, serving up food until the wee hours of the night while listening to the latest music from the jukebox. Back to the time where you are served by red and white striped uniformed waitresses with their hair in pony tails and singing the latest songs!

We meet Debbie Carmichael who is just turning 20 and is trying very hard to let those childhood crushes of Bobby Conrad become a think of the past, yet she can't help it. He is after all single, around 20 himself and the possibilities of meeting him in her dreams is enough to make her weak in the knees! When she learns that her father's diner is behind in the mortgage payments and could possibly lose it due to his recent heart attack, Debbie plans a benefit concert at her families diner may just be the one thing to save her father and quite possibly meet Bobby Conrad.

Johnny Hartman arrives from Topeka, Kansas with all the boyish good lucks he needs to make it in Hollywood along with his ability to write his own original songs. Once he hooks up with the local agent Jim Jangles, Hollywood is about to discover it's next rising star on Billboards music charts. Things take a turn when Jim arranges for Johnny to come along to Sweet Sal's to negotiate a benefit for Bobby Conrad his latest rising star and it's there that Johnny finds his inspirations to his songs from a blond hair girl named Debbie.

To read more about this amazing book, you'll want to pick up a copy of Love Me Tender by Janice Hanna. It's a perfect musical 5 out of 5 stars! I received this book compliments of Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for my honest review and was transported back in time to the rock-a-billy times of the 50's! This is such a fun book with a message about how even God can use Hollywood stardom to get His message across the airwaves!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nostalgic love story set to the beat of rock 'n' roll, October 14, 2010

By 

Ane Mulligan "V.P./Sr. Editor, Novel Rocket" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Love Me Tender (When I Fall in Love) (Paperback)

Get ready for a journey of nostalgia, complete with bebop, poodle skirts, and surfers, as Hanna dishes up a delightful story set in the 1957. I love the way each chapter starts out with a news article from a teen magazine, with columnists like Cinema Cindy and Hepcat Harry. Hanna stays true to the era and delivers a rollicking good love story set to the beat of rock 'n' roll. Novel Journey and I highly recommend it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Let's Go to the Hop, April 26, 2011

By 

Deborah "Books, Movies and Chinese Food" (Fairfax, VA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Love Me Tender (When I Fall in Love) (Paperback)

This was a cute book about the 1950s when rock music, diners and poodle skirts reign. I really liked seeing how Hollywood stars and rock musicians are portrayed in this book because normally a lot of Christian fiction tends to act like all entertainment is wrong! The story feels colorful and lively. It's fun to reminisce (ok maybe not for me since i wasn't born until 30 years later) but it's a time of simpler things. Hanna throws in tidbits from the news of the era and facts that make our day and age seem more indulgent and complicated. I was pleasantly pleased with how the romance turned out (no wedding...yet). Debbie acts like a normal young woman for the time period. She helps out her family but is also really into rock musicians and movie stars. Her family's diner sounds like a fun place to hang out at and the food sounded really good at as well. I enjoyed learning about the entertainment industry and thought it a hoot that Leave it to Beaver was thought to be a flop.

I did have two complaints about the book. The first was that I felt like the story was a in a bubble because nothing negative about the time period was mentioned at all. There was no talk about politics, no race relations, no international conflict...nothing that would make the story seem like a downer. I know that the focus was meant to be on the diner and Debbie's relationship but it just seemed too idealized for me. The other problem I had was that I felt the story to be a bit preachy at times. Characters going to church and mentioning faith several times is not a problem. However in the middle of the book, a mini sermon was preached about the Ten Commandments and then Debbie's father gave her a talk about how having crushes on movie stars and musicians can be detrimental to being a Christian. It took me out of the story to have a moral message slipped in like that.

Except for these two instances, like I said it's a cute story. It's like watching Grease or American Graffiti. You'll want to drive to your nearest diner and put on some golden oldies because you'll be in the mood after finishing this book.