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4.0 out of 5 stars
The Stand-Alone Finale to a Popular Series, October 21, 2005
This review is from: Loving Tenderness (Loving Series #7) (Love Inspired #323) (Mass Market Paperback)
..........On a dark and stormy night reformed town-prodigal Andrew Somerville picks up a brutalized woman and confused child along the roadside. He leaves Hannah Currey and little JJ at a shelter for abused women, but can't dismiss them from his thoughts. He recognizes a kindred spirit in her and a chance to redeem his shady past.
..........For the sake of her son, Hannah grudgingly allows Andrew into her life. She is determined to regain control of her life, and his desire to help her get on her feet again interferes with her plans. When her ex-husband continues stalking her, she finds herself longing for Andrew by her side. But one life-altering secret lingers from that terrible night, a secret she refuses to share with anyone--even the man who's rapidly becoming more than a friend.
..........In LOVING TENDERNESS Gail Martin paints a vivid and credible portrait of a vulnerable, determined woman climbing out of the pit of domestic violence. The author effectively utilizes her background in counseling to put a personal face on dry statistics. I completely believed in Hannah's characterization in the beginning. While cringing at her realistic mistakes, I understood and sympathized and rooted for her to overcome them.
..........Andrew felt less distinct, mainly because his primary conflict in the beginning about settling down and raising a family faded inexplicably. Sundry conflicts kept the happily-ever-after sufficiently in doubt to sustain interest. But by the end, I felt as confused as Hannah about why the couple couldn't get together. I thought a more focused conflict could have strengthened the emotional impact at the end.
..........Also, I felt the resolution relied too strongly on Hannah's emotional motivation as a mother and not enough on supporting external motivations. I disagreed too often with her repeated and deliberate rejection of good sense for me to maintain my suspension of disbelief and respect for her as a character. Certainly real people take stubborn, ill-advised actions, and some readers may be able to identify with Hannah's climatic decisions. However, structured as the culmination of the character's growth to demonstrate her taking control of her life, it felt frustrating to me.
..........With a fluid writing style, Martin takes readers behind the scenes of all-too-familiar headlines and plunges them into an authentic world of domestic abuse, survival, and ultimate healing. Well-structured scenes pull readers in a steady forward direction, and kept me reading late into the night. The final installment of the Loving series waves a misty but fond farewell to beloved characters from earlier books, but easily stands alone as an inspirational romance with significant elements of suspense.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Good, May 4, 2006
This review is from: Loving Tenderness (Loving Series #7) (Love Inspired #323) (Mass Market Paperback)
I enjoyed Loving Tenderness very much. This was a story about things that happen in the real world. There was no unreal romance about two perfect people who fall madly in love. It told of the problems they faced and how they wereable to overcome them.
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