Customer Reviews

Reasons

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Let me just say that after reading Reasonsby Tracy Fabre I want to move to Colorado and live on a horse farm. I've always been partial to horse riding but I do imagine that it's not an easy life. Instantly, I liked Delphi (Del-Fi) Brent and rooted for her the whole way through the book. Sometimes a main character can grate on your nerves but not Delphi, I understood where she was coming from the majority of time.

Right off the bat, Delphi learns that the devastating car accident she had at 17 was caused by one of the son's of family friends. This happens to be the family she's reconnect with and decided to visit. She still goes despite her parents not really encouraging the trip down memory lane.

You pretty much know off the bat who she'll end up with and you root for them the whole way. Of course there are a few bumps along the way but that's to be expected. I found myself liking the majority of the characters that Ms. Fabre wrote. Even the one you don't like in the beginning, you end up not thinking they are so bad in the end.

The book doesn't pack any huge twists or surprises, it's just a well-written novel about two people finding each other and doing the dance of love. What I loved was how Ms. Fabre described everything, it made me feel like I was there. I could picture the kitchen, the stables and the clinic. Statler seems like a great town to visit. Especially, The Dusty Shelf.

I could have read this in a day if I didn't have 2 kids and a household to run but I did finish it in less that 48 hours.

Reasons was a heart warming, fast-paced novel. I'm glad I was approached to review this book or else I would of never heard of it. I quickly became intrigued with the story and enjoyed getting to know the characters. Delphi was a very likable character, she was strong, witty and down right multifaceted. The secrets that she uncovered while visiting the Laughlins did not disappoint me as a reader. I was also interested in the blossoming romance between Delphi and one of Laughlin brothers. I really liked them together, they just seem to have clicked right from the beginning. The book kept my attention for the most part and was an overall entertaining read. I recommend it if you're looking for a light-hearted read with a decent storyline. But, try not to judge by the simple cover, it seriously doesn't do the novel justice.

In a book that grabs you and won't let go (I read it in one sitting, unusual for me) filled with well-developed characters and a wonderful, natural type of humor in her dialogue, Tracy Fabre gives us REASONS. And yet, with that description, it is interesting to note that the real theme of this book is much more serious. It is one of the responsibility and the power and destructive force that keeping secrets in our lives can have on us. Through the talent of Fabre's writing, this message is presented in a sensitive manner that shows how much she cares about her characters and her readers. The result is a book about families and what makes them tick and binds them together through triumph and through tragedy.

Delphi Brent wants to spend her summer before going off to another state to live and work, with old friends in Colorado. She hasn't seen the Laughlin's in years. When she tells her parents she wants to go and they are hesitant, the truth comes out about a hit-and-run accident that almost cost Delphi her life all those years ago. They tell her how the Laughlin boys were driving the car that hit her and drove away...something she never knew before. And so, she heads to Colorado in hopes of learning the truth about which one of these boys was behind the wheel and why they left the scene.

She also wants to understand what happened as one of the boys, the youngest, Artie, was killed in a car accident and Delphi wants to find out how, and if, he was involved in her hit and run. Delphi is sensitive and caring of the family and doesn't want to bring them any more pain and so is reluctant to come right out and ask the questions she seeks answers to. As her visit goes on, she quickly sees how her feelings about what happened in these mysteries may interfere with her future as she starts to fall for Tam, the son who is a veterinarian. She also has to contend with Bobby who she had a crush on as a young teen who is engaged to an insecure, rude, and possessive fiance, Noreen. The relationships and dialogue between all these characters is well written and especially the interaction with Tam is quite seductive to the reader.

Will Delphi ever learn the truth about her accident and who was involved? If someone she is starting to fall for is involved, will she be able to get past that? Do Noreen and Bobby actually continue their plans to wed once it is revealed it is really more of a business deal to combine properties of their ranches? Finding out the truth and what happens as a result is hard to wait to find out about. If you are the kind of reader who will jump to the ending to find out what happens, don't! It is such a good story and part of the enjoyment is the build up. If Delphi could keep the secrets, it is only right that the reader go along with her and learn about things as she does...you won't be sorry! Kudos to Tracy Fabre on this well-written, engaging book and I look forward to reading more of her work.

The talent of Tracy Fabre, author of Evan's Castle, delighted me again. Her latest, Reasons, a 222-page romance captivated me. In 11 chapters, the author took me on a journey so engrossing that I frowned when life interrupted my reading.

You want reasons why I'm a Fabre fan, right. Take her razor sharp wit, her ability to create dialogue that is so realistic that you can hear the character's speaking as you read, and add her ability to develop characters to their core. Fabre brings her work to life with fluid writing, creating a comfort zone for readers. I drifted through Reasons like a spectator written into the plot.

Reasons begins as Delphi Brent, a young woman who survived a hit and run, is planning to visit family friends she hasn't seen since her accident nine years ago. To her surprise, her parents try to dissuade her from going. When their efforts fail, they drop a bomb.

"We stopped going to see the Laughlins because the car accident which eventually killed Artie is the same one which put you in the hospital for several months when you were seventeen."

A Laughlin was driving the car that hit her and eventually caused the death of Artie Laughlin. Despite the shock, she visits her friends' Colorado horse ranch as planned. She wants to figure out who left her for dead, Tam, who never liked her or her crush Bobby.

Tracy introduces Annie and Robert Laughlin, and their sons Tam, the cool and aloof veterinarian and Bobby, the playboy businessman. We learn about Bobby's relationship with alcohol and his lack of one with his fiancée Noreen, the hot little red head hell bent on making Delphi miserable. We meet Noreen's father, the wealthy Henry McAllister, who is as charming and polite as his daughter is rude. We meet Hazel, the outspoken maid, who is more family than hired help, Jake the macho ranch hand with eyes for Delphi, and Noreen's biggest fan, veterinarian Dave Marcell, who welcomes Delphi's friendship.

Soon after Delphi arrives, stress takes a toll. Plagued by headaches, she balances her love for these people against her apprehension about whoever was responsible for her accident. When Noreen openly expresses jealousy, Jake's forwardness becomes annoying, Bobby's drinking worsens, and Tam's demeanor makes her uneasy, Delphi's quick-witted barbs gives her the upper hand. That is, until her heart gets involved,

"I felt my heart flip-flop. This wasn't going at all the way I'd planned."

And she was suddenly at the mercy of her own body.

"He was smiling at his mother, and then down at the table, and I knew I more than liked him, and when he turned that smile on me, it was all I could do to smile back without melting into goo."

Facing revelations about the Laughlins, and the fact that she may be falling in love with the man who knowingly left her to die, Delphi ricochets between the warmth of attraction,

"Yeah, he's attractive, and smart, and kind, and funny, and irresistible, but he could also have been the man who drove away when you were lying in the middle of the road."

And the tears of frustration.

"Shaking from the wet cold and a variety of other miseries, I burst into tears. It hadn't been my head splitting after all, it had been my heart."

Sigh, and that was the pull that moved me through the book to the epilogue. When I put the book down in the end, I felt I had the answer to every question that crossed my mind. I was content yet sad... I hate leaving behind the worlds Fabre creates!

I don't know when Tracy's next book will be out, but I'll be first in line when it does. I feel comfortable recommending this book to everyone, because it's not just a titillating romance, it's a book with heart and soul.

I was really planning on reading Tracy Fabre's first novel, Evan's Castle, sometime, but ended up so intrigued by the back cover of Reasons that I took that home instead.

The story's set in Colorado, a part of the country that I've visited (at least once) and love dearly. A young woman, Delphi, goes to stay with family friends in the gap between one college position and another. But the families have been silently estranged ever since a hit and run accident seriously injured Delphi as a teenager. At about the same time, the youngest Laughlin son had died from injuries sustained in a car. So maybe the silence was just the embarrassment of one family with a child who lived and one with a child who died, but Delphi soon learns the difficulties run deeper.

The author's descriptions brought back memories, bringing to life a truly beautiful part of the world. But equally, she brings to life the warmth of delightful family relationships, the tortuous conversations of secrets, and the half-closed, half-open friendships of kind-hearted people who've been apart too long.

The romantic aspects of the novel are nicely done, combining both the misunderstandings of youth and those of well-meaning adulthood. The mystery slowly reveals itself. And the injuries of wounded hearts prove neither fatal nor easily cured. I finished the book feeling like I'd sat in on conversations with real people, and really enjoyed their company.

So, thanks Tracy. And maybe I'll get to Evan's Castle sometime too.

Reasons

There are many reasons to write a book and even more for reading one, but once the author has set out to inform, excite or entertain, they had darned well better deliver. Tracy Fabre's second novel, Reasons is meant purely to entertain and yes, she delivers - at every turn.

A young woman goes to spend the summer among friends, her head and heart full of questions. Delphine Brent, between jobs, has decided to spend the summer on a horse farm in Colorado with a much-loved family from her past. She is surprised to find her parents oddly resistant to her summer plans, though they too were once close to the Laughlins.

From her mother Delphine learns that one of the Laughlin sons holds the key to a long-ago hit and run accident that left Delphi with a scar, a limp and a pin in her leg. Then there is the death of the Laughlin family's youngest son, Artie, somehow linked to her own mishap. Delphi must unravel the mystery of these two events for her own peace of mind and, as she falls under the spell of the middle son, for her own future happiness. Unwilling to bring more pain to the Laughlin family, Del must tread carefully along a path whose destination is unclear.

Loss, responsibility, the power of secrets and the destructive force of alcohol are the themes of this novel, important issues, but Ms. Fabre does not allow them to weigh the book down, though she handles these subjects with care and sensitivity; if she has an axe to grind, she did not bring it with her to Reasons.

The result is a book that is light, readable and engrossing.

The characters are strong and well delineated. Fabre shares with authors such as Anne George the ability to create families that one would kill to belong to, worlds one would love to live in. Her grasp of the subtleties of each relationship and her keen eye make this a true novel, a window into our life and times. Her male characters in particular are interesting, familiar without being predictable.

Both the central characters are attractive, both are complex enough to be interesting, simple enough to be appealing. The romance is real and Delphi's dilemma compelling, without losing the essential fun at the heart of the novel.

And then there's the dialog. The dialog in Reasons is very, very witty - but never cute or precious. These folk sound like real people; their conversations are genuine and their emotions spot on. If you read Reasons solely for the repartee you won't be disappointed.

Fabre is a talented writer. For those who appreciate the novel as social commentary, this book brings clear insight and a gift for detail to the tangled web of the human heart, and it does so with humor and grace. Read it, and you'll see what I mean.

ISBN-13: 9781600761256
Publisher: StoneGarden.net Publishing

Growing up Delphi Brent and her family spent every summer with their old family friends, the Laughlins who owned a horse ranch in Statler, Colorado. Ten years ago as the family was heading home seventeen year old Delphi was struck and injured by a hit-and-run driver. What Delphi never knew was that her father saw the license plate of the car that hit her and knew it belonged the Laughlins but didn't see which one of the their sons was driving.

Now as an adult Delphi re-connected with Annie Laughlin and is preparing to spend another summer on the ranch before taking a two-year research assignment in Maine. To try to stop her Delphi's parents finally reveal the truth about car belonging to the Laughlins. They never revealed the truth because Artie Laughlin died as a result of the accident and her parents didn't want to cause any more pain.

So instead of a relaxing summer Delphi heads out to learn the truth about the accident. What she didn't expect was an instant attraction to Tam Laughlin who very well could been the one who was driving the car that injured her.

Fabre makes Statler seem like such a beautiful place that I wanted to pack up and move there instantly. It's a small town with wonderful characters that keep it going and incredibly scenic views.

In addition to the scenery Fabre gave the characters such distinctive traits that you can't help getting drawn into their lives. From the bitter and jealous Noreen to the wise-cracking household help Hazel (what wonderful old names too) I enjoyed all the characters in the book, especially Tam. For one thing he's a vet and who doesn't love a doctor but he's also strong, loyal to his family and friends and always manages to save the day.

The story had a bit of a slow start but it quickly picked up the pace and I enjoyed the ending. Delphi wasn't out for revenge just the truth and it wasn't a phony happily ever after ending but a genuine resolution. I recommend this one to all contemporary romance lovers.

Reviewed for IJustFinished.com

The protagonist, Delphi Brent is a wonderful character who brings you right into her world. As a teenager, Delphi has a serious hit-and-run accident while visiting family friends in Colorado. Growing up, she didn't know the details of the accident.

Years later, she decides to reconnect with family friends and her stunned parents are forced to explain the mystery about her injuries. When she discovers that the hit-and-run driver is one of the three sons of the family friend she has made plans to spend the summer with, Delphi must decide if she can make the trip to Colorado.

Delphi makes the journey searching for answers and ultimatley finds true love. I laughed, I cheered, and I cried - and I read this book in one sitting. Tracy has a way of taking you into the world of wonder with rich characters that you become friends with. I just could not put her book down. I thoroughly enjoyed Evan's Castle, Tracy's first book - they just keep getting better and better! I don't normally read romance novels, but love Tracy's books.

I can't wait until her next book comes out in 2010!

Key elements in REASONS are: a prosperous ranch, a literary researcher with a scar, two handsome veterinarians, an alcoholic, a bitch, and a dump truck. Ms. Fabre skillfully blends a young woman's need to understand her past within the framework of the present and future.

As in her previous work, Ms. Fabre has created yet another wonderfully appealing male character.

Evan Callahan from EVAN'S CASTLE and Tam Laughlin from REASONS rank with some of the best in all of literature. They're strong, quiet, brilliant... charming, mannerly, and oh so sexy. Reminiscent of Jane Austen's men.

If the present economy makes you hesitate about spending $10, ask your local library to buy it.

Romance books are so often full of pages and pages of hot sexy fill. (I hate fill). Reasons by Trace Fabre is a wonderful, captivating, beautifully written romance with a few twists. Anyone that likes a romance novel should give this one a read.