Say It Again, Sam (Warner Forever) [Mass Market Paperback]

Mary McBride (Author)

Book Description

Series: Warner Forever | Publication Date: December 1, 2004

The strangest things are happening in Heart Lake, and Sheriff Sam Mendenhall is trying to keep the peace. The trouble really begins when his former sweetheart Beth Simon returns. Their undeniable attraction leads them to the little cabin in the woods where they fell in love years ago. Original.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

McBride's latest Heart Lake novel (after Ms. Simon Says) tells the tale of romance postponed in a warm smalltown setting. After a serious injury ends his career in the Delta Force special ops unit, Sam Mendenhall returns to his boyhood home in rural Michigan to act as town constable. Petty pilfering represents the height of local excitement until the return of Sam's childhood sweetheart, Beth Simon, coincides with a wave of more serious crimes. Old-house restoration expert Beth hopes to flee a persistent ex-husband while opening a bed-and-breakfast in her family's Victorian mansion; the all-too-visible presence of the handsome Sam, who broke her heart 16 years earlier, and several attacks on her home are unwelcome obstacles to this plan. As she fights for her professional dreams and mends old wounds with Sam, the investigation reveals not one but two culprits. The pair's romance is lively and believable, keeping the reader fully engaged despite the inevitability of their reunion. Except for a strained subplot involving Beth's obsessed ex—an obvious suspect Sam never considers until the 11th hour—the plot is deftly handled, offering vivid secondary characters and an appealingly gentle mystery. McBride's assured voice is another plus, perfectly balancing ironic wit with more earnest reflection.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Beth Simon has left a tempestuous relationship in San Francisco and is moving back to the family's Victorian summer home in Heart Lake, Michigan. Sam Mendenhall, the small town's constable, has recently recuperated from injuries suffered on a secret mission for the military and is now on a random vandalism case. When the postmistress tells him that Beth is coming back to town, he is shocked. Beth and Sam had a relationship when they were teens that had them and the whole town thinking it would end in marriage. Instead, it ended abruptly and badly, and neither Beth nor Sam has ever truly forgotten the other during the intervening 16 years. When they come face to face, it's also clear that neither has forgiven the other. But a love like theirs doesn't die, and as the vandalism around town becomes more dangerous and seems to be directed at Beth, Sam steps up both professionally and personally. Fast-paced, funny, and moving, this is another of McBride's terrifically entertaining tales. Maria Hatton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Forever (December 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446613754
• ISBN-13: 978-0446613750
• Product Dimensions: 4.1 x 0.8 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,084,803 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars intriguing second chance at love, October 31, 2004

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Say It Again, Sam (Warner Forever) (Mass Market Paperback)

Former Delta Force soldier Sam Mendenhall is the Shelbyville, Michigan constable. His work is relatively quiet as he takes care of the 1245 year round residents and the additional "summer folks". However, lately he has learned how inadequate his service skills are involving petty thefts as someone has successfully stolen a flag from the post office and old curtains from a home amidst other items.

Beth Simon has come home from California to convert the family home to a bed and breakfast and to leave behind her violent former business partner Danny. Beth and Sam were high school sweethearts, but that was then and this is now. When they meet for the first time in years, the attraction remains hot. As they begin to overcome their doubts about the other, Danny starts to stalk Beth. When Sam realizes the danger confronting his now beloved, he knows his military skills are more than adequate, but Beth fears for her heart more than her life.

SAY IT AGAIN SAM is an intriguing second chance at love tale with a pinch of a mystery (the thefts) and a touch of suspense (Danny's rising hostile and erratic behavior). The story line mostly focuses on the relationship (somewhat the past but mostly the present) between the likable lead couple. Fans of contemporary romances will want to read this fine tale.

Harriet Klausner

2.0 out of 5 stars Save your money, January 27, 2006

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cb (Minot, ND) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Say It Again, Sam (Warner Forever) (Mass Market Paperback)

For a very short book it took me a very long time to finish it. I got lots of laundry done, watched some TV, anyways the story was sweet and a nice mystery but the main female character just didn't have a backbone for 30 year old person. I almost wished they would not get together. I would pass.

3.0 out of 5 stars Did we read the same book?, July 23, 2005

By 

a-wish-upon-a-star (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Say It Again, Sam (Warner Forever) (Mass Market Paperback)

Previous reviewers saw this book as a funny, lighthearted romp. Maybe we were reading two different books, because this is not at all what I read.

Truthfully, from the cover and the title, you would get the impression that this is police/romance kind of book, with everything good and bad that that entails, and this is exactly the kind of book that it was.

This seems to be a second book of a series, even though I didn't read the first book. This is a fairly standard romance plot - Ruth comes home, but it is with great reluctance, as she does not want to face a certain person; a person who she used to be sweethearts with, but they had broken up, a person who is now town sheriff. Ruth hopes for the best, that she will not have to see him too much, but, as this is a romance novel, we are fairly assured that that "is not going to happen", and, true to our expectations, Ruth bumps into Sam everywhere. She has to learn to face what happened, and what will happen, between them... This a fairly standard plot, and although the characters were well drawn and the plot was good and well developed, it never turned into a great read for me, and here's why.

First of all, the romance between the h/h was simply not believable to me. It didn't seem real to me that they had been so deeply in love as teen-agers, and, although they had now spent so many years apart, neither of them has changed, they can meet again and it is just like it was? CAN one turn the clock back like that? Also, the romance that they had as teen-agers seemed to be too, too overwhelmingly "storybook romance" to be believable to me. Maybe I just knew the wrong kind of boys, but I don't remember any teenage boys of my acquaintance acting even remotely similar to Sam (at that age). He seems to remember every detail of their time together, every detail about how she reacts, what her fears are - my goodness! are there really people like that? I seem to remember teen-age boys being a bit self-centered - like, he would remember every detail of what *he* wanted, he felt etc. but about her? So, this sort of jerked me out of the story.

But the main problem that I had with this book was that it was so sad. Yes, the romance was beautiful (if a bit too beautiful to be realistic), but the main characters were the only ones who got even a remotely happy ending. I hope that I am not giving anything away about the story by saying that nobody else has a happy ending, I'll just leave it at that.

For those of you who like a larger-than-life romance, and don't mind a more somber background tone, this book will please. As for me, what shall I say, perhaps its just not my cup of tea.