Customer Reviews

The Depth of Love

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THE DEPTH OF LOVE by Margot Early
March 16, 2007

Rating **** (3.5 Stars)

While this book was rather intriguing, with the focal point of the plot centered on the world of cave diving, that didn't seem to be enough to give this book a great recommendation. THE DEPTH OF LOVE centered on two persons, Eve Swango and Tommy Baca. Their lives wound around each other for decades, with their relationship never easy except for maybe a short while when they were very young. Tommy was adopted by the hired staff who worked for Eve Swangos' family, a dysfunctional group of people headed by a cave diver, Eve's father, and an ex-movie star that lived only for her glory days in Hollywood. Eve had a half sister, Cimarron, a spoiled brat but a beauty, who was part of the modeling world starting at a very young age. Eve felt second best to her sister in many ways, and felt that the only way to compete was in her skills as a diver. Cimarron showed no interest.

The story was filled with characters that were true to life; they had faults and character flaws. This was not a happily-ever-after type of book, although there is some resolution at the end for the two lovers. But what may repel some readers is the path that leads to this resolution. While Eve and Tommy obviously belong together, as will be evidenced throughout the story, Eve's stubbornness and her lack of desire to commit to any one person, keeps her from ever staying with Tommy for very long. And as she continuously rejects his marriage proposals, she has the audacity to be angry when he turns to other women. Tommy wants a family and children. He himself never knew his own biological parents and therefore he wants a family of his own, children that are related to him by blood.

But Eve was afraid. She had a secret that kept her from ever committing to Tommy's love and she didn't want him to ever find out what she hid from him. Only her sister Cimarron knew what happened all those years ago, and while the two were often at opposite sides of any topic, Eve knew she could trust Cimarron with this one secret. Tommy also has a secret that he never wants Eve to know about, but he feels that this secret may be what is keeping Eve from wanting to commit to him.

As Eve watches Tommy's love life evolve, first with Cimarron, who Tommy ends up marrying and the two have a child together, and then with other lovers, Eve focuses on the world of cave diving, getting as reckless as she can get without truly endangering her life. And Tommy, while he insists he wants a family and children, seems to be obsessed with a cave that is located on the Swango estate, a cave that the government wants to take over.

A love story that spans decades, THE DEPTH OF LOVE is as close to a soap opera as any Harlequin can get, filled with love affairs and tragic events. This reviewer had a problem with the characters, as they exhibited behavior that will frustrate the reader. This truly was far away from a traditional romance as one can get, but the story line may keep the reader hooked until the very end. The ending felt rather anti-climatic, and for once an 'EVERLASTING LOVE' novel failed to make this reviewer shed any tears at the end. THE DEPTH OF LOVE is getting a half-hearted recommendation. - courtesy of Love Romances and More - M. Lofton

Eve Swango and Tommy Baca have loved each since they were teens, but they never seem to be able to make a relationship between them work. No matter how many times Tommy asks, Eve won't marry him. To Eve, Tommy's obsession with the cave her family owns seems to outweigh everything else in his life. As they go through the years, they seem to spend more time apart than together. Now they are together again, can they learn from the mistakes they have made in the past and find a way to stay together?

Let me begin by saying I have truly been enjoying Harlequin's newest series imprint, Harlequin Everlasting. I do understand that the series is based on life after you've met "the one", however, The Depth of Love was a story that I just could not become involved with. As a hero, Tommy was absolutely...well...terrible. If I had been Eve I just don't think I could have allowed myself to marry a man who had slept with my mother and married and had a child with my sister. What truly bothered me is that Eve didn't seem to care about it. It never felt like an issue. I truly could not wrap my mind around it. Add this to Tommy's total insensitivity in inviting his second ex-wife to stay at their house while Eve was out of town and wow, The Depth of Love sunk to some place where I just couldn't follow.

Melissa
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

I'm a romance reader. I love master story teller Margot Early. And still I was a little worried when I picked up Early's The Depth of Love. Since it was from the new Harlequin Everlasting line, I just wasn't sure about it. How could a book so short could live up to my expectations for a life long love story? I'm so glad I gave this story a chance. The Depth of Love just might be my new favorite Early novel.

Let me say first that the likenesses of Eve Swango and Tommy Baca are perfectly depicted on the cover (I don't think it was ever proven anywhere in the story that Tommy was anything but white, meaning Amerindian--it was just assumed he might not be because he was left on the doorstep of a church in New Mexico, even though there were probably lots of poor Anglos living in NM in the seventies).

I think it is interesting that one reviewer was turned off because Tommy slept with Eve's mother and married her sister, but not that Tommy was only fourteen when he slept with her drunk and inappropriate (and obviously pedophilic) mother. Tommy was just a kid and mother Daisy took advantage of him, which haunted him until his confession to Eve. It was Eve's reaction (of no reaction) to this that I found disturbing.

As for Tommy marrying Cimarron (a neat name, I think), I think he just wanted to be close to Eve through her sister, but even more than that, he wanted a child of his own blood. As for Cathie, the second woman he married, again, he just wanted a vessel to carry his cargo. It was always different with Eve. Because of her putting Tommy first, he was able to have a son of his very own without being unfaithful to her.

I thought the cave-diving in this was very interesting without boring the reader with technical jargon, and added a depth (no pun intended) and a richness to the flavor and setting of this story. I'm not really into adventure books, but I do like adventurous settings in my romances, and this had it.

Very good!

Besides loving to go caving, Eve Swango and Tommy Baca love one another. However, over the years though she did make passionate love in a cave, Eve has refused to marry Tommy, as she fears marriage would destroy their friendship because Swango females do not stay married. Tommy married and divorced twice including her sister as Eve remains his one true love.

Time moves on and the pair goes caving less then they used to. However Tommy knows he still loves Eve and decides to try one last time to get her to exploring the subterranean as his wife. Eve has always said no to his myriad of proposals, but fears she may never get another chance to go underground with the man she loves if she rejects his plea.

THE DEPTH OF LOVE is tested with this sleazier much more complex version of When Harry Met Sally as Eve's mom has some ethical issues as she seduced Tommy. The story line centers on the changing relationship between the lead couple although the one constant is their love for one another. Though some readers will be turned off by the Swango females, fans of a character driven contemporary romance will enjoy learning All About Eve.

Harriet Klausner