Customer Reviews

True Blue

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When Luanne Rice is on the familiar territory of the shore she so obviously adores or stories of the fierce love of family, no one can beat her. She continues to weave together characters from previous novels, including(but not limited to!)Firefly
Beach and Safe Harbor.
Zeb and Rumer, best of friends as children and in love/almost lovers as young adults; until Rumer's beautiful older sister came between them. Twenty years later, the now divorced Zeb returns home, and....... a great story commences!
Luanne Rice has a gift when it comes to writing about the love between families, and no one writes a more grounded love story than she. Bittersweet and true; I can only hope that she returns again and again to these shores and the people who live there. I can't believe they let this one out as a paperback! ;)

If you've read the book description and reader reviews, you already know the basic plot of the story: boy (Zeb) loves girl (Rumer), girl loses boy to sister (Elizabeth), girl and boy rediscover each other, even though boy has a troubled 15 year old son (Michael) with girl's sister who is his ex-wife. I'm sorry but I just couldn't get past the many requirements for me to suspend my disbelief to really enjoy this book. If you grew up in a halfway normal family, you may have the same issue.

First, you have to believe that Rumer and Zeb would entertain the thought of getting back together after Zeb's divorce to Rumer's sister, Elizabeth. Next you have to believe that the girls' father would welcome the man who destroyed the sisters' relationship back to town with an open invitation to go after Rumer. Is is just my dad who would have greeted him with a shotgun? Then you have to believe that Rumer hasn't met any other eligible men worthy of her love in all the years that her sister was married to Zeb. You also must believe that even though Rumer's and Zeb's love was so strong that it could overcome the quasi-incestuous (queasy incestuous for me) implications of the plot, it wasn't strong enough to overcome the flimsy obstacle that Elizabeth concocted to break them up in the first place. I won't give it away, but it is a misunderstanding that could have been cleared up with a phone call. Since Rumer and Zeb are next door neighbors, they could just have easily have discussed the issue in person. Finally, you have to believe that even though Elizabeth is a famous and talented actress, she is also a borderline psychotic sociopath (okay, maybe that's not such a stretch).

I've deducted a star from the rating because I would expect to see this family on the Jerry Springer show, not in the pages of a sweet contemporary romance. Maybe it's just my six sisters and I who look at each other's husbands and boyfriends as brothers, with all the social boundaries that the relationship implies. I think Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen sang it best: "Lord help the mister who comes between me and my sister, and Lord help the sister that comes between me and my man!"

I picked up the paperback a couple weeks ago, and noticed the cover states "First Time In Print" and I wondered about why the book may have skipped the hardcover stage. As a fan of LuAnne Rice's work I found the story easy to fall into,and the characters interesting, but the wackiness on pages 98-99 threw me. One moment a character is called Michael, and the next moment he's called Colin. Then suddenly he's Michael again. I kept going back over it to see if someone else had come on the scene or not!? Apparently one advantage of printing a hardback prior to going paperback is more thorough editing?! Strangely, the amazon description also describes the main character as "Schoolteacher, Rumer Larkin", who is in fact not a teacher at all, but a veterinarian.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying the story isn't good, but if I was LuAnne Rice I'd be wondering what my agent and editors were doing.

If you've read any of Luanne Rice's other books, you will enjoy the references to other characters, and feel like you are among family once again. Read True Blue, and enjoy a nice summer read, but be willing to overlook some stuff.

In her newest book, True Blue, Luanne Rice once again returns to the scene of two of her earlier books set at Hubbard's Point, Conn. As she did in Firefly Beach and Safe Harbor, this author fills the pages of True Blue with an emotional and ultimately rewarding journey.

Rumer Larkin and Zeb Mayhew were always the typical boy and girl next door. They filled their days with school, paper routes and meetings at the town diner where they carved their initials into an oak table and left notes for one another in a desk drawer, a tradition at the diner. Their nights were spent on the roof of the Mayhew house where they star gazed and tested their knowledge about the heavens above. As the years went by they become closer and closer but during college their relationship changed forever and Zeb moved far away while Rumer returned to Hubbard's Point after her education was completed.

Now, Zeb a well-known astronaut, is returning home in order to spend the summer at Hubbards point. A crucial event in Zeb's life finds him re-evaluating the past twenty years since he's seen Rumer and he;s beginning to realize that Rumer may be the only true blue woman in his life. Traveling along with Zeb is his rebellious 17 year-old son who has suddenly dropped out of high school. And as we realize from almost the first page, Zeb's former wife and his son's mother is none other than Rumer's older sister Elizabeth.

Rumer, now a veterinarian, is content with her life. Caring for animals and a
well-respected member of the town, she finally feels as though she has put to rest any feelings she may have once had for Zeb. But has she really put her feelings aside? And can Rumer ever forgive her sister who is now a famous actress and the mother of her only nephew? And what happens when Zeb's former home is to be torn down by the new owners forever changing the landscape of Hubbard's Point?.

From the first page to the last, I was entranced by the life and people of Hubbard's Point. Besides Rumer, Zeb and Elizabeth, we meet the women of the Point who have lived there forever and are known as les Dames de la Roches and reminded me of the women from Colony by Anne Rivers Siddons. We also become familiar with Quinn, Rumer's orphaned young teen-age friend who becomes a good friend of Michaels as they both help each other to become happy. And we also become acquainted with Sixtus, Rumer's father, a man more prone to sailing the seas rather than staying at home who wishes true love for both of his daughters. I loved all of these characters, but most of all really enjoyed reading as the plot evolved and Rumer and Zeb consider taking a second chance at love.

As a loyal reader of Luanne Rice's books for sometime, she never fails to offer me a wonderful and entertaining title. Not only does she describe family relationships beautifully, but strongly tugs at my heart and I suspect many other readers as well. True Blue is certainly no exception and I strongly recommend this book to those readers who enjoy an emotionally charged book. title.

"True Blue" is a wonderful reading experience with an escape to a beautiful seaside. Luanne Rice has captured the look and feel of a small New England town where everyone cares about everyone else.

This is a heartwarming story of two sisters and the boy next door. Rumer was younger and more content than her older sister Elizabeth was. Elizabeth was determined to leave the town as soon as she was old enough. Zeb, the boy next door, and Rumer were the same age and inseparable best friends. At five, they decided that Rumer "ruled the earth" because of her love of animals and Zeb "ruled the sky" because he loved the stars.

As Rumer and Zeb grew up their feelings grew to more than that of friends. It was awkward turning the friendship into something more but they were working on it. Rumer went away to college to become a vet and Zeb was at another college striving to become an astronaut. The distance was rough on them as they had never spent that much time apart and Elizabeth didn't help. Elizabeth had set her sites on Zeb and was pursuing her acting career as heartily as she was Zeb. Later Elizabeth and Zeb were married and had a son, Michael.

Rumer's strength and determination are inspiring and her ability to forgive was hard to fathom. Her personality was lovable and her determination was admirable. Rumer never left Hubbard's Point and her love of family, animals, and the boy next door never waivered.

I would love to move to Hubbard's Point, go lobstering with Quinn, another of Rice's enchanting characters and have my pets taken care of by Dr. Rumer. I would like to see a sequel to "True Blue". I'd love to read a sequel and continue Rumer and Zeb's story, along with finding out what happens with Quinn and Michael. Ms. Rice has created such loveable characters that I have grown attached to them. Go after your dreams but never lose sight of what is right in front of you.

For a wonderful escape, pick up Luanne Rice's, "True Blue".

Prequel: "Safe Harbor"

I read the whole thing, but knew when I started it what the foregone conclusion was, it just took a while to get there. One review mentioned getting to know the other characters in the story but I did not have any feeling of getting to know any of the others. Only Elizabeth who was sooo predictable, but she did redeem herself with a grandstand act in the end. The story covered the same ground over and over and over. Light, entertaining reading for someone that doesn't want to concentrate too hard on the plot. It can be read during commericial breaks with a TV movie.

For anyone looking for a good summer read, I suggest True Blue. This was the first L Rice novel for me. After falling in love with Rumer and Zeb, I would grab another. The characters are well defined and the settings are descriptive. I was able to see the houses and the roads, Blue, and the night sky! There were a few hiccups (I think someone else mentioned the Colin/Michael confusion), but getting past those, True Blue kept me entertained. At times it was predictable, but at others I was guessing. A slow leisurely read when all is said and done. -- sam

This was the first Luanne Rice book that I have ever read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The story of Zeb and Rumer is amazing, and it brought tears to my eyes on just about every page. I also enjoyed how there were three stories interwoven into one book: Zeb and Rumer, Quinn and Michael, and Sixtus.

Zeb and Rumer were childhood best friends, and were on the point of falling in love when Rumer's older sister ruined it. She married Zeb and created a big rift in the family. This story takes place after the divorce of Zeb and Elizabeth, when Zeb and his 17 year old son Michael return to Hubbard's Point.

The love between Rumer and Zeb is so alive in this book, it leaps off the pages. I am hoping that Quinn and Michael will get their own book, as their story was just as intriguing. Sixtus's (Rumer and Elizabeth's father) journey was also interesting, though not as great as the rest of the story. I now have to go read about Dana and Sam, Quinn's aunt, who had their own story.

If you like a good old fashioned romance, where boy meets girl and they fall in love, this is the story. It was wonderful, and I am looking forward to reading more of Luanne Rice's novels.

Zeb Mayhew and Rumer Larkin, the two main characters are childhood friends, next door neighbors and eventually sweethearts. He is a star-gazer, she an animal and nature lover. He grows up to be astronaut and she a veterinarian. He marries her sister Elizabeth, breaks Rumers heart in the process, has a son, divorces, then comes back to Hubbard's Point (Connecticut) and tries to win Rumer back again and make peace with his own heart. Along the tumultuous way, we get familiar with the whole family, and township of Hubbard's Point, and to read about other characters from some of Ms. Rice's other books, which we feel we already know. I love how she does this, as we get so connected with her characters that it is nice to pick up a new book and get an update and what happened to so-and-so from a previous novel. Every time I read one of Luanne's books about Hubbards Point I want to go there and see for myself what it looks like, even though her discriptions are wonderful. I love her characters and few authors can rival this author's ability to portray the complex situations and emotions that bind family members as well as Ms. Rice can. This is a beautiful story of love, loss and reconciliation without the explicit sex that other authors rely on to sell their books. I look forward to each of her books and definitely recommend this one.

This story is really a continuation of Luanne Rice's "Safe Harbor" as the character of teenage Quinn Grayson reappears and has a romance with entirely new characters. You might be lost if you hadn't read "Safe Harbor".

The last 7 of Luanne Rice's novels have taken place in the seaside Connecticut town of "Hubbard's Point" with some of the same characters reappearing, but never to the extent that "Quinn" does, here, in "True Blue".

I'm giving it 3 stars because I thought the novel was a little too melancholy and lacked urgency in the plot twists, what little there are.

Still there is lots of imaginative ocean and seaside writing as Quinn goes through her daily, lobstering, crabbing, oystering, etc... along the shoreline.

The main character of Rumor Larkin is interesting because she is a veterinarian who is attracted to an astronaut, Zebulon Mayhew----where does Luanne Rice get these names?

Anyway, both Rumor and Zeb were next door neighbors who'd sit out on the roof of his home when they were kids, as astronaut, Zeb, would watch the stars. Rumor was land, and Zeb was sky. So corny and goofy-romantic.

But is this enough to make a plot?

It's certainly enough to make for evocative and poignant writing, which is a Luanne Rice staple, which is why I'm a dedicated fan of her novels, no matter how much they lack page-turning suspense.