Customer Reviews

A Week from Sunday

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Reviewed by Maria Elmvang

Adrianna Moore is just 25 when she loses her father. Still reeling from the shock of suddenly becoming an orphan, grief turns to despair when her father's colleague, Richard Pope, tells her that he is the executor of her estate, and it was her father's wish that she should marry him, otherwise she would get nothing of her inheritance.

From the very start there is no doubt that Mr. Pope is a psychotic and creepy older man - how creepy is not fully revealed until later - and Adrianna does the only thing possible at that time - she runs away. But on the wet streets in the pouring rain she loses control over her car, and crashes into a truck. Fortunate to survive the crash, the female doctor from the nearby town recommends that she stays with Quinn, whose truck she crashed into, in order to keep away from Mr. Pope-and at the same time, help Quinn with his brother. Reluctant at first, she agrees and soon becomes good friends with Quinn and brother Jesse-and sworn enemies with Quinn's househelp who has long had her eyes on Quinn. Tempers rise until it all comes to a head when Richard Pope comes to town.

As a good old-fashioned romance in the style of Nora Roberts and Sandra Brown, A Week from Sunday is a delightful historical novel filled with conniving lawyers, murderous housemaids and of course, the indispensable rugged hero.

A Week from Sunday cannot claim to be anything but a light read, but even so it is totally addictive as it draws you into a quiet Louisiana town of the 1930s. While I did think Mr. Pope got off much too easily for his pompous, and honestly, rather stalker-ish behaviour, the ending was very satisfactory and nicely tied up all loose ends.

Armchair Interview says: Highly recommend A Week from Sunday for a few hours' escapism.

I have always found Dorothy Garlock's novels very enjoyable and an interesting insight into life in America in the Depression era and other times. They are always easy to read with good pacing and varied characters. "A Week from Sunday" was no different with details of life in the 1930s for a rich woman, Adrianna Moore, whose life takes an unexpected turn after the death of her father. Her father's lawyer, Richard Pope, managed to persuade her father to change his Will in Richard's favour and Richard tells Adrianna that he will marry her a week from Sunday and then she will have access to her money again. Adrianna has previously been rather meek and gentle but decides she can't bear to marry Richard and plans to run away. Leaving it surprisingly late (not leaving home until the day of the wedding, thus being more likely to be caught if he chased her) she drives away during a fierce storm and eventually crashes her car into a truck in the village of Lee's Point. She's slightly injured and her car is seriously damaged and she ends up having to work to pay for the damage to the truck, owned by Quinn Baxter. He has a disabled brother and also needs a pianist for his bar and so Adrianna agrees to work for him looking after his brother Jesse as well as playing the piano.

Adrianna also moves into Quinn's house where she makes an instant enemy in his housekeeper, Lola and Lola's swain, Reuben. She also finds herself at the receiving end of strange behaviour from Quinn's enemy as well as fearing that she will be found by Richard Pope. But Adrianna's privileged upbringing hasn't made her unable to empathise with others and her relationships with Quinn and his brother Jesse show her the beginnings of a new hope.

This book was good to read but unfortunately there were rather too many plot improbabilities. The villainess was a pantomime-type character evil in every way, Richard Pope seemed ridiculously over-the-top and also rather dense for a successful lawyer and our heroine seems uniformly good except for a bit mousy. Quinn's inability to see Lola's behaviour for what it is was ridiculous and Adrianna staying quiet over Lola's murder attempts was beyond belief. The underlying romance in this story is good, if understated, but the plot and other characters were rather too hard to swallow.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008

Twenty-one year old heiress Adrianna Moore has no time to grieve the death of her father when she learns he placed the family fortune in a trust fund totally controlled by his former banking partner attorney Richard Pope. To make matters worse for the despondent Adrianna, Richard blithely informs her she will marry him next week.

Adrianna refuses to allow an odious lecher like Richard run her life. Instead while he is away on business, she flees her home only to lose control during inclement weather and crashes into a truck in Louisiana. The truck driver Quinn Baxter offers Adriana work while her automobile is repaired and to pay off the damage she caused to his vehicle; she will play the piano in his bar and to help him and his nasty Cajun housekeeper Lola Oxnard with his teenage handicapped brother. As Quinn notices how kind Adrianna is to his sibling, they fall in love. However, Lola tries to destroy their relationship as she intends to wed the bar owner sans his brother and Richard is coming for his "fiancée".

Dorothy Garlock fans will appreciate this entertaining romance in which extreme good battles against excessive evil. Adrianna is a wonderful person who refuses to be pushed into a marriage she does not want nor allow anyone to hurt Quinn's brother. Besides the bad duo having no redeeming qualities and deserve each other (not sure why Quinn employed Lola), the relationship between the lead couple is pleasant to follow as Adrianna brings a caring heart to the Baxter brothers. Readers will enjoy this Bayou battle.

Harriet Klausner

Dorothy Garlock is one of my favorite authos. Being from Mason City Iowa and also living in Clear Lake Iowa at one time, I started reading her books when one of them was published in the Mason City Globe Gazette. I now have all the books she has written and looking forward to her next book. I thoroughly enjoyed A Week From Sunday. She writed about times that I or my parents were very familiar with. Keep up the good work.

Ardys Koller

This book was a disappointment. Dorothy Garlock usually writes in a style that is entertaining and enjoyable. I usually get lost in the historical period and feel attached to the characters. This book was lackluster. The strength in the female character is minimal. The best feature of the book is that it's a quick read so it was over quickly ... and on to a better book!

I hope Garlock's next book is more engaging!

For the life of me, I cannot imagine how this was published. And I can only guess it got past the publisher's desk because Dorothy Garlock's name was on it. If this dribble had been scratched out by an unknown the manuscript would've been hurled into the trash basket.

I am not an author, however I have no doubt that I could pen a story, as easily as Dorothy Garlock did for "A Week from Sunday."

The dialogue is forced and awkward, as is the italic descriptions of what the shallow and underdeveloped characters were supposedly thinking. The romance is "so what" "I done do swear!" The scenery descriptions were terse and forced--poor writing overall.

A waste of a tree and my time. If you are a Garlock fan at least take it out of the library intead of wasting your hard-earned money on this one. "A Week from Sunday" is as bad as the last Garlock I read, two in a row for me--I think I give up on her books.

The title should be "Too Weak to be Read on a Sunday" (or any other day for that matter)

Layed back reading. Very interesting story. Ms. Garlock has the ability to capture your attention and you do not want to put the book down, because you just know something else is just about to happen. Excellent read.

As always Ms. Garlock has written a book I couldn't put down. Your either love or hate her characters and this book was no different. I feel this was one of her best ever!

Adrianna Moore has been warned. A week after the funeral for her father she is to wed the repulsive man that was left to run her father's estates. Having no options left she makes a run for it. Adrianna finds herself driving to find her remaining family in the rain when she crashes into an oncoming car. Can the strong Quinn Baxter keep her safe from her past or will she have to keep running.

Quinn Baxter is a lumberjack and a bar owner. The day of the car crash he is transporting alcohol to his bar. The crash leaves him short a piano player when his good friend's hand is cut in the accident. Adrianna volunteers to work to pay him back for all the damages, but will restitution for the accident bring healing for Quinn's hurting heart?

A Week From Sunday is everything I have come to expect from Dorothy Garlock. Quinn and Adrianna are a great match despite them coming from different lifestyles. Quinn is a good man that cares about his friends and family, and despite having been raised a banker's daughter, Adrianna is loving, and not at all a snob. A Week from Sunday has a story line that keeps you guessing and well-written characters that tickle your romance bone, and to top it off no one writes a villain as well as Dorothy Garlock.

Tori
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

"A Week From Sunday" by Dorothy Garlock

Usually I love Dorothys writting but this book was a big dissappointment.

The story was weak and the wording was like a 10 year old boy trying to impress his friends with all the new cuss words he learn.