I had certain preconceptions about this book, because judging from the advance copy I was given, it seemed to be “Women’s Fiction” rather than romance. So I expected a lyrical profundity in the prose, as what you might experience in, say, Anita Shreve’s writing – charming but not exactly what you’d call fast-paced. I also figured the book would feature Very Important Issues (read: anything outside the characters’ romantic relationship) and an ending that would be entirely appropriate but with which I probably wouldn’t agree. I was in for a surprise.

Bretton’s writing style is simple and to-the-point; the subject matter, while not entirely focused on the hero and heroine’s relationship, doesn’t overwhelm it; and the ending closes the circle of the story well. And while I found some things to criticize, this book will probably be well-received by its intended audience.

38-year-old Annie Galloway is still struggling to recover from the gambling debts her deceased husband left her to assume. To cope with expenses, she sells their big house and moves into a seaside cottage, which Warren Bancroft sold her for much less than its value. What she doesn’t know is that Bancroft, a surrogate father of sorts, wants to play matchmaker, hoping to bring Annie together with Sam Butler.

His brilliant career in Wall Street shattered by an embezzlement scandal, Sam has been asked by the FBI to lie low – and when the time comes, to testify against his former employers. Thus, he returns to his hometown of Shelter Rock Cove, Maine, hoping that the success of the Feds’ sting operation will acquit him. Warren, the man he used to work for years ago at the marina, has provided a place for him to stay – the house next to Annie Galloway’s new home.

Annie is the last thing Sam needs, and everything he’s ever wanted. As Annie and Sam discover the missing halves of themselves in each other, two things stand in their way. First, Annie’s former in-laws are fiercely possessive and reluctant to welcome a new man in her life. And second, Sam isn’t sure he has a future to offer her – or at least, a future that he won’t be spending behind bars.

The book was off to a slow start, and I must confess the story didn’t begin to pick up for me until after Annie first meets Sam outside a grocery store. The first several chapters are inundated with back story, so that you have to be genuinely interested in the subject matter to get through the first 50 pages. But while the story revolves around such issues as life savings, retirement, debts, mortgages, and investments, there are also aspects of the book that you’ll be able to relate with regardless of your age or financial status. They won’t provoke edge-of-your-seat excitement, but some parts are emotionally engaging. Take for instance this snippet:

Marriage was a secret society with only two members.. The rest of the world was on the outside looking in, trying to figure out what was innately without logic or reason.

I also noticed some things that make the title thoroughly apropos. This may be either good or bad, depending on your liking for “comfort reads.” For one thing, Sam and Annie’s relationship seems to be more smooth-sailing than most characters’ in romance novels; love at first sight segued into true love faster than you could say “a little unbelievable.” Also, the action sequence toward the end of the book struck me as, well, soft. When characters are confronted with a possibly life-threatening situation, you usually expect them to participate actively in its resolution. It seemed to me, though, that the events in the climax resolved themselves with only very minor involvement by the characters. “A Soft Place To Fall” indeed.

I do have other quibbles, such as Warren’s character being too good to be true, and Claudia, Annie’s former mother-in-law, being so mulish as to be grating. And although it’s obviously stylistic in some parts, the occasional head-hopping jarred me out of the story (the omniscient narrator always ruins it for me). Despite all this though, the book has very sweet moments, and moments when it really picked up. Believers in love at first sight will like the way the concept is executed in Sam and Annie’s story.

A Soft Place To Fall is probably not for everyone. But to a certain segment of readers who like a comfy story or one with money, marriage, or middle age as a major theme, it will likely be appealing.