I haven’t had much luck with recent series romances, but luckily I have plenty of old ones left to discover. While they’re not all great by any means, every once in a while I’m lucky enough to come across one that really is. Dallas Schulze’s A Summer To Come Home is my most recent find.

I’m almost hesitant to explain what the book is about, because it’s a very familiar storyline that most of us have read plenty of time before. I admit that I kind of rolled my eyes and thought, “Oh, that again,” when I read the cover summary. Fortunately, this book is a perfect example of how it’s not always the story that counts, but how the story is told. This book is one of the best examples of this storyline I’ve read, so try to hold the eye rolls for a moment.

The sight of Jake Quincannon roaring into town on his Harley immediately gets people talking in the small town of Riverbend. Jake was a hellion as a teenager before he left town twenty years ago to join the military. At first glance, it doesn’t look like much has changed, except now he wears a black patch over one eye that makes him look even more dangerous. He immediately states his intention to stay for the summer, and rents a room in the home of Paige Cudahy.

Paige is the town librarian, a stable, dependable young woman who’s well-respected in town. None of her neighbors could imagine someone like her getting involved with a thug like Jake Quincannon. But Paige remembers him well. When she was a girl, Jake dated her older sister Josie. Now he’s back, and Paige is all grown up. As they get to know each other, Paige sees the man beneath his rough exterior most of the townspeople cannot. Jake tries to fight the feelings between them, knowing he doesn’t intend to stick around past the end of the summer, but Paige is just as determined to work her way past his defenses.

This is a very old-fashioned story. The book is fifteen years old, and even in 1990 it would have felt outdated. While there may be small towns like this one, Riverbend seems more like something out of the fifties or sixties. Readers who want their contemporary romances to be ultramodern may have little use for this one. I’ll admit upfront that the supporting cast is mostly made up of familiar small-town types, and much of the story is predictable. Early on we learn that Josie quickly married Jake’s best friend right after Jake left town twenty years ago. Shortly thereafter, we meet Josie’s nineteen year old daughter, who she doesn’t want Jake anywhere near. I’ll say no more and let you draw your own conclusions, as I did. This is that kind of book.

It may be a familiar story, but it’s anything but ordinary. What lifts it above the mundane and makes it so good are the two main characters and the author’s emotional style. Schulze takes this well-used premise and invests it with so much heart and feeling that it becomes something singular. Jake and Paige are two well-drawn characters who are easy to care about, and their story is a romantic one, with several moments I could read over and over again.

I love a good tortured hero, and Jake defines the term. He’s tormented by what he’s done in the years since he left Riverbend, which is one reason he tries to avoid getting involved with Paige. More than that, he’s been rejected by everyone he’s ever cared about. It’s a telling sign early on when he chooses not to stay at his parents’ house and goes looking for a room to rent instead. Over the course of the story we learn the depth of the rejection he’s faced, leading to some moving scenes.

Paige is the kind of character real life librarians will likely decry as unrealistic. No, she doesn’t have a degree in library science. In fact, she only has a few years of college under her belt. But then this town is so small and this library so tiny it’s hard to imagine anyone with a degree wasting her time there. But she’s not some meek spinster stereotype. She’s strong and kind and confident. She isn’t cowed by Jake, making it clear she’s not going to let him fight what’s clearly between them. “I’m not a good man, Paige. I’ve done things you couldn’t even imagine,” he tells her at one point. She makes it clear that she doesn’t care; she knows who he is. By the time she tells off Jake’s nasty, coldhearted mother in a moment that’s worthy of applause, I couldn’t have liked her any more.

And then there’s the ending. Ah, the ending. Without going into details, I will say that it’s the kind of ending that I often want to see in stories like this, and seldom do. The characters’ choices are exactly what I wanted them to make. More importantly, the resolution to the love story is very moving. This is the story of a man who’s always been told he’s not good enough and felt he’s unworthy, and a woman who loves him, without reservation, accepting him for who he is no matter what he’s done. The dialogue and narrative in the final scene perfectly capture this, giving this story the touching ending it deserves.

A Summer To Come Home isn’t a groundbreaking story or anything particularly new. But it offers ample proof that even the most familiar plot can be done well. On the surface, it’s the same old thing, but Dallas Schulze delivers the ingredients I think most readers are looking for in a romance: the emotion, the poignant love story, the memorable scenes, and the characters the reader comes to care about. For those reasons, it’s anything but commonplace, and a great read.