There is some good buried deep within At the Heart’s Command. But it’s not worth digging through a cliched plot, unrealistic situations and a ghost story that never really pans out to find it.

The story’s basics show promise – there’s a gem buried within. Col. John Griffin Junior, affectionately known as Grif, comes home to Far Hills Ranch to help out his childhood friend Ellyn, who is suffering after the death of her husband. Ellyn isn’t telling Grif that her marriage was less than perfect before Dale’s death and Grif isn’t telling Ellyn that he’s always harbored feelings for her that are more than friendly. The truth is slowly revealed, and they fall in love.

Patricia McLinn should have left it at that. If she had, At the Heart’s Command could have been a well-written, realistic story about the complicated emotions of love and friendship. Unfortunately, the book falls short of being either well-written or realistic, and the story suffers as a result.

The characters do things that no normal person would do. Ellyn gets turned on by Grif folding her jeans. Grif and Ellyn kiss at an elementary school in broad daylight. Grif and Ellyn make out while Grif is suffering from a bad case of strep throat. Too many situations made me stop and scratch my head while I should have been engaged by the story.

If the writing had been exceptional, I would have let the unrealistic behavior of the characters slide, but the writing is halting at best, and difficult at its worst. Grif often talks in monosyllables. Ellyn’s children talk like tiny adults, lecturing Grif as to why he must marry their mother. And every page features italicized words, as though the author doesn’t trust the readers to place emphasis or discover meaning on their own.

What’s worse is that nearly everything in the story is over-explained. McLinn is obviously an avid student of the “Tell, don’t show” school of thought, something that’s obvious on the very first page as Grif has a long discussion with his General on why he has to take leave to help Ellyn and her kids. Starting the story with a request for a leave is much less dynamic than starting it with the leave, and from that first conversation, the book begins to lose momentum.

Ellyn and Grif’s relationship also loses momentum quickly. The reader never gets a sense of past history between them, since it is explained rather than shown. A tale of two best friends falling in love should have a very deep emotional intensity, but this just fizzles.

There is also a ghost story in the novel, something about the legend of Far Hills Ranch, and it’s original owner, who set into motion a curse his ancestors were predestined to reverse. While that could have been an interesting dimension to the story, it never really develops. Grif has a sweat-soaked dream about the curse early on in the story, but it is never fully explained or resolved. That entire story line could have been left out of the book and I would have never missed it.

I give At the Heart’s Command some credit for a good idea. Unfortunately, that idea wasn’t executed as well as it could have been, leaving me hungry for a much better story.