My Long Tall Texas Heartthrob
Grade : C-

We've all read the story of the heroine who leaves the big bad city to live in a small town. This is the story of a hero who leaves the big bad city to live in a small town. Can he persuade the woman he loves (a high-powered Hollywood executive) to leave Tinseltown and follow him?

That's the conflict between Tess Anderson and Nick Sutherland, who are a nice (if somewhat bland) pair of lovers. There's also a sub-plot involving Tess's flaky sister Chloe, who is annoying as all-get-out. The two plots do not mesh very well, and Chloe's story is not resolved very well. I wonder if her story is next?

Tess and Chloe Anderson's father left them when they were young. As adults, they have gone in very different directions. Tess manages actors in Hollywood and Chloe is, well, she is a dabbler. She's gone from cause to cause, man to man, and place to place. Periodically she calls on Tess to bail her out of trouble.

Right now, Chloe is in big trouble. She is stranded in Cedar Dale, Texas, she's pregnant with twins, and the father - a guy named Snake - left her in a ratty trailer with little money. When Tess comes running to help, she gets some assistance from Nick Anderson. Nick is a lawyer who came to Cedar Dale to escape his past. Nick also owns some property, and he and Tess manage to get Chloe into better quarters, despite her protests. When some baddies come to the trailer and leave gutted possums around, Tess's concludes that Snake has been keeping some seriously shady company. Chloe refuses to listen and insists she loves Snake. Chloe gives birth to twin girls and then runs off, leaving them with Tess. Why? Postpartum depression (and a couple of big bad guys with knives).

Tess and Nick end up having to take care of the twins (with some help from the nice folks in Cedar Dale). Tess begins to have tender feelings toward Nick and he reciprocates. Pretty soon they are in love. But Nick left the evil big city, while Tess loves it and has a thriving career there. If they are going to be serious, who will make the compromise? Does Chloe come to her senses? What about the twins? And where's Snake and what's he doing?

Tess and Nick are nice. They are very, very nice but they are very, very dull. Tess loves shoes and has acres of them, but other than that, I didn't think she had much personality. Nick is a nice guy who is alway ready to drop anything and help a little old lady (there are lots of little old ladies in Cedar Dale), but otherwise he didn't have much personality either. His running feud with his good friend, Max Cooper, over the merits of their alma maters (University of Texas and Texas A & M) is funny, but overall he just wasn't a very interesting character.

Chloe is an irritant. She is a drama queen, and as immature as a two-year-old. About a month after she disappears, she suddenly comes back cured and ready to take responsibilty for her children. During her disappearance, she worked with a therapist, saw the error of her ways, and is now ready to take on adult responsibilities. Um, hmm. Somehow, I doubt that a woman who has been a flake all her life can experience a miraculous cure within a month. As for Snake - he loves the girls but his fate is left up in the air.

My sister Anne (who is The Pickiest Reader In The World) loved Dawson's first book set in Cedar Dale, My Big Old Texas Hearthache. I am going to give her this one and see what she thinks of it. As for me, I didn't like Chloe, and Nick and Tess were not interesting enough characters for me to give this book a thumbs up.

Reviewed by Ellen Micheletti
Grade : C-

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : July 8, 2004

Publication Date: 2004

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Ellen Micheletti

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