Oooooof, this book was rough for me. The sweetness
that
could come from this kind of story too often veered into
saccharine and unbelievable, as though humans would not
really process information or behave this way. Some
moments were sweet and the chemistry between the hero and
heroine is undeniable, but all the flotsam that surrounds
them does not work for me.
Our heroine is Taffeta Brown, new in town and trying her
best to be invisible. However, Mystic Creek is too small
for that and so instead she just gets an air of mystery
about her. Barney Sterling, our hero, is a town staple. A
sheriff's deputy, his family has been in Mystic Creek
forever. He's loyal and stable, and everyone knows what
to expect from him. So no one in Mystic Creek quite knows
what to do when the two of them get engaged.
It's all subterfuge, however, and part of a plot to help
Taffeta regain custody of her child from her sociopath
and narcissistic ex-husband. And here's where everything
breaks down a little for me. I know the world is awful. I
know people are liars and cheaters and are often power
hungry. I get it. But everyone and everything involved in
this particular plot felt more like a character than a
human. No one felt fully realized. The ex-husband is a
cartoon villain, his parents are duped puppets, and Taffy
(I can't with that nickname either) was naive to the
point of her own destruction.
The whole thing felt like I was reading a story set in
1955, but it was instead set in current 21st century
America. I like my contemporaries to be contemporary, for
characters to have cell phones and know about the
internet and these folks really didn't.
For some readers, NEW LEAF will be a gentle, sweet
romance between two folks who need each other in ways
they never anticipated. It will be a lovely story about
redemption and the construction of a family. If that's
you, I hope you enjoy it. I think I'll leave Taffy and
Barney to their happily ever after.
When Taffeta Brown was viciously betrayed by her wealthy husband, she lost everything—including custody of their daughter, Sarah. Now that Taffy has moved to Mystic Creek, Oregon, to start over, she unexpectedly meets the one man who might help her get Sarah back. Barney Sterling, a local lawman, finds himself drawn to the lovely, guarded Taffy, but he’s stunned by her proposition—that they marry immediately to improve her chances of regaining custody of her daughter. Barney takes marriage too seriously to commit himself to a woman he hardly knows. Yet soon his sympathies fall with the desperate Taffy, and pretending to be in love becomes the easiest part of the plan. But they have no idea what they’re up against, or what they’re willing to risk to make a miracle come true in Mystic Creek.
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