After the death of her husband, Andre, Annie Harlowe
doesn't know whether her secret vice is causing more harm
than good - she pays for his cell phone and calls it
occasionally, so she can hear his voice on the recorded
message. In financial desperation, she begins working for a
friend's catering business, all the while trying not to
feel raging jealousy over his happy relationship.
Between his mother and his future fiancée, Thom Brannock's
time and accomplishments have been successfully herded into
appropriate niches since his birth. Despite his financial
and supposedly personal successes, Thom misses the small
rebellions he used to have with his sister against the
constraints of their privileged but restricted lifestyle.
Rather, he misses the sister he could laugh with until she
got injections to restrain her smile and was herded into
her own "appropriate" marriage instead of one to the man
she truly loved.
After Annie and Thom literally bump into each other at his
catered event, they cannot stop thinking about each other.
However, as Annie continues to hear more than her husband's
recorded message on the other end of the phone, she isn't
sure how to continue.
Ms. Markham creates a tight romance with this story.
Although it appears that she might have added the
paranormal elements merely for effect, as plotlines wind
together toward the conclusion, her aims are apparent. The
characters are richly drawn, and Annie's children are
especially realistic, neither cloying nor annoying. This is
an excellent book, though not one to read after a recent
loss because certain aspects of the tale are so superb,
they may leave one in tears.
Some time ago, I was watching a newsmagazine interview
with
dozens of widows who had lost their husbands on 9/11. One
of them mentioned dialing her husband's cell phone even
after she knew he was gone, just so she could hear his
voice on the outgoing message. That not only had me in
tears, but it immediately sparked an idea in this writer's
brain: what if a widow kept calling her dead husband's
voice mail...and one day, he answered?
That's exactly what happens to down-and-out Long Island mom
Annie Harlowe in HELLO, IT'S ME. To her shock, she's able
to reach her husband Andre via telephone somewhere in the
Great Beyond-just as she finds herself falling for wealthy
Hamptonite Thom Brannock. Throw in two lovable children, a
pair of quirky pals, a bevy of bossy blue bloods, a missing
centuries-old buried treasure chest, and a looming
hurricane, and you've got a ghostly romantic comedy with
unexpected heart and soul.
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