Keeping It in the Family

Reunion
Therese Fowler
Fiction


I read Therese Fowler’s latest book, Exposure, earlier this year and liked it quite a bit. So when I scanned the author bio at the back and realized she’d written an earlier one called Reunion, I quickly jotted it down on my to-read list. Sadly, I was disappointed when I reached the last page.

Reunion is the tale of Blue Reynolds, an Oprah-style talk show host who is thrown back into the past when she runs into her ex down in Key West where she’s shooting a show. He’s filming a TV pilot and she agrees to help. Then his son shows up and she quickly realizes there’s an attraction between them. Oh, and she’s also looking for the baby she gave up for adoption eighteen years ago. Who might or might not be her ex-lover’s. Thus making her would-be lover her baby’s half-brother.

Sounds interesting, right? Well, it was. Sort of. Things started off on the wrong foot on the first page, though, when I saw an italicized prologue. I hate italics and I hate prologues. It’s a known fact that reading six pages of italicized words hurts your brain. And 90% of the time, prologues are unnecessary. This one falls into that category. Let’s discuss Therese Fowler’s writing style: TMI. While she writes good descriptions, she just sticks way too much extra crap in there that does not add to the scene or move the story along. Sorry, Ms. Fowler, but I don’t care what Blue’s apartment in Chicago used to look like before she gave it a million-dollar remodel, thanks. Give me more scenes with her sister whom she’s had a bitter rivalry with her whole life. She writes good dialogue but there needs to be more. Show, don’t tell.

Then there’s the part of the book where we’re in limbo for awhile wondering if the son she gave up for adoption is Mitch’s (the ex lover and father of Julian, the guy she likes). Maybe I just wasn’t paying attention (I’ll be honest, I skimmed a lot, especially when I saw more descriptions coming up) and should’ve picked up the clues earlier that he wasn’t, but I was a little more than skeeved out by her stringing us along before we finally found out, no, Mitch and Blue had never actually gotten physical before they split so the kid she gave up wasn't his. The end also disappointed me. I know in real life things aren’t neatly wrapped up with a little bow all the time, but I wanted that to happen in this book. Because I really did like Blue, despite all the waxing poetic about macaws and porch railings.

I’ll definitely read the next new Therese Fowler book, but I’ll be sure to check the plot summary first. And be prepared to skim. A lot.