Review: Surprisingly a good read
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 24, 2012
The book cover gave away the plot - One man, one woman, one night, one very big surprise. So, though the first chapter was a big treatise on how Caroline and Charlie are just not going to happen, as readers, we know that they will get together at some point in time. And they did, very early in the book, actually. The baby is not the surprise here. The real surprise(s) are Caroline and Charlie and their story.I have always liked Barbara Bretton. She writes with flourish; she gives you the "obvious" plot yet she has the time to weave an intricate subplot that sometimes you wonder of the main plot is actually the subplot or just a wrapper for the usually very interesting and complicated subplot.Originally published in 1991, though obviously written during the 1980s as the story referenced Charlie as a Vietnam veteran and people carry their music on their Walkman instead of the iPod, plus everyone still uses a landline, there is a certain "virtuousness" with the two characters. Today, a woman like Caroline would have insisted that she raise the baby alone and would have not allowed Charlie any control on her pregnancy. I am unsure how our young men today will react when told that he is going to be a father. Will he take the responsibility? Or will he do what Charlie did, get involved with the pregnancy and the baby.To some, the story might seem old-fashioned. It really is surprising that though the 1980s was just 30 years ago, this romance novel, though still classified as contemporary seemed "old". That's why I had to explain the whole originally published in 1991 thing.I am glad that the author decided to reissue the book as is because everything stayed within the context. Charlie and Caroline are products of their generation. Their actions and reactions are what people do during that era. Reading their story today gave me the same enjoyment if I would have read it during the 1990s, perhaps even more because now, I have the gift of hindsight.This book is rated PG 15 for sex scenes and situational drama.