Review: Sweet Seasonal Second-Chance Romance
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 29, 2013
After a year full with a box office flop and a very public break-up from his glamorous girlfriend, Hollywood heartthrob Jackson Wyatt is returning home to Fargo, North Dakota for Christmas with his family. His sister Mel, director of a community theatre, has persuaded him to take the male lead in a short play while he's at home, although so far she hasn't told him who his female co-star will be.Natasha Curran has also had a difficult year. Her father suffered a heart attack and is still not in good health. Natasha, who teaches drama and music at a local school, is trying to help her parents out financially as much as possible and is struggling to make ends meet. Her best friend Mel has asked her to appear in a short play opposite Mel's brother Jack. It's eight years since Jack went to Hollywood leaving his 20-year-old girlfriend Natasha with a broken heart.In this sweet seasonal read Kimberly Rae Jordan brings us a tale using the much-loved romance novel device of a second chance at love. As high school sweethearts, Jack and Natasha had thought that they'd be together forever. When Jack left to seek his fame and fortune in Hollywood however, neither of them had the emotional maturity for a long distance relationship. Jack was seduced by his dream and Natasha was left nursing a broken heart.I found the book a little slow to start with but was hooked as the story began to unfold. In fact, in a world where there seem to be so many books out there about explosive romances with billionaires, it was nice to read a gentle, slow-paced story where people do ordinary things like shop in Walmart and eat in McDonalds (even if one them is a Hollywood movie star!). I'm not saying that nothing happens in this story as there are plenty of beautiful, poignant and romantic moments. There are just the ordinary moments of life too, which makes this story relatable for those of us who don't live the jet-setting billionaire lifestyle...I felt that as the book went on and Kimberly began to unveil more about Jack and Natasha she became more comfortable with the narrative, her writing became more relaxed and therefore more engaging. I definitely got caught up with the emotional aspect of the story the more it progressed. And I started to fall in love with Jack - always a good indication of whether an author has managed to write a successful romance!One other thing that I liked on a literary level is the way that the short play that Jack and Natasha are acting in together is presented throughout the novel. In an early rehearsal we are treated to the first scene. Later on it's the second scene and so on. The play also cleverly ties in with Jack and Natasha's developing relationship, ending with its emotional culmination on the final night.All in all I really enjoyed reading Act of Love. It's a sweet clean tale which I'll be adding to my little collection of favourite Christmas books to be enjoyed each December.I'm looking forward to reading the other novellas in the Typecast Christmas series. I can also highly recommend Kimberly Rae Jordan's other books, especially Marrying Kate and Faith, Hope and Love.I was given a copy of Act of Love by the author in exchange for an honest review.