Review: An enjoyable read
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 16, 2012
If you are a reader who is looking for engaging, real characters in your fiction, then you will enjoy Plain Jayne. Fans of Brea Brown's Secret Keeper series will enjoy this latest offering about Jayne, a new author working on getting her first book ready for publication and her cantakerous (on the outside, of course) editor Luke. As you would expect from Brea, the cast of supporting characters of Gus, Miles, Blanche, Caroline, Arthur, and Paulette really help round out this story. I particularly enjoyed manic, over-the-top Gus who is so much of a stereotype that he isn't one (if you know someone like Gus, this will make perfect sense).The process of getting Jayne's book ready for publication ranges from funny to heartbreaking as Jayne confronts parts of her past she doesn't want to re-live. As often happens in life, Jayne starts to grow as a person, then retreats into the safety of her old habits before she finally realizes she really does need to grow up. Gus and Caroline do well in their roles of comic-relief and pot-stirrers and Paulette and Blanche are great moral anchors.POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERTThe only character who needed more development was Luke. While it was easy to see why Jayne cared about him, we didn't get to see enough of Luke to see why he reciprocated. To contrast, in the Secret Keeper, we got to know quite a bit about Brice, so the development of the relationship between him and Peyton seemed very natural. I think an extra chapter from Luke's perspective would have put this book over the top.END SPOILER ALERTOne thing that Brea really excelled at in this book is painting a picture of the surroundings in such a vivid way that it felt like you were reading a movie, but in a good way. For example, "I cross the sunny yard of thick, velvety grass that only money can grow." That line is brilliant both for the emotional impact and the word picture it paints. The descriptions of Marblehead in particular were all of similar quality and really help immerse you in the story.Overall, this is very enjoyable read. Perhaps we have a new series in the works? If so, I am looking forward to the next chapter in Jayne & Luke's story.