CHARMING GRACE by Deborah Smith
Deborah Smith has been turning out readable romance novels for some time now. With her latest, CHARMING GRACE, she is at her romantic best. Once again she has two attractive people on a collision course. They don't know they are perfect for each other but the readers do. Getting them to recognize their fate is where the fun lies.
Grace Vance is a young widow living in Dahlonega, Georgia. Her husband died a hero when he sacrificed his life while capturing a bomb-carrying maniac. His actions saved numerous lives and turned him into a bona fide hero and legend. Now Hollywood has come calling to the Georgia town of Dahlonega. Action hero movie star turned director, Stone Senterra, wants the world to know Harp Vance's story. The only problem is Grace won't cooperate.
Grace is very protective of her husband's legend and is unwilling to see it turned into a "more bang for your buck" cheap action thriller. So she and Stone are at a stalemate until Stone's bodyguard, Boone Nolene, arrives on the scene. Boone and Harp are cut from the same cloth and Grace's heart does a double take when they meet.
The rest of the story involves problems with the making of the movie and a side plot
concerning Boone's brother Armand. There are some twists and turns in the story that are wildly outrageous and some that make sense. Through it all, the soul of the story is the love affair between Boone and Grace.
Deborah Smith has always been good at creating characters that linger long after their stories are finished. That is certainly true here. Boone and Grace spring to life from Smith's words and stick around even after the last page is over. Their relationship would be a good basis for future stories.
The plot in this book isn't one of Smith's greatest. It is more contrived than natural, and more flamboyant than feel-good. Hollywood names are tossed into conversations and bigger than life characters are allowed to act ridiculously. This makes for interesting, but not believable, reading. Everything about this book seems larger than life, except for Boone and Grace's love. It tries to keep the story grounded but it just gets overwhelmed by the Hollywood crush.
Readers will have a good time with CHARMING GRACE but it doesn't have the impact on the heart that other books by Deborah Smith have had. It is charming but it isn't graceful.
CHARMING GRACE is published by Little, Brown. It contains 369 pages and sells for $24.95.