A Texas-Made Family by Roz Denny Fox

I have to say that the main character really ruined this book for me. She was just a little too much to take in and considering the plot wasn't that exciting, it would have helped to make her likable. I've read some of Fox's other work and it wasn't bad, but this, this just wasn't good.

Rebecca wants better for her kids. That means, unlike she who was raised in a Mennonite community, they are going to have the opportunity for education, and they'll know the value of a dollar. After all, she works two jobs just to keep them afloat. So when her daughter starts seeing a boy and her grades slip, Rebecca is very upset. She approaches the boys father to see what can be done, but he's more interested in getting her to go on a date as opposed to actually fixing things. He's not that close to his kids after being in the army, and while he's trying to fix that, he knows he can't control them. So while he cares about Rebecca's situation, he'd much rather they work together (and be together) while they're talking to their kids.

So some of these issues I have with the characters could be considered spoilers. You have been warned. Rebecca is an absolute mess. She whines about money constantly, in front of her new beau and any others that happen to be listening. And it just gets old. Honestly I can't really see why Grant was interested in her, I would have been turned off by that alone. There really isn't any chemistry between the two either. The kids, they weren't very realistic. The youngest daughter acted about half her age and the younger son, while ok, didn't really act his own age either. The two oldest were very flighty and angry, which could be realistic, but sometimes it took it to extremes.

The plot was slow and boring. Which is unusual for a romance. They are usually a bit faster pace. But with the exception of some action at the end, they didn't really do anything aside from go on a few dates. And that ending, jeez, talk about all over the place. I was reading and from one paragraph to the next I thought I missed a few pages because they did an abrupt 180* with all their plans in the middle of a conversation. It was just plain weird. Since this is a romance, there is a sex scene in it, but only one, and it was very quick.

Not a very good romance. It wasn't quite a one star, but it was darn close. I can only hope if I run into more of Fox's books that they're better.

A Texas-Made Family
Copyright 2008
243 pages

The Water Baby by Roz Denny Fox

This was an unusual romance. It had a lot going on, but surprisingly the pace was somewhat slow. Just not what I'm used to from Harlequin novels.

Temple has been looking for his daughter for awhile now. She was kidnapped by his ex-wife and he hasn't heard from them in weeks. So when he sees a tv interview with his daughter's picture, he becomes alarmed when he realizes that she was on a yacht that was blown up. He rushes to Galveston to find her only to discover that she won't let him near her. The only one she'll let near is Daisy, the shrimper who rescued her from the ocean. Having regressed quite a bit, his daughter is only fit to be around Daisy, who had to put her life on hold to help this little girl. Temple realizes that he'll have to stay on the island until his daughter is better, but he's not sure what he thinks about Daisy.

Daisy is actually a really good character. I like that she's a shrimper, which is usually more of a masculine job. It gives her strength and makes her interesting. She's compassionate too, she'd have to be in order to take care of this little girl that is just thrust into her life. Temple on the other hand I didn't like as much. I thought he did way too much of a personality change in the beginning and the rest of the book on he just doesn't seem authentic. In fact, most of his motivations are really hard to align. The little girl, Becca, since she's mute most of the novel is more of a prop for Daisy to take care of too. She does have a little personality, but really Daisy is the lead of this story.

Explosions, rescued girls, gun shots; this is a pretty exciting tale. But it reads rather slow and drawn out because its more of a character building type of book. And that's just fine. I'm just glad it had a little excitement and a plausible storyline. Since this is a romance its got some risque scenes in it, but there's really only one and it goes pretty quickly. The rest of the reading is about Daisy interacting with other characters and taking care of Becca. There are a few scenes of Temple doing his thing, but not many. I think the length on this book was pretty good, any longer and it might have gotten boring, any shorter and I would have felt cheated.

Decent enough romance with some action. I can't say I'd really seek the author out, but I didn't mind reading this at all.

The Water Baby
Copyright 1996
299 pages