Love Remains

DACUS, KAYE

LOVE REMAINS

Can the historian learn to leave the past in the past?

Zarah Mitchell, who's worked at the Middle Tennessee Historic Preservation Commission for more than a decade, is about to face a piece of history that could ruin the life she's built in Nashville: Bobby Patterson -- her first love and the reason her father kicked her out fourteen years ago.

Nashville native Bobby Patterson has just returned home after many years away to take a position with the Tennessee Criminal Investigations Unit. His new job: lead a task force investigating potential real estate fraud connected with the Commission.

When Bobby realizes Zarah is part of his investigation, he is tempted to use his grandmother's not-so-subtle setup as a way to learn if Zarah is involved in the fraud.

Zarah, at her grandmother's suggestion, tries to put the pain from the past aside to see if any love remains between her and Bobby. But when she learns he's been investigating her, will she be able to forgive him a second time?

I FOUND THIS BOOK FULL OF REFRESHING SURPRISES. KAYE DACUS HAS TAKEN CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE TO A NEW LEVEL WITH LOVE REMAINS.

THINGS I LOVED ABOUT THIS BOOK:

I LOVED THE SLOW BUILD...SHE TAKES THE TIME TO LET US GET TO KNOW THE CHARACTERS AND SETTING. BESIDES THE HERO AND HEROINE THERE ARE A NUMBER OF OTHER KEY CHARACTERS AND YET I NEVER FELT LOST OR HAD TO CHECK BACK TO REMEMBER WHO SO-AND-SO WAS. EVERY ONE WAS A UNIQUE INDIVIDUAL FROM THE MOMENT I 'MET' THEM.

I LOVED THE PACING. DACUS IS A MASTER AT DEVELOPING CHARACTERS THAT READERS CAN CONNECT WITH. SHE KEEPS OUR INTEREST BY REVEALING BITS OF INFORMATION OVER THE COURSE OF THE BOOK. WITH EACH NEW 'REVEAL' WE UNDERSTAND THE CHARACTER AND HIS/HER MOTIVATION JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE. IT'S VERY MUCH THE WAY A REAL FRIENDSHIP DEVELOPS AND MAYBE THAT'S WHY I FEEL LIKE I'VE JUST MET A GROUP OF NEW FRIENDS BY THE END OF THE BOOK!

I LOVED THE CHURCH SINGLES ANGLE! FULL OF SOME HARD TRUTHS, IRREVERENT HUMOUR AND THE PAIN OF CHANGE. DACUS GOT THE DYNAMICS -- AND THE EMOTIONS THEY CREATED -- JUST RIGHT.

I LOVED THE PREMISE TO THE WHOLE SERIES -- MEDDLESOME GRANDMAMMAS OUT TO MATCHMAKE THEIR GRANDCHILDREN. AND DACUS GIVES US GLIMPSES INTO THE LIVES OF THESE CLASSY WOMEN AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEIR GRANDCHILDREN.

I LOVED THE DEVELOPING CONNECTION BETWEEN THE HERO AND HEROINE. THIS IS WHERE DACUS SURPRISED ME THE MOST. SHE COULD HAVE GONE IN A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT (AND PREDICTABLE) DIRECTION A NUMBER OF TIMES BUT SHE DID THE UNEXPECTED AND THAT MADE THE ROMANTIC ELEMENTS SOAR.

I LOVED HOW IMMERSED I BECAME IN THE WHOLE READING EXPERIENCE. I FELT LIKE I HAD BEEN DROPPED RIGHT INTO THE MIDDLE OF THAT SINGLES GROUP AND WAS AN AVID SPECTATOR STRAIGHT THROUGH TO THE CONCLUSION OF LOVE REMAINS. AN EXCELLENT READ AND I AN ANXIOUSLY AWAITING THE SECOND IN THE SERIES WHICH WILL BE OUT IN THE SPRING.