Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsSuspenseful, but only for two pages
Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2014
Out of the 15 Fool's Gold novels, I have now read 5. This one has some suspense, but it only lasts for a few pages. It's as if the author didn't want her readers distracted or upset, since Fool's Gold is a totally cheery town, where 100% of the people are nice and helpful and friendly (although I don't care for the ageism shown by making a couple of elderly women into sex maniacs). The men are bigger and stronger than anywhere else, the women are more supportive and family-oriented, and the backstories of the hero and heroine are always tragic but overcome by the time happy-ever-after rolls around. It isn't necessary to read the series in order. The formula is always the same. Either the hero or the heroine arrives in town or returns to town. He or she either meets their soul mate or reconnects with the one they left behind. She or he (or both) feel as if the trauma in their past make them unsuitable for commitment. There are generally no real obstacles to happiness except for the excessive reiteration of those traumas. In this installment, Justice returns. His father was a psychopathic killer and Justice served as a sniper in the military, so naturally he thinks he's in danger of turning into his father and can't commit to Patience and her daughter because he might hurt them some day. Patience has always loved Justice, but once he left town she accidentally got pregnant, married and abandoned in short order. Her father left when her mother developed MS. So her experience is that men leave and she isn't willing to trust her heart in case it happens again. These backgrounds are discussed so many times that I skimmed each time I encountered yet another heart-to-heart. Despite that, I've become addicted to Fool's Gold and its population of nice people, and I plan to read every book in the series, not in order.
