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Location: United States

Member Since: Dec. 31, 2011

Lauren Richins

Smashwords book reviews by Lauren Richins

When We Were Married on Jan. 01, 2012

This book is fantastic, I read it originally online and it haunted me, the situations, the characters, the dialog and the overall plot reached into my emotions and hit them hard. You could argue that the protagonist comes off as being a little bit unreal (in the book he is portrayed as being Dudley Do Rite to the Nth degree) but that is the hallmark of any kind of romance that is written, and one of the delights of the book is contrary to his goody two shoes appearance, he is quite human and flawed. Yes, it is unlikely that one person would face all the situations that the main character does, but then again, it is a story:). The situations themselves, though, are realistic, a subplot involving a black cop killing 3 men brings up issues of racial politics and a subtext about interracial relationships that are quite vivid and to me very real; likewise, drug cartels out to terrorize prosecutors represents a very real threat in today's world. What captured me was how much I came to care about the characters and their stories, and even the ex wife, whom at first there is a lot to detest about, starts to redeem herself and as she soul searches you realize that the situation that led to the destruction of her marriage was not entirely her doing. Scenes with her working with a therapist highlight that she has her own issues, as the main character does, that as usual have to do with the past. More importantly, from an old romantic like myself, the author holds out the hope that the main character and his wife will someday get together, though not easily, it is obvious they still love one another a great deal, the question is can the pain of the past be healed and can they also do so before they find totally new lives apart? The only negative with this book is it is going to be a while before we find out the answers, sounds like there are going to be at least 2 more books:)
When We Were Married Vol 2 Second Acts on Jan. 28, 2012

This one, if anything, is better then the first one. I originally read parts of this online but with the added material in this book definitely worth purchasing it, there is a lot more in this that extends the plot further. DQ Steele is a great writer, he writes characters you can believe and puts them in realistic yet at the same time incredible situations that don't flag. For me, the most incredible thing is within the arc of the story, the main characters (deb and bill) , whom I started out not liking and not deeply caring about, turned into two people I am rooting for, and being more of a romantic then I would admit to, hoping they do get back together. DQS keeps us involved in the story but also doesn't telescope where he is going with it, it is maddeningly unclear where things are going with this story, which of course is a good thing:) Course, the fact I have to wait a couple of months to read the next volume is going to drive me nuts,but oh well, at least it isn't years.