Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Love at First Flight by Marie Force

What if the guy in the airplane seat next to you turned out to be the love of your life?

Juliana, happy in her career as a hair stylist, is on her way to visit her boyfriend of ten years who's working out of state. She's wondering why they're not engaged yet. Michael is going to his fiance's parents' home for an engagement party he doesn't want. A states' prosecutor, he's about to try the biggest case of his career, he hates the distraction, and he's having doubts about the relationship.

They sit together on the plane, and discover they're on the same flight coming back. When the weekend is a disaster for each of them, they bond on the plane ride home. But life is full of complications, including their exes, who don't want to let go, and when Michael's trial turns dangerous, the two must confront what they value most in life...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I must confess up front that I had serious issues with this book. It hit a personal hot button with me - completely unexpectedly. And as I write this review, I have no idea if it will turn out to be favorable or not. I can say that I picked up this book because I loved Force's first book, Line of Scrimmage. I read Barbara's wonderful review of this book, and having just finished a love triangle book (A Hint of Wicked), wasn't sure I wanted to read another. The love triangle isn't what tripped my switch, though. Completely personal issue - I'm sure it won't have this effect on anyone else. And a warning that this review may border on TMI.

Turns out that Juliana's live-in boyfriend of 10 years is wondering what it would be like to have sex with another woman. They've been together since they were 17, and have never been with anyone else. She, on the other hand, has never had thoughts like this (until she sees Michael on the plane, but she isn't really ready to admit this to herself yet). There in a nutshell was my problem with the book. As soon as I read that scene, I wondered all the way through the rest of the book... is my own husband having those kind of thoughts? Our situation is very similar. Together since 18, now in our 40s. Never with anyone else. And although we have a very happy, healthy sex life, what if he is wondering? So I read the entire book with this feeling of dread and trepidation. And 2 days later, still find myself looking at him with a speculative gleam in my eye. Crazy.

Having said that, Force handles a delicate, sad, and no-win situation with grace and style. Neither one of these men is a villain - they both serve a very important purpose to Juliana. All four characters are flawed. None of them is perfect, although Michael sure seems to come pretty close. And that in itself is a red flag, isn't it? Still, he shows his impatience with his fiancee and then relief when the relationship of four years simply ends. So maybe not perfect. Juliana is a bit wishy-washy. She "takes a break" from Jeremy, then pretty much hops into bed with Michael, and then is unwilling to fully commit to him - still keeping the possibility of Jeremy dangling in front of him.

Jeremy, aside from the cardinal sin of admitting he thought about what it might be like with another woman, is the perfect guy, and goes completely out of his way to show Juliana how much she means to him. The only one who appears to be completely able to be written off is Michael's fiancee Paige, and even she is saved from true villain status through Michael's flashbacks of their courtship and his memories of how much he loved her.

I thought that through the entire book, Michael was far too understanding of Juliana's need to keep Jeremy hanging on a string. SPOILER*** Even after she and Jeremy broke up, all he said was I'll wait for you forever. Then he waited an entire year for her without complaint. Srsly - too good to be true. But in its own way, sighworthy. ***/SPOILER I would have liked to have seen him at least once attempt to force her to make a decision.

So, I guess that even with my personal issues aside, there were still things with this book that gave me pause. However, what a tough topic to tackle without making Juliana seem like a ho, Jeremy seem like a jerk, or Michael seem like a pushover. Even Paige didn't seem like such a bitch at the end. Well done. So next time, Ms Force, can you do it without pushing my own personal buttons? Hmmm?

7 comments:

  1. Awwww, Lori :( I'm sorry you feel that way :(

    By the way, can you email me and tell me who she choose at the end? I need to know before I go out and by that book... :P

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lori - I can completely understand your thinking. Sometimes we read those books that hit really close to home and they just make us pause and wonder. I'm sure your hubby has never thought that! :)

    This book does look interesting but I fear I would hate Juliana in the end because of her indecision. I can't decide! lol

    Great review - thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Lori,
    Wow, I'm sorry my book hit you in such a personal place. I wasn't expecting that reaction, but I can really see where you're coming from. My good friends, our class couple in HS, have been together 30 years and are still so crazy happy and in love. I think it can happen, and it probably happened to you and your hubby. You were lucky to find "the one" early and not have to go through horrible ups and downs that other face. I hope your worries are unfounded, I really do. Not all men thing the way Jeremy did.

    Tracy,
    I hope you'll give L@FF a shot. Juliana has been getting kudos from reviewers for working out her problems by herself and in her own time. I see her less as indecisive and more as wanting to be certain that she can go forward with a totally clear conscience, that she did everything she could to make one situation work before she moves fully into another one. The ending of L@FF is one of my favorites of all the books I've written because this hero and heroine really had to work for their happily ever after. Check it out and let me know what you think! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Should've checked my post for typos! SORRY-it's been a LONG day! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Marie!

    No need to apologize. It happens occasionally. And like I said, I'm sure nobody else will have the reaction I did to the book. What I didn't say in my original post, that I should have (and can now, with a little more space and objectivity) is that the same things I loved about Line of Scrimmage are what I loved here. The handling of the emotional situations, the interactions between the characters, all held me riveted (even as I really wanted to put the book down and walk away, but couldn't).

    And yes, hubby and I have a terrific marriage - together for 25 years and loving every minute of it. It was just one of those things that hit me like a ton of bricks for some reason. And completely. Freaked. Me. Out.

    So no worries about whether I'll read the next one - I'll be in line on opening day again. Just don't ever do that to me ever again, LOL!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. LOL Lori, I will try not to! Please pass along a list of all your worries and insecurities so I can be sure to avoid them in the future. ;-)

    You are sooo lucky to have had the shazam moment with your hubby and to have made it last so long. That's a major accomplishment. Tell him about the book you just read and that it made you worry. I bet he will say something fabulous that will make us all go awwwwwwwwww! (And then I can say that my book took you to a deeper place in your marriage--LOL)

    I guess my job is to make people feel. The range of emotions is all out there for the taking, so it touches me that I made you feel something, even if it freaked you out. Great to chat with you and thanks for the review and the kind words about both my books!

    ReplyDelete
  7. PS--I may mention this situation you brought up elsewhere on my blog tour. It's a very compelling thought when you really dig into it. I won't mention any names!

    ReplyDelete

Have you read it? What do you think?

Related Posts with Thumbnails