Take My Hand by Missouri VaunMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books in exchange for an honest review.
This book, the 20th work I’ve read by this author (9 using the Vaun name and 11 using the Braddock), is about Clay Cahill and River Hemsworth. Both of whom have a point of view in this book. Based off of a vague off-hand comment about a third party, there is a good chance both of the characters are near at or over 30 years of age (there was a comment about another character being ‘near us in age, thirties’ (hopefully I didn’t misread that)).
The book opens with River doing what you aren’t supposed to do – be on the phone and drive at the same time. And you know why you aren’t supposed to do that? Well River found out first hand, when she nearly rear-ended some horses (in a horse trailer), swerved to avoid the truck, and slammed into a hair-saloon. And that’s the introduction of the reader to River. That phone played a lot of key pivotal plot points in this book (seriously, first the accident, later a pivotal moment when the phone was left, unlocked, near another person as if they wanted that other person to read the phone (WTF was that about?)).
The second major character appeared when she wandered up to check on River. To provide help, and stuff. River, dazed as she was, still seemed to vaguely respond to the rather obvious (to those who knew her) flirtatious advances of . . . Dr. Trip. Dr. Trip was a major character but not the other main character.
Trip’s advances were intercepted/stopped/redirected when another major character appeared on the scene. The quite attractive woman began asking River questions about the accident. I do not recall, now, if she also flirted, but it was obvious she was also a lesbian. This would also be a major but not main character. Grace the police officer.
By the time another lesbian was introduced (after several other women bounced around asking if River needed help), I was beginning to think two things: this small town in Georgia was filled entirely with women, and there was a good possibility that all of them were lesbians. I was wrong on both counts, but that’s the impression the beginning gave me.
That ‘another lesbian’? That’d be the tow-truck driver. Who River drooled over. Considering that River was kind of out of it, dazed, had literally slammed her head into her steering wheel, and had been given a drink that had more sugar in it than liquid, it’s possible River did in fact literally drool. The tow-truck driver was Clay – the same Clay I already mentioned in the first paragraph as being the other main and point of view character.
Clay helps River – both with her car and to get her to her B’n’B (how is that worded again? I know its Bed and Breakfast, but I forget the little BnB short-cut). They seem to hit it off. Until River mentions she’s from New York, and owns a gallery there. It’s hot. It’s the deep south. A distinct chilly sensation developed, though, noticeable to River after she revealed this information.
Right, so – those are the characters. Main and major (minor would include the new vet that works at Trip’s place, Dani something; and the new police deputy who works for Grace, Jamie something; and Bo – the never-do-well who works at the place Clay works; and ‘Grandpa’ who gave Clay a job; and . . . others). But what’s going on? Why is the New Yorker in Pine Cone Georgia, and why the cold shoulder from Clay?
Well the book description, if you recalled to read it (which I hadn’t – what it’s a Vaun book, of course I was going to read it sight unseen without an idea what it was about, but I’ve read the description now that I’ve read the book) tells you the answer to both questions I ended the last paragraph with.
Clay is an artist who had a bad experience in New York. River is in Pine Cone because the aunt she never really had anything to do with (family issues) died and gave River her car, house, and art gallery. That’s why River is in Pine Cone – temporarily; and why Clay’s there (she lives there).
I had a few issues with enjoying the book: there was no separation for the point of view changes, one paragraph could follow Clay, one could follow River, and there was neither rhyme nor reason for when the change would occur – though it was always obvious a change had occurred. Problem two: occasionally I lost track of who said what, though that was probably more my fault than anything (lost track as in they would talk, and I’d miss out on which person said what when and how). Problem three: wined was used once when whined was intended (yes, I noticed that one specific mistake, heh).
The last problem is more major, but I got around it well enough. And that’s how the book ended, or near enough the end part. When the book suddenly turned into a crime drama for no explainable reason. When that crime drama started . . . well, I kind of groaned loudly and figured that I’d end up giving the book a much worse rating than I had been thinking up to that point. I liked how everything unfolded, though, so . . . it probably has some negative impact on the rating but not as severe as I’d been thinking.
The characterization was good, the romance was . . . solid enough, the plot was interesting. I was intrigued and entertained. Good quick easy read . . . that I found to be slightly lessor than the most recent books that I’ve read by this author. Part of that is because of the issues I had, and mentioned, part of that was the part where a few things seemed a little heavy handed (I knew instantly that trouble was going to happen when one person left their phone with the other – it’s like a blinking red light when that happens, blinking arrow, blinking obviousness – and then trouble did in fact occur).
Rating: 4.31
June 5 2018
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