~More to Love~

by Dixie Browning

      Heroine: rubenesque

           Years of raising her younger sisters on her own has made it impossible for Molly Dewhurst to take time for herself.  But at 36 years old, the sweet, compassionate red-head is determined to change all that and start living life for Molly.  She's ditched that low-life-leech-of-a-husband in divorce court; now she's ready to shed some bad habits and a few pounds and emerge from her cocoon to show the world a whole new, amazing, dazzling Molly!  But first, she needs to do her newlywed sister a favor and pet-sit at her honeymoon cottage for a few days.  Then Molly can finally get down to the business taking care of herself.

           Ruggedly handsome Rafe Webber, coastal real-estate developer and culinary wizard, likes to have his life firmly under his thumb.  So when his younger half-brother Stuart sends him a wedding picture out of the blue, Rafe is determined to rescue him from the gold-digger who snatched him up while he was away on business.  Annoyed, Rafe makes a quick trip to Ocracoke Island off the coast of North Carolina, with the plan of catching the new bride off guard. But when he arrives it isn't the happy couple he finds but a very annoyed sister-in-law!

            Stubborn as can be, neither Molly nor Rafe will leave the cottage and instead declare that they'll just have to try to stay out of each other's way as they share the quaint-yet-cramped quarters.  But soon after declaring a truce, the pair find that spending time with each other is anything but horrible. Molly discovers that sweet and gentle Rafe certainly knows his way around both kitchens and women!  Before long she feels her long-cold heart reawakening under Rafe's attentions, but is certain that he could never want a girl like her permanently. If only she had the courage to take a chance and tell him how she really feels!

      What worked for me:

    Our hero and heroine seemed to be genuinely nice people.  It was nice to read a romance that didn't have contrived knock-down drag-out fights between them.

      There was some subtle humor in the story, with some of the most enjoyable lines to be found in the good-natured bantering between the two main characters.  Although, I must add that I appreciated the rather whimsical pet names as well.

        Size-wise Molly was short, plump, and calorie-obsessed.  Fortunately Rafe was able to show her that she was a valuable and desirable woman without losing weight.

What didn't work for me:

     Despite being divorced, Molly was another one of those fairly innocent plus-size heroines.  She'd had some bad experiences with men in the past and was somewhat reticent about being with Rafe.  Because of this, I felt the level of sexual tension between the two characters was lower than it might otherwise have been.

      There was a lot more introspection than action in "More to Love", so it felt a bit slow in pacing, especially since I'd read a romantic suspense novel just prior to it.

Overall:

    This category novel is a solid read for anyone looking for a short, tender story about two people discovering love together.

 Warning: This book has a couple of sexy scenes, and few curse words thanks to a couple of salty-tongued birds.

If you liked "More to Love" you might also enjoy "Love at Large", "Baby at His Convenience", "Midsummer Lightning", "Suite Seduction", "The Independent Bride", "The Librarian's Passionate Knight", "The Bridesmaid's Reward", "The Course of True Love", "Runaway Bay", "His Seductive Revenge", "Carried Away", "His E-mail Order Wife", "Spellbound", "A Worthy Heir", "The Legacy Tree", or "Sweet Memories".

Have you read this book and have a comment to make on it? Join a discussion about the book at the Dangerous Curves forum or submit a review to this website.