Review: A Ring, A Dance, A Second Chance by Jonell Kirby Cash

rating :

format : Paperback

This is my first official review!

A second chance at love? How sweet, or at least it should be. I really wanted to like this book. Judging the synopsis, I thought it sounded like a nice romance story. I didn't really find much romance in the book . They talked about how they had been in love, but I didn't see it. I didn't even like the ending. I don't like lose ends, and I felt like A Ring, a Dance, a Second Chance was a bunch of them put together in one book.

The main character was Katie a spunky senior citizen who has been a widower for two years. I had a hard time connecting with her, not because of her age, but her ideals. She was a very selfish charactor, who was always second guessing everything.

Taylor Floyd was her leading man. It is said that he was Katie's first love. He is also a widower.

Taylor calls Katie one day and their story goes forward from there. As the story goes on, it jumps around a lot. She talks to her granddaughter, she talks to her friend, she talks to her son, she talks to her daughter. Taylor talks to his son, then has dinner with his whole family, he is approached about being mayor, and he gets involved with helping a friend get out of trouble. It seems like they speak to everyone except each other. It's hard to believe it's a romance when they don't see or speak to each other very much. They have five phone conversations (including the initial one), one date, Katie goes on a slow boat to China (it's a tour) by herself, and they visit with each other two times. While I found the facts about China interesting, I don't know what that had to do with the suppossed romance between Katie and Taylor. He's elected mayor and she meets his family during the festivities. He asks her to marry him and she says yes.

The whole marriage thing was really weird for me. When he first called, it had been forty years since they had last spoken. Katie had thought they were too different back then, and she wonders if they still are. We never see the answer. For a romance, the two main characters don't spend that much time interacting. They have nothing to do with each other for forty years and then, after a little bit of interaction, they're getting married? Huh? But the worst part about it, is Katie's indecision. She is irritated that he doesn't speak his mind. It bothers her that he concedes instead of speaking with her about things, she even wants counseling before they get married. The counseler says they need to learn to talk to each other. Katie feels that Taylor is either insensitive or unaware of his personal feelings. She feels that he wants to move on to something important. How could you marry someone whom you've always felt was too different, when you have issues like that? Anyway, it ends on that note and they are getting married the next day.

The premise for the story was good. The story itself though, fell flat on it's face so to speak. I didn't see or feel any romance. As a story it is okay, as long as you're not expecting romance.

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.