I picked this one up out of the Wal-Mart book section while looking for something simple I could read while waiting for appointments or during off moments when I had nothing better to do. I've never really liked the modern romances because of their general "must get a man/must make a family" theme and the lack of any kind of plot or strong characters.

This one was different. The author took the time to actually think through the plot and keep it going, interspersed between elements of relationship development. The main female character is a strong woman with her own life and her own ideas of what she wants out of life; she neither plays hard to get nor does she throw herself into the main male character's arms.

The main male character is just as well developed, a strong but not overly macho man with things he needs to sort out and a job to do before he can turn his attention to the personal issues building between him and the main female character.

I was extremely pleased to see that the author kept that in mind and used it as a device to create realistic tension between them. The plot itself is riveting, a good read, and does not revolve specifically around pairing them up or getting them into bed. In fact, when they finally do end up there, it's near the end of the book and quite a surprise.

In short, these people could be anyone. They're not perfect, they're not --- nasty cover nonwithstanding --- devastatingly beautiful or handsome, and they have things they need to work on in order to make the relationship work.

If this is a new trend in romance writing, I hope it's here to stay. This was the first one I'd picked up in over a decade that made any pretext of being anything other than soft pornography for lonely housewives. ( )