Cyn McCall is a young widow raising a young son with the help of her mother, who is also widowed. Her husband Tim died suddenly two years ago and now people are telling her that she has grieved long enough needs to be get back into the dating scene, but Cyn doesn't feel ready. She just wants to focus her energies on her son and her career as a counselor for women facing unplanned pregnancies. Aside from her son the only man in her life is her late husband's friend and business partner, Worth Lansing. Worth and Cyn have never seen each other as anything more than friends. Not only were they both loyal to Tim, but when it comes to romance they have nothing in common. Cyn is conservative and concerned with appearances and Tim was her only lover. Worth is a playboy who has never had a serious relationship.
They're both perfectly content with the situation until Worth finds himself with a trip for two to Mexico and no one to join him. Cyn needs a break in her routine so he talks her into going with him, strictly as friends. They're both surprised by the fact that the resort is focused on couples and there's only one bed in the room. The situation creates a new level of awareness between them and they soon become lovers. They then have to decide if they can still be friends.
I've enjoyed many of Sandra Brown's books over the years, but not this one. The fact that this is an older book that was originally published as a category may have contributed to the problems, but I don't think it was a major factor. I simply didn't like any of the characters.
I have sympathy for how difficult it must be to open up to a new relationship after a beloved spouse dies. Still, Cyn was so prissy and difficult that it was hard for me to like her. Her interpretation of Worth's actions after they sleep together the 1st time was pretty much nuts. I can understand how her guilt and insecurity would make her jump to those conclusions but that didn't make it any less annoying.
I also didn't like Cyn's mother, Ladonia. She was pushy and nagged Cyn about her social life, which isn't right. No one, not even a mother, has the right to tell a person how long she should grieve and Ladonia had no respect for that at all. The mother/daughter relationship is often difficult that way so I could probably have let that go, but there was another major issue.
Ladonia has been having a relationship that she deliberately kept secret from Cyn. The secrecy extended to getting Cyn's son not to tell her about outings the couple took him on. When Cyn returns home from Mexico early and finds them together she's understandably shocked, but because she isn't immediately thrilled Ladonia accuses her of being selfish. She goes on to say that she would have told Cyn about the relationship but she couldn't because Cyn has been widowed longer but wouldn't take the initiative to go out and get a man of her own. Ladonia acts as if this reasoning is a show of sensitivity on her part, but when you think about it it's just another criticism of Cyn. Ladonia is basically accusing her of being incapable of being happy for another couple while she is alone. Cyn is a pain in the behind but there's no evidence that she's anywhere near that bad. In fact, it seems that Ladonia is the selfish one. She acted as if she wanted Cyn to begin dating for Cyn's sake, but it seemed that she was at least as interested in being able to enjoy her own relationship without guilt. In spite of all this both Worth and Cyn act like Ladonia is the greatest. Cyn even says that she couldn't possibly have a better mother. I just couldn't see that.
As for Worth, I didn't have much feeling about him positive or negative, except to wonder what in the world he saw in either Cyn or Ladonia. None of that added up to me caring about the HEA at all.
Grade: D
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