| Emma Larkin and her young daughter Sally are used to
looking after themselves. Ever since her husband Ed was killed in
a supposed mugging things were happening. Being followed, having
their home broken into. She was always watching over her shoulder,
waiting for 'them' to find her again, whoever 'they' were. She and
Sally would move on, making themselves invisible, knowing at some point
they'd have to move yet again.
But this time is different. This time she has Gary Bedford
watching over her. Gary is an undercover cop, although Emma
doesn't know it. They've developed a relationship and Emma thinks he
runs a holiday farm, where she and Sally are staying to stay safe.
What she doesn't know is that Gary is more than watching out for her,
he's trying to find out what it is that the bad guys are after.
Emma is unaware of what Ed was into before he died, so they have no idea
what they're looking for.
This story had some moments when I genuinely enjoyed it, but for the
most part the huge lie that the entire book was written around rubbed me
the wrong way from the start. Gary doesn't tell Emma he's a cop,
or that all his siblings and friends are cops or PI's. Why not?
He thought it was best. For who, I'm not sure, since Emma is
totally uncooperative at helping them protect her from people trying to
hurt her, and telling her could have made her a bit more cooperative. It also told me that their entire relationship was based on a lie.
I had another issue with the book -- Emma herself. In one
sentence she'd be screeching like a shrew because Gary did something to
save her life, and in the next she was smiling and kissing
him. It was like reading about 2 people, yet the family she was
living with didn't seem to mind because she was 'just like mum'.
She's very shallow and comes across as unthankful despite all
these people trying to help her. Gary on the other hand is a wonderful, sexy and real
man despite the lies. He has a slew of brothers to carry the story on
and had Emma had
the personality depth of Gary this would have been a very different
book.
So overall, I'd say don't get your hopes up too high when you read
SAVING EMMA. What had the potential to be a real action packed,
emotionally satisfying story falls short over a lie and a weak
character. If a scenic Australian back drop, an interesting
family of secondary characters and the occasional exciting scene are
enough for you though, give it a try.
Reviewed for The Road to Romance by Sue Waldeck
August 24, 2005 |
