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Katie
Franklin isn’t a happily married woman.
When she married her high school sweetheart, Rick,
eight years ago, she
never thought she would feel less than love for him or that her
marriage would
be crumbling. Her once affectionate and
attentive husband has become verbally unkind to her with calling her
unkind
names and she’s incredibly hurt. Still carrying extra pounds from the
birth of
their son three years ago, Katie can’t believe the man Rick has become. Driven to be happy again and to forget Rick’s
hurtful words, Katie enters a weight loss program and in no time is the
sexy
and vibrant woman she was years ago. Now that
she’s lost weight, Rick begins to show her more attention, but Katie
can’t
forgive that easily. She wants to feel
sexy and alive again and soon finds all she wants in a bar called Searchers. This is where she
meets Joey and learns to live again.
But what
about her husband at home? Where does her flirtation with Joey lead her?
This first
release from new author Pepper St. Claire is a tale that will make a
reader
think, feel and more than likely, debate.
Since at one point in time most of us have felt the
same way, I can, to
a degree, identify with Katie Franklin. Her pain, her insecurities and
the
misguided direction in her life are identifiable, but that is where
compassionate
feelings for her end. Ms. St. Claire
pens intriguing characters – Rick who we want to hate, but can’t since
he’s not
really that horrible of a man. Joey, the
young man who falls in love with Katie, but who in all honesty, had me
feeling next to nothing. Then we have
Katie, who I
think many women might feel for, but her decisions made me angry and
frustrated
with her. As Searchers
unfolded, Katie and Rick were able to talk and made
life-changing decisions to continue their marriage.
However, Joey was never too far from Katie’s
thoughts, even when she agreed to try and make her marriage work. Katie
was not
the most endearing character and overall, she made it difficult to
really enjoy
this story.
Katie found
her zest for life again, thanks to Joey, as well as Rick by the end. But I don’t believe Katie really learned
anything at all, nor did she feel remorse for her affair.
At the beginning of Searchers
Rick upset me with his cruelty, but as the story
moved forth, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.
Ms. St. Claire pens a thought provoking story
of marriage, adultery and self-discovery.
Though there were many aspects of this story that
don’t sit well with
me, it did make me grateful for my happy marriage and confirmed my
belief that
life is what we make it and that the paths we take, whether good or
bad, we
learn from.
Maybe in
the next Pepper St. Claire story, her
characters will
learn from their mistakes. Searchers
overall, just didn’t please this
reader.
Reviewed by Tracey West
for The Road
to Romance
July 24th, 2004
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