Heart

Until I saw this book listed on Net Galley, I had forgotten that 30 years ago it was one of my favorite romance novels. Not sure why it is being reissued now, or why the author felt the need to tack on a few extra chapters showing what happened to the main characters, but it brought back some interesting memories. I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that I liked it so much back in 1982 - there are so many factors that mark it as a book of its time:

1) The hero is a poet. A poet who makes his living out of being a poet. Not a Navy SEAL or a vampire or a billionaire businessman - a poet.
2) The hero is married when he meets the heroine, but that fact barely registers as a problem because it's Love At First Sight, which must never be denied.
3) The hero and heroine have sex with several other people before they get their HEA but it's okay because their hearts are pure.
4) There's a brief appearance by an evil butch lesbian bitch.
5) There's also a brief appearance by a happy, wise “Magic Negro” black woman who couldn't be more stereotyped and non-PC.

The language is flowery, the love scenes are awkward at best, the sentiments are mawkish - but at age 20 I read and re-read it so much that 30 years later I remembered whole scenes as I experienced it for the first time on my Kindle.

If you remember this book - and the author must sense some demand or else she wouldn't be self-publishing it - you will probably find yourself enjoying it out of guilty nostalgia. New readers will probably be baffled and less than impressed.

As for the new chapters, the less said the better, except to mention that the author is pretty ballsy for including a love scene with an 80+ year old hero and 60+ year old heroine.