Review: Dance with Me by Luanne Rice

This book was one I received in a shopping bag full of books from my mother-in-law. It's not my typical fare (I've never been into "women's fiction" or whatever you might call this type of book), but I simply cannot let a book pass through my doors without reading it, so I held onto the book and am finally now getting around to reading it.  It was good, a quick read - one of those books that hold your attention while you read them, but forget the plot of almost as soon as you're done.

This book is all about damaged people - Jane Porter, who gave her daughter up for adoption and spent the rest of her life wishing she hadn't; Dylan Chadwick, who lost his wife and daughter in a shooting incident directly related to his job; Chloe Chadwick, who has spent her life wondering why her birth mother would have abandoned her; Sylvie Porter, who has put her life on hold to take care of a mother debilitated by diabetes and the beginning stages of Alzheimer's.  But, somehow, when all of these lives converge, they bring their broken owners into something resembling a family.

Jane, a baker who caters to New York's rich and famous, comes home to help care for her mother (and try to help her sister make the difficult decision to put their mother into a nursing home), but she has a hidden agenda.  The daughter she gave up at birth lives just down the road, and Jane is yearning to connect with her.  Dylan came home after the deaths of his wife and daughter, to operate the family orchard.  Chloe doesn't know that Jane is her real mother, but she has longed her entire life to know the woman who gave her up.  These three lives crash into each other in a small orchard in Rhode Island.  What will happen when Dylan and Chloe learn who Jane really is?  Will Jane and Dylan be able to forge a relationship?  What about Jane and Chloe?

I liked the book.  It was good.  It made me cry a lot.  But I feel like I'll forget about it next week.  It's just not one that will stick with me.  I give it three out of five Whatevers.  Worth a read to pass the time, but not the greatest literature on earth.  Recommended for those who like romances, who are in the market for a quick read, and those who like stories about apples or the Northeast.

2014-8