Author: Gina Hummer
Books website link: www.lovingdavidnovel.com
Genre: Contemporary / Romance
ISBN: 1466343303
Name of Reviewer: Kathryn Hamilton
Reviewers link: romanticreadingescapes.com
Reviewers rating 4.5
Reviewed by Kathryn Hamilton
WOW! I am one big
blubbering mess right now. From laughter to tears SOBS, this
book raised every possible emotion to the surface. I had read somewhere that the
author, Gina Hummer, has been compared to Nicholas Sparks in her writing...well,
let me assure you that it is my belief that Nicholas Sparks must be channeling
his inner Gina Hummer when he writes, not the other way around, because she is
the queen at eliciting that WOW response from me.
David King, a well
known British Hollywood actor in his early 30's, is trying to enjoy a private
vacation in Southern California away from the hustle and bustle of L.A. When a
fan catches a glimpse of him, David is forced to hide away in the most
convenient place he can find at the time....the back floorboard of Charlotte's
jeep. Charlotte is a romance writer in her mid 40's and is on a writer's retreat
with her divorcee and widowed fellow writer friends. Before David has a chance
to escape the uncomfortable floorboard, Charlotte takes off down the highway,
almost wrecking her jeep when she notices a pair of piercing emerald eyes
staring at her through the rear view mirror. After getting past the point of
almost macing David to blindness, a beautiful friendship develops. Don't be
misled by thinking this is just another Hollywood celebrity focus...it
definitely is not. As a matter of fact, David's celebrity status is rarely
touched...the focus remains on Charlotte and "Loving
David."
"Loving David was the easiest thing I've ever done. It was effortless. I fell more in love with him every day to the point where I thought I would burst."
I love the
slow-building relationship between Charlotte and David that Gina Hummer gave me.
She allowed me, the reader, to really develop a strong connection with the main
characters and envelope them in such a way as to invoke in me every smile,
tingle, pain, and angst that Charlotte felt when interacting with David.
Charlotte is a very strong woman who has experienced love and loss of love in
life before. However, Charlotte didn't let her circumstance break her. She has
such compassion for those whom others would spit on had they experienced the
betrayal Charlotte experienced in life. But, she tends to make lemonade out of
lemons and moves on in life....enter David, the sexy and handsome Brit
who can have any
blonde bombshell he wants, but he just wants to find someone to love him for who
he is and not for his high celebrity status. He is what I would call a hot and
sexy hometown boy with love for his family and strong roots to keep him
grounded. He is definitely a swoon-worthy hero. He is perfect for Charlotte, no
matter the age difference.
The secondary
characters in the novel are stellar as well:
Emma - the near 80
year old widowed writer with a libido made me laugh out loud with her first
impressions of David and her flirtatious banter.
"Nice huh?" Emma said. "I may have a whole new reason to change my Depends today," she said as she nudged Karen, who shrieked.
Karen and Hendra -
the straight-laced, no nonsense, 'play by our ya ya sisterhood rules' women
whose strength and resolve melts when exposed to David's natural charms. They
are complete busy-bodies when it comes to Charlotte, but completely acting - and
advising - out of love and in Charlotte's best interest.
"It's not like you're gonna have some great romance with him. Have a fling with him. A little sex never hurt anybody." Karen paused. "I mean safe sex."
Olivia - the
selfish *bleep* I really enjoyed hating. She is a blonde Barbie-doll who will
stop at nothing to manipulate and use others in the name of love, but with her,
there is a fine line between love and revenge for not loving her back. She is
completely hate-worthy.
This book is
chocked full of love, romance, angst, heartache, and sadness. I don't normally
comment on a book cover or title, but both, in this case, are so significant to
the story of Charlotte and David, they are perfect. The 'happily ever after' in
this book is in the eye of the reader. Gina Hummer brings to the table a
big-screen worthy novel that is touching and sensitive to anyone with compassion
and feeling. The writing is smooth and fluent, making it a fast read. But, don't
mistake this novel for being just another romance; it contains its share of
steamy sex, angst, heartbreak, and hurt to keep this story with you a long time
after finishing. I give this book 4.5 stars and recommend it to all the
Tissue-Owner's Book Clubs with a hankering for that next great
read.
----- The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :
