LEAVING NORMAL

Author: Stef Ann Holm ISBN: 077832222X 10/2005 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: MIRA

Shake it up a little! At long last Natalie Goodwin's life is running just the way she wants it. Her new florist shop is all set for a grand opening, and her daughter is enjoying her first semester in college. The house is clean, the bills are paid and cooking dinner every night ls now an option. Natalie admits she's just a teeny bit lonely, but recent dating experiences have left her convinced that Mr. Right does not live in Boise, Idaho. But life has a big surprise for Natalie and he lives right across the street! Never in her wildest dreams did she think she could fall for a man nine years her junior, but then she has never met a man like firefighter Tony Cruz. He turns her well-ordered life upside down, and pretty soon things go from simmering to scalding. Just when the sparks begin to turn into a three-alarm blaze Natalie is caught unawares again—Tony wants her and a child of his own. A baby? At forty-three? Natalie is definitely all shook up.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Forty-three year old divorcee Natalie Goodwin is turning over a new page in her life. Her daughter is out of the nest, and Natalie is about to open a flower and gift shop, Hat and Garden, in her hometown of Boise, Idaho. In her marriage she focused on her husband. Now she is determined to focus on herself and forget about men! She throws herself into the management of her shop, and is grateful for the help of her happily married sister and recently retired father. Of course, Natalie's eighteen-year old daughter has the opposite idea about men, and invites her unsuitable new boyfriend home for Christmas, to Natalie's annoyance. They both have a lot to learn about love.

Meanwhile, the man of Natalie's dreams, her neighbor Tony Cruz, is having his heart broken by his cheating wife. Tony is an incredibly attractive fireman, so he won't have any trouble replacing his wife, but he wants love and babies this time around. As the months pass, Tony and Natalie befriend each other. They are wildly attracted to each other, but just aren't ready for love yet. Natalie's widowed father also looks for love. Since this is a romance novel, you know it will all work out.

Slow moving and episodic, this isn't my favorite novel by Stef Ann Holm. However, the characters are endearing and fans of realistic contemporary romance will enjoy the book.

Heather Hiestand