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Saturday, January 7, 2012

REVIEW: Heartache Falls (#3 Eternity Springs) by Emily March

3.5 of 5 Stars

I read Heartache Falls last year and am finally writing my review for this just before I do one for Lover’s Leap

I loved Angel’s Rest and Hummingbird Lake, the first two books, in Emily March’s EternitySprings series! Heartache Falls, on the other hand, is more of a “liked it”, for me, and I’m giving it 3.5 out of 5 Stars on my scale of enjoyment and connection to it.

Ali Timberlake, the always well groomed and stylish lady from Denver, a descendant of the Cavanaughs of Cavanaugh House in Eternity Springs has made some wonderful friends in the beautiful and charming little town in the Colorado Rockies. We “meet” Ali in Book 1 of this series, and since then, she has been taking some fairly frequent trips to the town. 


Ali’s last child has just gone off to college and Ali has “empty nest syndrome”, after having her life revolve around her children for so long. She's feeling lost and decides to follow her dream of running a café/restaurant, by taking over the Bristlecone Café at Eternity Springs, after the owners left. 


Ali’s husband of over 20 years, Mackenzie “Mac” Timberlake, is a successful federal judge.


At 44 years, Mac is still looking good because of his regimented daily swims. He is a strong, stubborn and determined man. 

 

Mac has been working too hard and he and Ali have grown distant over the last few years. But when Ali goes to Eternity Springs to follow her dreams, and though it takes him some time to do something, Mac chases after her and uses his seductive skills to try and woo back his wife.


The premise was promising - How does a couple who have been married for more than 20 years continue to make their relationship work when they have grown distant, their children are no longer there, and their dreams/goals no longer coincide?

The reason I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the first two books was because of Mac’s attitude and how he viewed Ali’s wants. He didn’t really listen to her and any attempt by her to tell him how she felt was viewed as her being a “drama queen”.

That being said, I certainly read this quickly enough, it kept me engaged, and there were aspects that I liked and appreciated that the author went there, but I did find it hard to truly connect to Mac, until the end. Plus, it seemed to me that the reason he finally went to chase after Ali was because he wanted sex. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with a husband wanting that with his wife, but I certainly wasn’t feeling the love and romance, at that point. And to be fair, the problems in their marriage weren’t all Mac’s fault; it takes two to make a marriage last.

In the end, though, this long-married couple learnt to truly communicate with each other again. The rifts in their relationship were healed because, well, that’s what Eternity Springs is. It’s a place where “broken hearts” go to heal.

In summary, I’m still in love with the charming and magical Eternity Springs and its people, and I loved the setting of Heartache Falls, but I wasn’t so much with Ali and Mac, unfortunately.

Now, on to Lover’s Leap!

Eternity Springs Reading Order:

1. Angel's Rest - My review here
2. Hummingbird Lake - My review here
2.5 A Callahan Carol- My review here
3. Heartache Falls
3.5 Mistletoe Mine - My review here
4. Lover's Leap
5. Nightingale Way - To be released 28 August 2012

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