Review

The Comforts of Home takes its reader to the small town of Harmony, Texas.  Here, the reader is introduced to a number of characters that are woven throughout the novel, connecting in different ways.  In an effort to keep them straight I’m listing them below.

Tyler Wright is the local funeral home director.  His job was passed down to him by his father and Tyler can’t imagine doing anything else.  In love with Kate, a military friend whose feelings for Tyler remain unknown for now, Tyler deals with the confusion over his relationship.

Ronelle Logan is the daughter of Dallas Logan, the town’s most hated and most outspoken woman.  Ronelle, who works at the local post office, would give anything to have her father back in her life.  Her job is a pleasant excuse to keep away from her mother, especially when she meets Martin Winslow.

Reagan Truman was adopted by her “uncle” Jeremiah Truman when she needed someone the most.  Jeremiah is ailing and Reagan has devoted herself to taking care of him.  Jeremiah tries to prepare Reagan for life without him. He is tough and stubborn and promises not to leave until he’s good and ready.  When Reagan gets a phone call from her best friend, her life quickly changes.  Now it seems priorities may be switching as Reagan aims to keep the love of her life around for good.

Denver Sims is tired of keeping his relationship with Claire Matheson under wraps.  Denver wants to be with Claire, but Claire has some pretty strong feelings about met and makes them obvious through her wildly popular art.  Unsure if she’ll ever settle down or even of how she feels, Denver must risk it all in order to gain her love.

Throw in a few side characters and you have quite a cast.  My biggest complaint with this novel was the sheer number of characters I had to keep track of.  There are multiple relationships taking place in this novel in addition to the story of the supporting characters and the town.  This romance simply didn’t engage me enough because of the number of characters I had to keep track of.  I found myself distantly attached to the characters, often forgetting who was who or even what I’d just read.

This is not to say their stories weren’t good.  There certainly is a lot of drama in this novel.  It’s quite characteristic of a small town, its residents and the relationships between them all.  Unfortunately, this romance was also quite depressing for the most part.  From Tyler’s job to Ronelle’s mother and Martin’s injury, the book is loaded with unsexy realities that didn’t work for me.

Though it’s well written, the book lacks in appeal.  I personally do not care to read romances with depressing material.  For me, the funeral parlor killed the romance and the other aspects just buried it deeper.  No pun intended. This one just didn’t do it for me.

Reviewed by Tiffany S.