My Review of Love Finds You in Poetry, Texas

Here's a description of the book from Summerside Press:

"Belinda Bauer, in her ivory tower… In the quaint community of Poetry, Texas, Belinda spies an opportunity. The tiny town is filled with farmers and railroad men in need of wives, so she sets herself up at as a marriage broker. There’s only one problem: Belinda doesn’t have a clue what she’s doing, and all the brides who come to Poetry marry the wrong men! One client, who has lost more than one prospective wife to Belinda’s fumbled attempts, is particularly unhappy. Is there a poetic ending in store for him—and for Belinda herself?"

My Rating: Fall

My Review:

I'm sorry to say this book didn't quite read like pure poetry to me. Perhaps there are certain times in your life when you are more likely to be harsh on a book, and I fear this might be one of those times for me, so I apologize for any unnecessary judgments. This book is certainly lighthearted, but I confess it felt almost too much so as to be flippant in parts. I didn't actually finish the book--I read through nineteen chapters and then skimmed the rest. My heart just wasn't in it, and I felt the book was taking me too long to read.

However, I should note that the book is well-written and clever. I have heard good things about this author (Janice Hannah, AKA Janice Thompson), and I would enjoy the opportunity to read more by her. This particular book just didn't quite thrill me.

I thought it was interesting as I read along and caught on to the similarities between this story and Jane Austen's Emma: the matchmaker whose matches don't quite always work the way she plans, and who eventually realizes she's in love with her best friend. The matchmaking part was a bit bothersome--it felt (to me, personally) that the matches were more of a game to Belinda, and that the Lord was seen as more of a follow-up thought. I didn't feel ovely compelled to read more, as the final outcome was a bit predictable and the book felt sort of preachy and unrealistic. There were a lot of happily-ever-afters, but the tension seemed stretched out and I didn't feel like there was enough of a "journey" for me as the reader that would cause me to really rejoice with the characters in their happy endings.

As I said before, this book is well-written, and this author has talent. There were some cute parts I liked in the story, such as the poetic names of the local businesses and the quirkiness of some of the secondary characters. I also liked the analogy of life being like poetry--how God often shows us just one stanza of the poem at a time. But overall, I didn't feel like I quite fit in with the folks of Poetry, Texas.