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Summer Splendor
Though their families have been feuding for decades, a romance develops between alluring Aimee Aragon and Mano Mateo, a handsome womanizer who lies to Aimee about his true identity
- GenresHistorical Romance
507 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1988
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September 6, 2020
This review is of “Summer Splendor”, a standalone by Wanda Owen.
Part I: “Fury of the Past”.
Taking place in San Jose, California, 19th century, the book is the story of two feuding families, the Aragons and the Mateos.The Aragon family, who are vintners and fruit growers, consists of patriarch Paul, matriarch Lisette, their two sons, Armand and Emile, and their daughter, Aimee, the heroine of the book. The Mateo family, who raise cattle and bulls, is made up of patriarch Carlos, a widower (his wife Theresa passed earlier), and his two sons, Mario and Manuelo, a.k.a. Mano, the hero of the book. The two families' feud stems from a Mateo bull trampling an Aragon vineyard 20 years ago. As the book begins, Aimee has returned from a trip east and a Grand Tour of Europe to discover that Paul has betrothed her to Fred Bigler, nephew of the newly minted state of California’s governor. Aimee is not happy with this arrangement and this causes friction between herself and Paul.
One day, Mano comes upon Aimee being attacked. Mano rescues her, but lies about his identity, calling himself “Mark Perez”. Soon, “Mark” and Aimee are clandestine lovers.Unfortunately, their secret is soon found out!
Part II: “The Lovers’ Curse”.
“Mark”’s true identity is revealed to Aimee. Although it’s painful for her-and him-Aimee separates from Mano.
Part III: “A Faded Love”.
After breaking up with Mano, Aimee takes a trip to Sacramento with Lisette to visit Lisette’s friends, Beth and Lawson Huntington, who have a son, Brad, a lawyer, who becomes attracted to Aimee. Aimee doesn’t reciprocate Brad’s affections, however, but the two agree to be friends. Meanwhile, Mano is making plans to try to win Aimee back, while “Fred Bigler”-there’s a reason that’s in quotation marks-has his own plans. Those plans include kidnapping Aimee.
Part IV: “The Splendor of Love”.
As the Aragons prepare to pay for Aimee’s ransom, they are visited by Denise, Paul’s sister who lives in France. Denise has come to America for two reasons. Meanwhile, Mano rescues Aimee, but in the process, “Bigler” gets away. He is later killed by one of the men he hires to kidnap Aimee.
Secrets are revealed, and concealed. Aimee and Mano agree to marry and have their Happily Ever After.
Upside: Aimee and Mano are a nice, well-matched couple.
Downside: “Summer Splendor” exposes many of the same issues Ms. Owen has shown in her previous books.
Example #1: The Feud. It is explained early that the feud between the Mateo and Aragon families stemmed from a Mateo bull trampling Aragon wine grapes. (It is also strongly implied that racism plays a role as Carlos was unhappy with the idea of a non-Hispanic family moving into the valley where his family lives). Neither of these issues, however, are explored in any way, beyond brief mentions.
Example #2: “Fred Bigler”. The reason his name is in quotation marks is that it is not his real name. Ms. Owen doesn’t explain why the person who claims to be Bigler came to California, other than greed.
Example #3: Aimee and Mano are supposed to be passionate people. We rarely see any examples of that. Their love affair is so mild it’s milquetoast. We also don’t see any character development. Characters are brought into the book, such as the Huntingtons, and then forgotten.
Sex: The love scenes are so mild as to be nonexistent.
Violence: After “Fred” tries to rape Aimee, she assaults him. He is later beaten up by Brad. Two killings also occur. The violence is not graphic.
Bottom Line: “Summer Splendor” had the potential to be a really good book. Ms. Owen, however, is not the author to mine that potential. File this under “D” for disappointment..
Part I: “Fury of the Past”.
Taking place in San Jose, California, 19th century, the book is the story of two feuding families, the Aragons and the Mateos.The Aragon family, who are vintners and fruit growers, consists of patriarch Paul, matriarch Lisette, their two sons, Armand and Emile, and their daughter, Aimee, the heroine of the book. The Mateo family, who raise cattle and bulls, is made up of patriarch Carlos, a widower (his wife Theresa passed earlier), and his two sons, Mario and Manuelo, a.k.a. Mano, the hero of the book. The two families' feud stems from a Mateo bull trampling an Aragon vineyard 20 years ago. As the book begins, Aimee has returned from a trip east and a Grand Tour of Europe to discover that Paul has betrothed her to Fred Bigler, nephew of the newly minted state of California’s governor. Aimee is not happy with this arrangement and this causes friction between herself and Paul.
One day, Mano comes upon Aimee being attacked. Mano rescues her, but lies about his identity, calling himself “Mark Perez”. Soon, “Mark” and Aimee are clandestine lovers.Unfortunately, their secret is soon found out!
Part II: “The Lovers’ Curse”.
“Mark”’s true identity is revealed to Aimee. Although it’s painful for her-and him-Aimee separates from Mano.
Part III: “A Faded Love”.
After breaking up with Mano, Aimee takes a trip to Sacramento with Lisette to visit Lisette’s friends, Beth and Lawson Huntington, who have a son, Brad, a lawyer, who becomes attracted to Aimee. Aimee doesn’t reciprocate Brad’s affections, however, but the two agree to be friends. Meanwhile, Mano is making plans to try to win Aimee back, while “Fred Bigler”-there’s a reason that’s in quotation marks-has his own plans. Those plans include kidnapping Aimee.
Part IV: “The Splendor of Love”.
As the Aragons prepare to pay for Aimee’s ransom, they are visited by Denise, Paul’s sister who lives in France. Denise has come to America for two reasons. Meanwhile, Mano rescues Aimee, but in the process, “Bigler” gets away. He is later killed by one of the men he hires to kidnap Aimee.
Secrets are revealed, and concealed. Aimee and Mano agree to marry and have their Happily Ever After.
Upside: Aimee and Mano are a nice, well-matched couple.
Downside: “Summer Splendor” exposes many of the same issues Ms. Owen has shown in her previous books.
Example #1: The Feud. It is explained early that the feud between the Mateo and Aragon families stemmed from a Mateo bull trampling Aragon wine grapes. (It is also strongly implied that racism plays a role as Carlos was unhappy with the idea of a non-Hispanic family moving into the valley where his family lives). Neither of these issues, however, are explored in any way, beyond brief mentions.
Example #2: “Fred Bigler”. The reason his name is in quotation marks is that it is not his real name. Ms. Owen doesn’t explain why the person who claims to be Bigler came to California, other than greed.
Example #3: Aimee and Mano are supposed to be passionate people. We rarely see any examples of that. Their love affair is so mild it’s milquetoast. We also don’t see any character development. Characters are brought into the book, such as the Huntingtons, and then forgotten.
Sex: The love scenes are so mild as to be nonexistent.
Violence: After “Fred” tries to rape Aimee, she assaults him. He is later beaten up by Brad. Two killings also occur. The violence is not graphic.
Bottom Line: “Summer Splendor” had the potential to be a really good book. Ms. Owen, however, is not the author to mine that potential. File this under “D” for disappointment..
Displaying 1 of 1 review