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No Small Thing
Kate has a past she longs to forget, and leaves the big city in an effort to put it behind her. A former astronomer, she's moved home to an ailing mother and a simpler life. Jeremy has demons in his past that prevent him from getting close to another woman. As a renowned cardiologist, he keeps busy enough to forget that he's alone. With no time for love, there's no time to get hurt, right? But is it possible for Kate and Jeremy to bury the pain of their pasts and move on, together? Will the people in their lives be happy for them or will they stop at nothing to tear their love apart. Because in the end, they find love is a thing, a thing with both substance and form. But make no love is no small thing
- GenresRomance
Nook
First published August 1, 2008
About the author
Keith Latch
19 books40 followersKeith is a father of one, career-minded and a little bit of a square. Nonetheless, at times,he finds himself looking to the stars for orbiting alien spacecraft and has been known to carry an enchanted sword in the trunk of his car. Oh, and that hockey mask and machete in the backseat…that’s just for Halloween…
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 13, 2011
This novel has considerable promise and could have been made into a tight story with a little more content editing. One of the biggest issues for me is that the main characters are not sufficiently appealing. Interesting, yes, but not likeable.
The heroine, Kate, grew up in Corinth, Mississippi, where the story takes place; after graduate school, she became the assistant director of a planetarium in California and did not return home until a few years before the book’s story begins. Her mother, Janine, is “elderly” (I’ll say--closing out her “sixtieth decade,” as she’s described in the book, would make her about 600 years old) but apparently in good health, so what made Kate give up her job and move home to take care of her mother after her father’s death?
At the outset, Kate’s age is not well established. She seems like a teenager at first (described as an “earnest student”), but we soon discover she was a career “girl” (which doesn’t lead the reader to expect that she’s 36 years old) and never married. I expected to find that this daddy’s girl simply never met a man who could live up to her father, but the author does put an interesting twist on this point. Janine apparently doesn’t consider this rationale but instead seem to think Kate is simply “refusing the attentions of men”--because she didn’t fall for the neighbor’s son (12 years younger than Kate) or a teacher boinking his high school students or even the snake-mean Walter Crown, who is trying to force Kate into dating him. Kate’s disconnectedness from almost everyone around her actually has a purpose in the novel, though it wasn’t revealed until I’d already lost interest in her.
Jeremy, the hero, is the most appealing character, and his habit of writing nightly to his daughter is sweet. But it’s too much of a stretch to believe that this cardiologist doesn’t think he deserves a woman like Kate, who is working part time in a video store, displays a dangerous lack of common sense, and forgets about him when a week goes by without her seeing him. He drives a truck that’s “far from new” but evidently not old enough to be a classic, so why would this well-to-do man not replace it, since his ability to get to the hospital at a moment’s notice is an absolute necessity? The plot complication connected with this particular detail seems way too coincidental for my liking.
Additionally, too much of the dialogue is weak: relying on witty repartee when deeper emotional responses are called for; reproducing awkward, distracting encounters; telling the story rather than revealing character and driving the plot.
I might have cared more for the main characters if the point of view stayed with them instead of shifting to secondary and tertiary (walk-on) characters, as well as the villain of the piece and his son. “Hearing” Walter Crown’s and Corey Crown’s inner thoughts in my own head was repellent. The tone of the book eventually degenerated into an ugliness that the sample didn’t lead me to expect, a level of violence and brutality even from the heroine that made this book feel like it started off one way and ended another. This may have been purposeful on the writer’s part, and some people looking for a less cozy read may enjoy it.
Some of the details (how did Kate fit her bike into the Corvette? what exactly happened when she tried to outrun the train?) are unclear, including the prologue time frame--although this latter ambiguity may again have been deliberate.
The novel suffers from information dumps and static pacing, though the chapter openings with maxims or descriptions of Corinth are charming. Overall, the story arc needs tightening so that the stakes for Kate and Jeremy are laid out from the beginning. I never was convinced to root for them.
I’m sure many readers will enjoy this book for the story it tells, and it has too many positives for me to give it only two stars.
*******************
Editorial quibbles, for those who worry about such things:
This book was evidently run through a word processor’s spellcheck and grammar checker, but there were still the typical spelling errors and missing words that such programs regularly miss, along with errors including misused words and tense shifts.
The heroine, Kate, grew up in Corinth, Mississippi, where the story takes place; after graduate school, she became the assistant director of a planetarium in California and did not return home until a few years before the book’s story begins. Her mother, Janine, is “elderly” (I’ll say--closing out her “sixtieth decade,” as she’s described in the book, would make her about 600 years old) but apparently in good health, so what made Kate give up her job and move home to take care of her mother after her father’s death?
At the outset, Kate’s age is not well established. She seems like a teenager at first (described as an “earnest student”), but we soon discover she was a career “girl” (which doesn’t lead the reader to expect that she’s 36 years old) and never married. I expected to find that this daddy’s girl simply never met a man who could live up to her father, but the author does put an interesting twist on this point. Janine apparently doesn’t consider this rationale but instead seem to think Kate is simply “refusing the attentions of men”--because she didn’t fall for the neighbor’s son (12 years younger than Kate) or a teacher boinking his high school students or even the snake-mean Walter Crown, who is trying to force Kate into dating him. Kate’s disconnectedness from almost everyone around her actually has a purpose in the novel, though it wasn’t revealed until I’d already lost interest in her.
Jeremy, the hero, is the most appealing character, and his habit of writing nightly to his daughter is sweet. But it’s too much of a stretch to believe that this cardiologist doesn’t think he deserves a woman like Kate, who is working part time in a video store, displays a dangerous lack of common sense, and forgets about him when a week goes by without her seeing him. He drives a truck that’s “far from new” but evidently not old enough to be a classic, so why would this well-to-do man not replace it, since his ability to get to the hospital at a moment’s notice is an absolute necessity? The plot complication connected with this particular detail seems way too coincidental for my liking.
Additionally, too much of the dialogue is weak: relying on witty repartee when deeper emotional responses are called for; reproducing awkward, distracting encounters; telling the story rather than revealing character and driving the plot.
I might have cared more for the main characters if the point of view stayed with them instead of shifting to secondary and tertiary (walk-on) characters, as well as the villain of the piece and his son. “Hearing” Walter Crown’s and Corey Crown’s inner thoughts in my own head was repellent. The tone of the book eventually degenerated into an ugliness that the sample didn’t lead me to expect, a level of violence and brutality even from the heroine that made this book feel like it started off one way and ended another. This may have been purposeful on the writer’s part, and some people looking for a less cozy read may enjoy it.
Some of the details (how did Kate fit her bike into the Corvette? what exactly happened when she tried to outrun the train?) are unclear, including the prologue time frame--although this latter ambiguity may again have been deliberate.
The novel suffers from information dumps and static pacing, though the chapter openings with maxims or descriptions of Corinth are charming. Overall, the story arc needs tightening so that the stakes for Kate and Jeremy are laid out from the beginning. I never was convinced to root for them.
I’m sure many readers will enjoy this book for the story it tells, and it has too many positives for me to give it only two stars.
*******************
Editorial quibbles, for those who worry about such things:
This book was evidently run through a word processor’s spellcheck and grammar checker, but there were still the typical spelling errors and missing words that such programs regularly miss, along with errors including misused words and tense shifts.
September 5, 2011
I would suggest that this book be proof-read for errors again as I ran across quite a few that wouldn't be caught by spell-check. (ie: one for on, here for her and vice versa, etc.) There are instances where words were dropped from a sentence and I had to read it again to figure out what was being said. Aside from that though, it did not take away from the storyline and I really enjoyed it! I will continue to read stories from this author!
October 14, 2012
Not sure about this one. The author is classified as horror, mystery/suspense. But this book comes across as romance fiction with a slight undertone of a bad guy. I kept waiting for something to happen and got an inkling when the brakes went out on the car, but nothing more was said about that. So on I read waiting.
Kate has moved back home and is living in her childhood home with her mother. She came back home to Corinth when her father died. Jeremy is the new cardiologist in town. Kate meets Jeremy when her mother is suddenly rushed to the hospital. It is love at first sight for both. It takes a short time, but soon they are spending alot of time together. Sarah, Kate's best friend, and her daughter Welsy are like family and weave in and out of the story. Playing an integral part, but not to strategic. Also in the background is Walter and Corey Crown. Walter was wealthy, most of it coming from enterprises that weren't quite legal. Corey, Walter's son, isn't very happy about his parentage, and when you read how Walter treats him you will understand. Walter wants Kate, but Kate isn't interested and keeps brushing him off. The story line of Walter and Corey is way in the background. Almost getting lost behind the other plot line.
I was expecting more - waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop. In that respect it was disappointing. It did kind of drop but not the way I expected. This was an ok read, but glad I didn't pay for it.
Kate has moved back home and is living in her childhood home with her mother. She came back home to Corinth when her father died. Jeremy is the new cardiologist in town. Kate meets Jeremy when her mother is suddenly rushed to the hospital. It is love at first sight for both. It takes a short time, but soon they are spending alot of time together. Sarah, Kate's best friend, and her daughter Welsy are like family and weave in and out of the story. Playing an integral part, but not to strategic. Also in the background is Walter and Corey Crown. Walter was wealthy, most of it coming from enterprises that weren't quite legal. Corey, Walter's son, isn't very happy about his parentage, and when you read how Walter treats him you will understand. Walter wants Kate, but Kate isn't interested and keeps brushing him off. The story line of Walter and Corey is way in the background. Almost getting lost behind the other plot line.
I was expecting more - waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop. In that respect it was disappointing. It did kind of drop but not the way I expected. This was an ok read, but glad I didn't pay for it.
August 3, 2014
Definitely needs a spell checker as well as grammar. Some sentences are very confusing and ding make sense as words incorrectly put in. Apart from this, a very good story. I found myself keeping my fingers crossed that the main character would find her man her mother so wanted her to find. Good read!
February 29, 2012
The book was great. Really enjoy it . Still could use some proof reading.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews