I鈥檓 a sucker for romance novels but I think that's pretty much common knowledge. Somehow, I feel like no matter the theme, no matter the genre, a little bit of romance just has to be in it. Give it that little zhush you know. It doesn鈥檛 even have to be everywhere, even though, cough cough that wouldn鈥檛 be unwelcome, but at least a little portion, just to give us that believe in the dream that there are still good guys out there a little hope right? Lol
Anyway, I saw the book I鈥檓 about to review and knew I had to talk about it. It鈥檚 one of the early romance books I read that brought me into that genre and I enjoyed re-reading it in the past week so I鈥檒l just get right to it without further ado.
Silken Web by Sandra Brown
It was originally published in 1982 and has just about two hundred and seventy pages. The book is about the shy, naive but industrious Kathleen Haley. She was orphaned at thirteen but is all grown now and a classy fashion buyer. She volunteers at the Mountainview Summer Encampment for Orphans which was pretty much her home as a kid. In a bid to bring public awareness to the camp, she invited videographer, Erik Gudjonsen. Erik is the classy guy with a dimple-concealing moustache who is well aware of the effect he has on ladies with his god-like features and is determined to prove to Kathleen that she is not immune to his charms.
In barely a few days, that theory proves correct. And they seem to be in a blossoming sensual tryst until an unfortunate incident makes Kathleen conclude that Erik is married. She runs away and cuts Erik off. She applies at a fashion house and almost immediately, her charming millionaire but paraplegic boss, Seth, falls in love with her and asks her to marry him.
There is a problem with this, however. Kathleen realizes that she is pregnant with Erik鈥檚 child but Seth has no problem with it. So against the love that still burns strongly in her heart for Erik, she gets married to Seth. For a while, everything feels right in Kathleen鈥檚 world as she handles her responsibilities and duties with finesse until fate brings an unexpected visitor to her doorstep. Can she untangle herself from this silken web?
My Review and Rating
It wouldn鈥檛 feel right if I didn鈥檛 begin this by talking about the character of Seth. I liked him a lot. The fact that he carried his disability with wit and charm and wasn鈥檛 bitter about it. The way Sandra portrayed his character and even though I鈥檓 not too keen on the ending which could have gone a lot better in my opinion, it didn鈥檛 ruin the effect his character had on me.
I liked the detailing as well. Kathleen鈥檚 journey as a fashion buyer and all the experiences she had via her job. It was beautiful as well experiencing the love and oneness that radiated around the summer camp and with the orphans in it. It鈥檚 just a bit of a side note anyway.
Okay, so I began by saying that this is one of the first romance novels I read. I loved it a lot in the beginning as I was pretty young, but I remember even then, a lot of things didn鈥檛 make sense to me. For starters, the seamlessness with which she was seduced by Erik was highly disappointing. I mean I鈥檓 not a fan of playing too hard to get but two days? Really? Lol.
That鈥檚 on a lighter note. But till now I still felt that the fact that her character wasn鈥檛 built firmly in the beginning and she appeared so weak discouraged me from liking her as a person. And then, the way she jumped to conclusions about his marital status without asking a single question. She was a grown adult. It didn鈥檛 just feel realistic to me.
Reading more of Sandra Brown鈥檚 books, I realized that her later works were much more refined. But I still think this one was pretty cool. So I鈥檓 rating it a 4.0/5. A relaxing weekend read by all means.
Jhymi馃枻
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