Sunday, May 25, 2014

Lisa's Book of the Week: "A Lesson in Passion" By: Jennifer Connors



Having had one of those week's, I have not had much opportunity to pick up a book and read this week.  So my book of the week is one of favourites that I discovered a couple of years ago.  It is the first in a series that has to be read in the right order and is little bit different from the norm.  This is " A Lesson in Passion" by Jennifer Connors. 

It starts off as any modern day romance does, with Ginny bemoaning the lack of decent men available and wondering why she is still alone.  Romance does feature very highly in Ginny's vocabulary and when a work colleague hands her a pile of romance novels to read while on her beach holiday, Ginny is dismissive of the idea.  A modern woman with modern ideas of what love should be, looking more for compatibility than for someone who can sweep her off her feet.  Yes there are women out there who don't understand the need for romance novels - each to their own, I suppose.  But think about everything they are missing out on.  The book boyfriends they will never meet, the stories they will never experience and the HEAs they will never find. 

So Ginny gives in and takes the romance books on holiday with her, thinking that she won't have any need for them.  But her holiday goes from bad to worse, with no hope of finding a man as the resort is hosting th Gay and Lesbian Alliance, then gets food poisoning and then the resort gets hit by a tropical storm.  On the plus side, it gives Ginny plenty of opportunity to read the romance books that she doesn't want to read.  I know I keep going on about these romance novels but they are important as to where this story is heading. 

Upon her return home, Ginny and her friend Lisa are involved in a car accident and when Ginny wakes up, everything is different.  She finds herself tied up on the back of a horse in the Scottish Highlands and it reminds her just of the one of the romance books she read while on holiday.  A modern day woman in the distant past.  It is an opportunity for misunderstanding, some degree of hilarity and a lot of adjustment on Ginny's part as well as those now part of her life. 
Watching Ginny try to adjust to the different lifestyle and the different attitudes towards women is part of the enjoyment of this story.  Equally though, you quickly learn that Ginny has a lesson to learn about love and relationships.  In this case passion.  Each book in this series sees Ginny inhabiting a new body, a new life, a new story in her quest to return to her own life but each story brings its own lesson for her to learn.  One thing is clear is that Ginny can not hurry the story along, she must let it run its course for her to truly learn.   

It is a really good read and as a series, grows with each book as it takes you through a variety of sub-genres in the historical romance genre.  While there are plenty of opportunities for Ginny to make 'improvements' this is primarily about Ginny learning that love and romance is not going happen with her attitude and way of dealing with dates.  I think probably a lesson for us all along the way. 

No comments:

Post a Comment