The Story that Left Me Wonderin’

Ronda Rich’s The Town That Came a Courtin’ is more or less your classic rom-com, but book form. (But a real rom-com movie too, apparently…)

Honestly, despite being a rom-com fan (I don’t care what Buzzfeed’s rom-com expert quiz says!), I’m honestly not sure how well I like this one. For one, it takes place in the South, mostly in Mississippi. Maybe I’m not used to Southernisms, or maybe I’m only used to Gone in the Wind and Disney World, but for me, reading about the fictional author (so meta) Abby Houston’s trip to Bliss, Mississippi seemed awfully stereotypical and very Mayberry-esque.

I wanted more conflict, more meat to the story. I get that middle-aged Abby is a divorcee who’s meddling mother wants her to get married, but I quickly tired of that story line. Spoiler alert: it’s the major aspect of the book. I grew frustrated of Abby trying to be an independent-woman-who-don’t-need-no-man and then quickly flipping to a little wanna-be-damsel-in-distress-looking-for-a-husband just paragraphs, if not sentences later.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a sucker for love and am really happy she got her happy ending with the love-interest, Spence. But for a book that’s supposed to take place largely over a few days, it sure felt like a hell of a long time for her to be himming and hawing about whether or not she should flirt with her crush…because it ain’t lady-like. Sigh.

There was one plot twist that I didn’t totally see coming, but it also wasn’t out of left field either. So while that did add a little more drama on top of Abby’s emotional fluctuations, it didn’t strike me as terribly realistic and left me feeling somewhat “meh” about it.

It was a quick and reasonably entertaining read, however, so, I’ll give the book that. I think my biggest issue is that Abby just seemed to be kind of a flat character–I wanted more substance out of both her and the plot. Other than that, I thought it was well-written. I love me some descriptive scenes and lots of dialogue. So, if you want a quick, romantic read with a happy ending, this is definitely a book worth checking out…though maybe only from the library in my opinion.

That’s all for this week! I’m still working through my closet of un-read books, so next up is Sandra Cisneros’ Carmelo. Feel free to send me suggestions for new books, otherwise, I’ll be heading to the library soon and see what goodies I can find there!

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