The Best Is Yet to Come: The Best Is Yet to Come\Maternity Bride [Mass Market Paperback]

First off all I saw this book at my local "Target" store and instantly picked it up because Diana Palmer wrote it. I read the synopsis on the back of the book and threw the book in my cart. When I got home and started reading the book I realized it had a story by another author with Diana Palmer's story! I was mad!! I get angry because she keeps releasing these short stories, which granted are good stories but the length of the book deceived me! The overall story was pretty good, not exceptional, but a good short read. I believe it was less than 200 pages long. I read it one day! So, just be careful if you come across this book and don't be deceived into thinking this is a long thought-out story because nowhere on the cover of my book does it say there is another story by another author jointed with this book.

I don't even know where to begin when it comes to writing the review about this book. I've known for a while now that Ms. Palmer's books have been going downhill and that the stories were more of a repeat of the same plotlines over and over again but, I've got to say that this book should shame her and shame her publisher for even putting into print! Not only was the story on a fifth grade writing level, it also made no kind of sense at all on most of its pages. SPOILER ALERT DON'T CONTINUE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW! First, Ivy and Ryder 'knew' each other from Ivy's friendship with his much younger sister (It seems Ms. Palmer is stuck on the 10 yr age difference with the men always being 10+ yrs older than their "sheltered virginal ladies")and they had a 'hot' encounter that took place at his house when she was 18 and him 28 that took all of about a page of stilted writing. And the story goes rapidly on from their with her getting married at 18 and at the age of 24 becoming a widow who feels guilty about not having sexual feelings about her spouse who turned to alcohol and hitting her because he was mad because she couldn't respond to him. Then Ryder leaves her be for 6 months to get over her husband's death than he decends on her and her mother. Within the first 40 pages they'd argued and made up and miscommunicated and he offered her a job travelling with him on business (and everything else I just discussed - 40 pages! For all that to happen! Can someone say whiplash?)But even with the rapidness and jumping around of the story I wouldn't have had trouble with if not for the fact that the writing was clearly wretched. It is something I would have graded a fifth grade english paper with a 'D' just to be kind.

Case in point from page 20, Ryder had just arrived at Ivy and her mother's house directly from a flight wanting breakfast and they are discussing how his mansion has no heat because he didn't call ahead to get the gas turned back on (but left his personal pastry chef at the house to stay warm by the stove) Here is how the convo went:

Begin:

Ryder, watching her, could see the wall going up. He sighed as he creamed the coffee Jean had just poured him. "I drove down from the Atlanta airport," he volunteered. "The house is cold and there's no heat..." He contrived to look pitiful.

"You can stay with us," Jean said. "We have a spare bedroom."

"Of course," Ivy seconded, but she wouldn't look at him.

He hesitated, watching Ivy. "No, that's all right," he murmured. "I wouldn't want to impose. I can buy some thermal underwear and wrap up in a blanket."

Ivy burst out laughing at the picture. Ryder could have checked into the local motel. For goodness' sake, he could have bouth the local motel. And here he sounded as if he'd freeze without them.

"You poor man," Ivy said, turning, vividly beautiful with her black eyes sparkling in her flushed, animated face.

"Poor, in some ways," he agreed, smiling faintly while he stared and stared, mesmerized by her beauty. "You're a nice girl, Ivy," he mused, and forced his eyes back onto his plate as they all sat down. "I'll stay at the house, but appreciate being invited to breakfast. I was starved, and this is delicious," he added, savoring a bite of perfect scrambled eggs.

"Thank you," Jean said, grinning at him.

"Can Ivy cook like this?" he asked.

"Of course," Jean replied.

Ryder pursed his fim lips and grinned. "My stomach hears wedding bells."

Ivy went white. It was the shock, of course, the rememberance of grief, of what she'd lost. Ryder didn't feel things this deeply, she tried to tell herself, he wouldn't understand how much it hurt to joke about it, when she had Ben on her conscience. Ben. She'd killed Ben...!

He caught her just as she went sideways, lifting her gently in his hard arms. "For God's sake..." he ground out, his face betraying a flash of helpless shock.

"She'll get over it," Jane said. "She's hardly slept lately, or eaten very much. It's early days yet, and she loved him."

End

Arrrggghhh!!!! I wanted to throw the book after reading just that one section of the conversation! First off, Ivy had already said over and over in her head previous to this conversation that she HADN'T loved her dead husband and that he'd abused her! Not to mention that the man had been dead for SIX months so no, it's not "early days yet" Not to mention the stitled writing and the weirdness alone. Then there was also how they had discussed not two pages before how wonderful a cook Ivy was! AND you can't tell by the writing that Ivy fainted until Ryder is picking her up in his "hard arms" and as soon as she wakes up, in the space of a half a page, they argue, Ivy cries, and they make up laugh and go back to eating breakfast - LESS than a PAGE - I kid you not!

SO, No, I don't recommend this book unless you want to read the bonus book in the back from Maureen Child. It didn't make up for reading the first half of the book but it was a better read.

The Best Is Yet to Come is one of Diana's older stories that was originally printed back in 1991 and has been hard to find in the original Silhouette Desire #643. (It was once listed on Ebay and Hardtofindbooks.com for $50 for the original book.) So, having said that, I loved finding this reprint and getting a bonus story by another favorite author - Maureen Child.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 6 reviews  4.2 out of 5 stars