From Publishers Weekly
Set in northern Iowa farm country in the 1950s, Garlock's retro romance (following With Heart) details the fitful relationship of high-school sweethearts Nelda Hansen and Lute Hanson. As teenagers, the two were hurried into a shotgun marriage by Nelda's Marine Corps officer father because she was pregnant; five days later, the marriage was dissolved. During the ensuing nine years, Lute enlisted in the Navy, the baby died and Nelda became a successful interior decorator. Now Nelda has inherited the family farm, and Lute is working his family's acres. They meet across the grave of their baby girl, and it's clear that the passion of their youth has not faded. The moment is poignant, but Lute's subsequent behavior displays an obvious lack of maturity. Even though career women were a rarity in the '50s, Lute's nasty attitude toward Nelda's profession is severe. That Nelda endures his insults is even more aggravating, and readers may find it difficult to identify with such a subdued heroine. Exacerbating an already off-putting storyline, Garlock's prose is stilted and her dialogue hampered by constant "I'll not's." Those who like the dominant hero, fragile heroine duo may appreciate this breezy read, but readers who prefer mature, intelligent protagonists should look elsewhere. (Feb.) Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Book Description
"I owa, 1958. Nelda Hanson, a successful young designer in Chicago, has come home to sell the family farm. Here, just eight years ago, she was a pregnant teenage bride, torn from the arms of her new husband minutes after the ceremony. Nelda wouldn't see him again, not even after she bore his child. Now suddenly-and dangerously-Lute Hanson is back in her life. The thin, blue-eyed boy with the shy smile has become a rugged and handsome, yet distant and angry man. He's someone who has reason to hate her. But all Nelda can hate is her own weakness in loving him, as if she could have ever stopped, as if all the hurt over so much time could not return to consume them both...."


Download Description
When Nelda Hanson returns to her Iowa farmland home, she meets again her teenage love, Lute, who was, for a few brief months, her husband. There is still misunderstanding and anger despite the old feelings that rise between them again. Ten years have passed since their divorce in 1949. After their infant daughter died, Nelda went to Chicago and became a successful interior decorator whereas Lute stayed in Iowa, farming the land. Nelda recognizes that she is a different woman now and that Lute has matured and is virtually a stranger to her. Is their love reawakening or are they merely under the spell of nostalgia and a desire to recapture what might have been?

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"Iowa, 1958. Nelda Hanson, a successful young designer in Chicago, has come home to sell the family farm. Here, just eight years ago, she was a pregnant teenage bride, torn from the arms of her new husband minutes after the ceremony. Nelda wouldn't see him again, not even after she bore his child. Now suddenly-and dangerously-Lute Hanson is back in her life. The thin, blue-eyed boy with the shy smile has become a rugged and handsome, yet distant and angry man. He's someone who has reason to hate her. But all Nelda can hate is her own weakness in loving him, as if she could have ever stopped, as if all the hurt over so much time could not return to consume them both...."

SYNOPSIS