Review: Walland

Walland by Andrea Thome
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received a galley of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have had Walland on my NetGalley to read shelf seemingly forever. I was drawn in by its lush cover and the lure of a story set at the famous Blackberry Farm in Tennessee. While Thome's wonderful descriptions of the farm and its environs made reading the book enjoyable, this book was also a reminder of why I find Romance a difficult genre to enjoy fully.

The protagonist, India, who has an interesting personal history, sounds a lot like blonde, tall and beautiful Thome herself, including having worked in broadcast TV. They always tell you to write what you know, so Thome did and she writes well. This is a well-written romance novel. But all the things that come with that, like this Manhattan woman getting into a vehicle with man she hardly knows who offers her a ride at the airport, out to the farm well outside her city of arrival, or the male love interest (personal sorrow) knowing that she must be a great photographer from watching (not even listening, watching) her talk to his friends, not from seeing her actual photography, or friends (thoroughly charming) of the male love interest, after spending all of about a week with India, knowing her on a deep, personal level, and telling the love interest (their lifelong friend who has suffered immense personal sorrow) that India is a great woman worth fighting for. (This is everything romance is, and a potent reminder as to why I, as a reviewer, should probably  avoid romance novels and stick to only historical romance, perchance only Jane Austen, if I'm going to read the genre.)

Thome shows that she can come up with complex characters and has a real gift for describing natural environs. Her love of nature sings loud in this book. She's recently released a second in the series. Not sure I'd jump to read it but if she shifts to writing straight fiction, without the romance angle, I'd definitely read her work again.

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