Robert Barclay (2)

There’s an interesting premise behind this fantasy / paranormal romance, but Barclay unfortunately just doesn’t have the writing chops to pull it off. Shallow characterizations, wooden dialogue, and an unfortunate number of homophone errors keep this novel from ever really satisfying.

When architect Garrett Richmond gives in to a long-held desire to buy and renovate a New Bedford home dating back to the early 1800s, he hardly expects a ghost to come along with it. Constance Canfield fell from her home’s rooftop widow’s walk in 1840, as she watched for the return of her whaling captain husband. But Constance, for some reason, has been trapped between life and death for 170 years, invisible to the successive owners of Seaside – until Garrett Richmond appears. Once Garrett accepts what seems to be impossible, he finds himself developing strong emotions for Constance, and – most frightening of all – each of them separately seems to be coming unmoored in time, flashing back to incidents in Constance’s history.

The why and how of the phenomenon doesn’t really get much attention until the last hundred pages. Only when Constance and Garrett are told of the frightening attempt they must make to resolve the situation, does the book develop any drive or suspense. It’s a nice last-ditch effort, but really can’t overcome the book's clunky beginnings… (altro)

A grieving, bitter widower is thrown by circumstance into contact with the widow of the drunk driver who killed his son and daughter.

Gee, what in the world do you suppose will happen here? If you’ve ever watched a Hallmark Movie, you already know.

Barclay’s romance novel is saved from utter sicky-sweetness by underlying plot lines dealing with the hero’s father – a still-powerful man facing the decline of his mental powers – and one centering on the widow’s troubled adolescent son. Along the way, secrets are revealed and tears are shed on the way to the foreordained happy ending.

The writing is pedestrian, the two main characters are essentially one-dimensional, and the Florida setting seems to have been chosen because – hey, you gotta set it somewhere, and besides, that’s where Barclay lives.

Unless you’re a fan of formulaic non-chick-lit romance, this one is about two notches above a Desperation Read.… (altro)

I know that this novel is being compared to The Time Traveler's Wife and but I would have to say that this novel does not even hold a close candle to that thoughtful and heartbreaking novel. I really do love time travel romance reads like Remembrance and A Knight in Shining Armor since if the author is clever they can seamlessly add in the time travel aspects to the plot to make it feel real to readers. Ultimately, The Widow's Walk: A Novel was a bland read that did not make a lot of sense once the author tries to tie things up in the end. I think I said a few times out loud, "Nope, that makes no sense at all." FYI, this is not a good thing while reading a book.

The novels begins with Constance Canfield awaiting sightings of her husband Adam's whaling ship in the 1840s in Bedford, MA. Constance constantly paces the widow walk at her home called Seaside and dreams how happy she will be once Adam is back from his two year voyage at sea. We then spring forward into the present day with Garret Richmond purchasing Seaside. Garret is an architect and hopes to rebuild Seaside to its former glory. Garrett begins to feel as if someone is at Seaside with him and comes to meet Constance who has been trapped at Seaside for 150 years. Until now no one could see Constance but for some reason Garrett is able to see her.

I ultimately gave this novel three stars because I ultimately found the two main characters boring, the storyline nonsensical, and the ending laughable.

I ultimately never found Constance and Garrett's love to be real. Initially I was intrigued by Constance since she and Adam seemed to be one hundred percent in love with one another. However, once readers are transported into the present day with her and she starts to fall for Garrett she just became insipid to me. I ultimately could not understand why either one of them fell for each other.

The actual storyline just made no sense once you got further into the novel. It still does not make sense to me that somehow Constance is not a ghost and is able to eat, drink, move things, steal them, but until now only Garrett could see her. Also without being too spoilery the ability to transport things back and forth through time just drove me crazy. I hate novels that do this.

The ending to me was really not well thought out at all. I wish that the novel had went another way and if the author had I think changed up the ending from what it was then this could have been compared to "The Time Traveler's Wife." Instead I think he tried to wrap things up in a tidy bow.

Please note that I received this product via the Amazon Vine Program.… (altro)