Miracle

by Danielle Steel

Reviewed by Coral

People who know me know I'm not one for the overly sentimental, sappy romances of movies or books, which is why it's so surprising that I keep watching and reading them. Even more surprising is that, along the way, I've actually liked a few of them.

In my life before I started writing these reviews I'd only read 2 Danielle Steel books: The Long Road Home, that I liked, and The Klone and I, which was beyond ridiculous. Miracle falls somewhere in the middle of the spectrum.

Quinn Thompson is a recently widowed, wealthy sailing buff. His daughter Alex hates him for his long term absences during her youth, his emotional abandonment when her brother died, and for cheating her of the opportunity of saying good-bye to her mother when Jane Thompson was diagnosed with a fatal illness. They have no relationship, a fact that is repeated constantly throughout the first three chapters of the book.

Quinn withdraws into memories of his past with Jane, drowning in feelings of guilt as he goes through his wife's possessions. Then everything changes, as the storm of the century hits California.

It is in the storm's aftermath that he meets Maggie Dartman, a neighbor whose house is as damaged as Quinn's, and Jack Adams, the contractor Quinn has hired to repair his house.

The friendship that develops between the three of them is ... odd. It feels rushed, like all of a sudden they've met and their baring their souls not a moment after. I don't know how realistic that is. I could never reveal personal things about myself to someone I barely know, I don't even reveal parts of myself to the people I've known all my life.

The whole books feels odd really, like the pacing was off or something. All in all, not a terrible book; a harmless outing in the romance world, but it won't be making my top ten list any time soon.

Grade: C