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Book Review of One Summer

One Summer
One Summer
Author: Karen Robards
Genre: Romance
Book Type: Paperback
reviewed on + 244 more book reviews


High school teacher Rachel Grant believed in her student Johnny Harris's innocence even after he was convicted of murdering his girlfriend. Now, 10 years later, he's out on parole and Rachel has taken him under her wing, even finding a job for him. It isn't long before their relationship changes and Rachel and Johnny become much more intimate. But when another murder occurs and Johnny is the prime suspect, can Rachel prove his innocence before it's too late? Karen Robards defines passion in this story of love and scandal in a small Kentucky town. One Summer is an outstanding novel that readers will turn to again and again.
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Robards ( Nobody's Angel ) here mixes suspense with romance, with uneven results. Teacher Rachel Grant, the daughter of a prominent family, agrees to give a former student a job when he gets out of prison after serving 11 years on a murder conviction. Rachel has always believed that Johnny Harris did not kill the girl he was dating, but everyone else in their small Kentucky town thinks otherwise. Johnny liberates Rachel from her well-planned but lonely life, and their mutual attraction grows into a relationship between soul mates, scandalizing the townspeople. When another girlfriend of Johnny's turns up dead, Rachel staunchly defends him and searches for the real murderer; her loyalty allows Johnny to escape the past and begin his life again. Though Robards provides an entertaining read about romantic renewals, several elements combine to make the plot seem farfetched. Johnny's transformation from hoodlum to law student is too rapid, the identity and motive of the true murderer seem implausible, and characters are too sketchily developed to make their motivations credible.