Rating: 
Summary: Kallmaker leaves me wanting more.
Review: I read Touchwood before I read Watermark and I have to admit to having mixed feelings about the first book. While I thought Louisa was a great woman, I never really bought her relationship with Rayann. That said, I absolutely adored Teresa in Watermark. She was intelligent, witty, and well-written. She is, by far, one of my favorite Kallmaker characters. I was definitely hoping she and Rayann would be successful in their romance. Kallmaker handled Rayann's "hurt and pain" throughout the book realistically. While the romantic in me wanted more from Teresa and Rayann by the book's end, I still recommend the book. Kallmaker succeeds once again in presenting us with two beautiful leads and a bookful of wonderful and memorable characters.
Rating: 
Summary: Worth Multiple Readings
Review: If you want to enjoy this book, change your expectations. I read it when it first came out and was disappointed -- I wanted a nice, neat, happy romance. That is not what this book is about. There is a romance, but it ends ambiguously. The primary theme of this book is grief and moving on. It's mostly a novel, not a romance. I read the followup short story in Kallmaker's Frosting on the Cake, and that's what made me re-read this book. With the right expectation I was blown away by how powerful the prose is and how incredibly moving many of the scenes are. The characters are slices right out of life and they are as complicated and flawed and heroic as any Kallmkaer has ever done. I am so glad I re-read this book. Now all I can say is BRAVA!
Rating: 
Summary: what happened?
Review: In Touchwood I was hoping for Rayann and Zoraida to fall in love, but alas Rayann fell for Louisa. It was still a good book, but Watermark is inconsistant, dark and the ending is disappointing. If Rayann had to find another lover, why could'nt it have been Zoraida. I thought her character was sexy, strong and vulnerable all at the same time. she could have helped Ray come to terms with Louisas death. Instead we r introduced to a young woman with little back bone and no appealing qualities who becomes Ray's love interest. I didnt get it.
Rating:
Summary: Scary Subjects We Must Talk About
Review: Like other reviewers I was caught off guard by how serious and wrenching this "romance" from Karin Kallmaker was. Nevertheless, I think Iit is one of her finest books. Reading it made my partner and I discuss some very scary subjects, including how we want the other to go on if one of us died. These are important things to discuss and I am thankful to the author for writing this book. I don't want to imply that's it's a total downer -- it's entertaining, quite funny at times and emotionally draining, too.
Rating:
Summary: Tears
Review: This book was exactly what I needed when I read it. Coping with the loss of someone very close to me was wearing me down and a friend gave this book to me to read. I am a big romance reader, but did not get this one (by one of my favorite writers) because I thought it would be depressing. I could not believe at first how comforting it was to read and cry and have that gentle assurance that life goes on and there is hope, no matter how tenuous, for happiness in the end. Yes, this book was very different from other books by Karin Kallmaker, but I found the writing as powerful as anything she's ever done. This "romance" didn't stop at the heart; it got right down into a woman's soul.
Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking!
Review: This book was so sad and I cried and cried. I thought about it for days afterward. Images from it haunted me and scared me. I help my girlfriend a little bit tighter and wondered what it would feel like on some ordinary day to get a phone call like the one that Rayann did. But like Rayann, after time went by, I began to get past all the grief, and I realized that Terese is witty and smart, honest and rash, flawed and lovable. Very, very different from the first great love of Rayann's life. Like Rayann, it just took me some time to see it. Once I did, I fell for Terese in a big, big way. This is an unusual romance novel, but ultimately it gave me what I always look for in a love story: belief that love is real and we all deserve to have it in our lives. That feeling is why I read romance novels.
Rating: 
Summary: Watermark is a sequel to Touchwood
Review: Watermark (1999) is a sequel to Touchwood and fans may want to read them in order.
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