The Family Plan

Rating:
Summary: McClouds of Maine
Review: Or McClouds of Minnesota or Nevada. The setting of this book was totally irrelevant, much to my disappointment. I bought it because of the logo on the front, thinking it was set in my home state and that would be neat. It was so generic the story and characters could have come from anywhere. And I know that's usually true of romances, but the logo emphasized location. And, it appears from the little map this fictional city would have been located in the Delta area, home of the Blues as well as extreme poverty. Never mentioned in the book along with African-American characters or Mississippi icons like Ole Miss.

I was never clear on the time of year this story took place. But, no one sweated and we're humid down here! No one ate catfish, griped about the kudzu or said ya'll. None of the characters, even minor characters, spoke like Southerners. I was like what?

Overall, the story idea was a good one and despite the fact that Mississippi was just on the cover, I liked how the story started out. The main two characters, Caitlin and Nathan were likable, although the sexual chemistry was miniumal.

What ruined the book for me was the 3 year old kid who talked and acted 30. She was so unbelivable she pulled me right out of the story. The author kept emphasizing how brilliant, adorable and poised she was. I suppose this was to convince the reader the kid was real? Why not put an average 3 year old in the story? Instead of one who wants the square wheat cereal instead of Coco Puffs, because they have too much sugar??? I nearly fell out of my chair as well as out of the story that I had enjoyed up until her arrival. After that, it was a chore to keep reading because this "Perfect Shirley Temple Child" was in the story constantly and she grossed me out.

This was my first book by this author. She has another one to follow this one, the hero is a writer. However, I think he's going to be taking care of the Perfect Child, so I'll pass on it. I hope she did more with Mississippi in the second book
especially since he's a writer. The author might want to get
Willie Morris's book, My Mississippi for reference.
This was my first book by this author.