What We Find by Robyn Carr ****

My first Harlequin Romance. Sure enough, at around page 100, What We Find by Robyn Carr includes a multi-page sex scene, leading 100 pages later to ultimate sex.

"When a man gives all of himself to a woman who gives everything she has, the bond is so powerful it can be the ultimate fulfillment."

The two main characters are Maggie Sullivan and Cal Jones, a brain surgeon and a defense lawyer, respectively. Both are going through traumatic life experiences and have retreated to backwoods of Colorado. I found the characters realistic, sympathetic and interesting.

An enjoyable read for all who appreciate Cal's mission statement: "I want to build a healthy, balanced family life in a beautiful place with the woman I love."

However, a few things kept bouncing me out of the story.

About every 50 pages, more or less, I ran into a sentence or two I had to read over and over to understand.

She sighed. "My dad says I have high expectations of myself," she said, when in fact it was she who carried those expections.

It was over an hour before it was their turn to appear.

I read this as "It was finished an hour before..." It should have been read as "It was longer than an hour before..."

These missteps reminded me that there were an author and editors between me and the story.

After this I imagined editors adding details that do little to the story except to satisfy a small number of picky specialists. This is from an exciting scene where our heroine is being lowered over a ledge. First, some editor required her to wear a helmet. Then some other editor required an explanation for the availability of the helmet. I hope they are happy.

"Someone else handed her a helmet, which was just dumb luck -- they didn't typically wear helmets on the trails."