Pamela Morsi

A romance featuring a mentally disabled hero. The story was enjoyable, and the people and lifestyle of Marrying Stone fascinating. Althea's resistance to remarriage and gradual falling in love with Jesse were well done, as is Jesse's admiration of Althea. Jesse's problems with processing input rang true with what I observe of my autistic son.

What struck me most about this story was that it'd be much harder to tell it in a modern setting. Jesse Best definitely has cognitive impairments, but show more he knows how to hunt and butcher, to care for animals, to do the daily tasks on a farm -- he's able to do all the things an adult male in his society needs to do, and he's quite capable of being a good husband and father. In the modern U.S.? He'd likely be in a group home and bagging groceries, and romance and marriage wouldn't be in his future. This book has definitely made me think about how the severity of a disability depends in part on the surrounding society. show less

This book is such an unexpected surprise in a wonderful way. Jess is handsome, hard-working, strong, and kind to animals and children. Perfect husband material - except he was born with a birth issue that left him sometimes slower in speech or cognition. When he hears widow Althea Winsloe is planning to sell her hounds, he makes a deal to work around her farm to acquire the dogs.
They live in the small mountain community of Marrying Stone in the Ozarks in the early 1900s. It's made up of two show more basic families, both of whom want to get their hands on Althea's farm, so a scheme is concocted that forces Althea to pick a husband from one of the families by Christmas. She has no wish to remarry, intending to keep the farm for her young son Baby-Paisley (named after his late father).
While the two hand-picked suitors and the rest of the community conspire around them, Jess and Althea are working to get the farm ready for the winter. I really enjoyed the details about Ozark mountain life, the farm work, and how they entertain themselves. The author has a wonderful grasp of speech and customs that I appreciated a lot.
The secondary characters have rich backstories too and add much to the overall story. Fitting in in a small community where you may be different isn't easy and the author does a great job in showcasing their stories.
I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up this book, but I loved it. Jess and Althea's relationship develops slowly and equally on both sides. Each has much to offer the other and I appreciated how the author didn't downplay Jesse's contribution. A great story that I'd recommend to anyone enjoying a different type of historical romance. show less

I appreciate Pamela Morsi because she writes romances that involve regular people, not billionaires or vampires. The hero of Love Overdue is a small town pharmacist, yet Morsi manages to make him honorable and sexy. I also like the book's supporting characters, primarily the quirky library employees. And the entire book is a well-deserved valentine to libraries, librarians and book lovers everywhere. Even the information about the Kansas wheat harvest is presented in a way that entertains show more and educates.

But the book has some very major weaknesses that limited my enjoyment. First, the whole plot hinges on the machinations of the hero's mother, who has some serious boundary issues. (She reminded me of a great Amy Schumer quote: "I took my mother to a soccer game to show her what boundaries are.") I don't find stories about meddling parents or grandparents cute or endearing - I find them disturbing. They take away the hero and heroine's agency and make them seem like pawns in their own story.

Then there's the whole "prudish librarian" stereotype, which is also a little troubling. Morsi tries to explain the history behind the heroine's repressed personality, as well as the reason for her one ill-advised Caribbean fling, but I can't help disliking a plot that plays into that tired cliché.

Finally, as other reviewers have noted, the book ends very abruptly, forcing the reader to use her imagination about what could have been a very romantic and/or dramatic dénouement. I'd like to know Morsi's rationale for this unusual decision, but it is very odd. Maybe she could run a contest and give a prize to the reader who writes the best scene to replace the missing conclusion. show less

4.5 stars.

Mr. Right Goes Wrong by Pamela Morsi is a wonderful novel about starting over and finding love when least expected. Next door neighbors and childhood friends Mazy Gulliver and Eli Latham have had a couple of ill-fated romances in the past, but with Mazy’s sudden return, is it finally their chance for lasting happiness? Or will Mazy’s past and Eli’s doubts destroy their future together?

Moving back to her small hometown with her fourteen year old son, Tru, Mazy is determined to show more get her life back on track. Unfortunately, the only person whom she can irrefutably count on to give her the job she desperately needs is her ex, Tad Driscoll. Her relief at her new beginning is tempered by the mistrust her new job as a loan collector engenders in the small town but luckily, she can count on her friendship with Eli to bolster her sometimes flagging self-confidence.

Mazy is painfully honest and refreshingly upfront about her past mistakes. There are a multitude of reasons behind her unfortunate selections when it comes to men, but she finally has a better idea of what precipitated her poor choices and she is not going to slip back into her old habits. The first step in her new, improved life is renewing her friendship with Eli, and she is stunned at the changes in her perception of Eli. For the first time, she sees him as the sexy, attractive man he has become instead of the boy next door.

Eli has been in love with Mazy most of his life and despite how badly things ended between them years earlier, he harbors no ill will towards her. The two eagerly pick up where they left off, but this time around, Eli is not going to let Mazy slip through his fingers. After watching her fall for bad boy after bad boy, he devises what he thinks is a foolproof plan that will keep her from leaving him. Instead of being the nice, loving, thoughtful man he really is, Eli puts his harebrained scheme into motion and morphs into the insensitive, selfish, offensive boyfriend she is trying to avoid.

It is very difficult to watch the relationship between Mazy and Eli unfold. She is so hopeful that she is entering into a new phase in her life and the fact that Eli is willing to let her back in his life is an unexpected bonus. Her confusion over his conflicting behaviors is heartbreaking and I hated seeing her self-doubts return. Mazy put up with his bad behavior for far too long, but in end? It was completely worth it because it showed her how much she had truly changed from the person she used to be.

Eli is such a nice guy that he lets people take advantage of him and in the beginning, it is easy to overlook his horrendous decision. He takes some really bad advice to heart and his past experiences with Mazy also play a role in the conclusions he reaches. Some of his reasoning is well-intentioned, and he finds it very difficult to be deliberately hurtful. But things go a little too far when he begins to relish some of his hurtful actions and when his plan falls apart, I was thrilled by how Mazy handled the entire situation.

With Mr. Right Goes Wrong, Pamela Morsi delivers yet another thought-provoking and dynamic novel that is sweet, hopeful and just a little poignant. The characters are flawed and imperfect and although watching them deal with life’s harsher moments is sometimes painful, it is incredibly gratifying watching them triumph over their problems. The romance between Eli and Mazy is touching and although they endure a few rough spots, their happily ever after is definitely worth the heartache.

Mr. Right Goes Wrong is another delightful novel by one of my favorite authors that I highly recommend. show less