Jill Gregory

[Warning: lots of backstory spoilers here, but nothing that spoils the main (contemporary) narrative.]

I've long been fascinated by the fact that "Let there be light" occurred on the first day, according to the book of Genesis, while the creation of the stars, sun and moon didn't take place until the fourth day. Even as allegory, it's obvious that the light in question on that first day could not have been our sun. For lack of any better explanation, I've always considered it to be a legacy show more of the Big Bang even as I failed to find a way to explain how folks in biblical times would have known about this relatively recent theory of the origin of the universe.

At the same time, I had never heard of a tzohar (or sohar) being mentioned anywhere in the Old Testament ark story. But something about it is there, I've since confirmed. And I've also long known about how J.R.R. Tolkien's works were laced with his Roman Catholic beliefs, but I never connected (even as passing theory) this strange primordial light of Genesis with Galadriel's mirror and the phial that she gave to Frodo as a gift before he left Lorien. "May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out."

It is the sum of these tales that forms the basis of THE ILLUMINATION, a fascinating contemporary story that is, essentially, a thriller about the fate of this light. The Israelis wants it and claims provenance from Noah through David and beyond. Muslim and Christian extremist groups want it for their own reasons. The American government wants it for scientific reasons. And caught up between all of these factions are our likable protagonists: Natalie Landau, a museum curator, and Jim D'Amato, an MSNBC journalist who may or may not be something more.

The novel has its share of gaping plot holes (towards the end, in particular), but the premise is so cool and the principals so likable and the narrative so well done that, for once, I was able to ignore a lot of the cognitive dissonance. But honestly, in a lesser story, those plot holes would have been fatal. Here, I found them to be drowned out by all of the good and fun elements of the story. show less

Another small-town romance. Can't we have contemporary romance that isn't set in a small town? I'm starting to get tired of the schtick. Anyway..

This was a cute novel. I liked how Rafe's teenage daughter played into the story. I also liked that Sophie and Rafe both had issues to work through. I did think the mystery portion of the novel fell flat. It seemed silly and didn't make a lot of sense with the rest of the plot. Not sure why it was included.

Reading the book, I've returned several times to the date of publication - 2009. When you compare it with events today, you realize that humanity has not moved forward for 15 years. While reading it, you can freely think that it was written today. Almost the same events, the same race of countries to be number one in the world, religious struggles, manipulation of people, people dying for money. Interesting to read but very sad when you sum it all up...

Good book about second chances and coming home. Carly is a recent addition to Lonesome Way, moving there after the death of her foster mother to be near her foster mother's cousin. Carly also has a toddler girl, the product of a one night stand, and wants to raise her in the stability of a small town. What she hasn't told anyone is that little Emma is the daughter of hometown rodeo star Jake Tanner. She never told Jake either. Jake comes back to Lonesome Way once in awhile to visit his show more brothers and their families, before he heads back out onto the rodeo circuit. He firmly believes that settling down is something that isn't in his future at all.

When Carly hears that Jake is back in town, she panics. She doesn't want a man in Emma's life who will show up maybe once or twice a year, creating hope of a relationship and then letting her down. She'd rather have no father in Emma's life at all. When Jake discovers that Emma is his, he makes it clear to Carly that he will be involved in Emma's life on a regular basis. She isn't sure that she can trust what he says, based on his reputation and what he had told her himself the night they spent together.

Jake isn't happy that he's missed almost two years of Emma's life, but once he gets over the shock he understands why Carly did what she did. That doesn't mean that he's going to do what she wants and step back, he wants to be a daddy to his little girl. He knows better than to get involved with Carly. She's willing to be friends for Emma's sake, but she won't fall for a man who avoids commitment.

Both Carly and Jake have issues from their pasts that make them reluctant to risk a relationship with each other. Besides her issue with her father's abandonment, Carly had fallen in love with a man who turned out to be the worst kind of liar and cheat. This added to her distrust of men. When Jake was nineteen he had made a promise to a young woman to protect her from her abusive father, and when he wasn't able to, he blamed himself. He swore that he would never allow himself to be responsible for another person. So they promise each other that they will be friends only, with their focus on being the kind of parents that Emma needs. Of course, they aren't able to keep that promise.

I loved the slow growth of their relationship. Because they were determined to be friends, they kept a lid on their attraction and spent time getting to know each other. I loved the way that Jake was determined to earn Carly's trust. It was fun to see him interact with Emma and make sure that Carly knew she could depend on him. What he didn't expect was the way that he found himself wanting to cut back on his time away from them, and it freaked him out a lot. He tried pulling away and going back to his old ways before he realized that he had undergone some real changes and wasn't afraid any longer. Carly tried very hard to keep the walls up around her heart, afraid of what would happen if she let herself trust Jake and then he were to go back to his old ways. She slowly began to believe in him when he would put she and Emma ahead of his rodeo commitments. When she felt threatened by a break in, his immediate protectiveness went a long way toward making her believe in him. The mystery of who was behind the break in and who was following her babysitter was not what I first suspected, so it made an interesting twist to the story. It also gave Jake one more opportunity to shine in Carly's eyes. I loved how Jake was finally able to show and convince Carly how he felt, and that she was ready to believe.

There was also a nice secondary romance between Carly's babysitter and a young man who was trying to come back from some mistakes he had made. Madison and Brady had been friends as kids until she did something that wrecked their friendship. But she was one of the few people in town that believed in him, and was willing to give him the second chance he wanted. I loved seeing how he was determined to watch out for her too. There were some very sweet scenes between the two of them as they renewed their friendship and more.

I also enjoyed the support that both Jake and Carly received from his brothers and their wives. His brothers didn't have any trouble dispensing advice, whether he wanted it or not. And I loved how none of them held any anger against Carly for keeping Emma a secret. I especially loved the girls' night with the ice cream, cake and wine. The dog was pretty darn adorable, too. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series. show less