Ponder Post: Right Where We Belong

Right Where We Belong is the fourth novel in the Silver Springs series by Brenda Novak. I have read and posted reviews about the first three (not necessarily having read them in series order) and enjoyed them all. There is enough cross referencing of characters in the other books that reading them has the comfort of family, but no required information is missed if the books are read out of order.

                  ©2017    Until You Loved Me (3rd)   (reviewed in 11/02/17 post)   
                  ©2017    No One But You (2nd)        (reviewed in 11/10/17 post)       
                  ©2017    Finding Our Forever (1st)   (reviewed in 12/04/17 post)

   

In Brenda Novak's book the set up is usually a bit contrived but still believable. In this instance the heroine, Savanna Gray, has left her husband, who much to her absolute surprise and unawareness, has attacked and raped three women. The violence and hostility of the husband's action are not the focus of the book, only the circumstances from which to examine the impact on a family when one of its members is accused of a heinous crime. Savanna is shunned and despised in her town and her two children are taunted and bullied at school, so she sets out for a new start in a different state. She plans to live in an old, abandoned, very rundown, fixer upper farmhouse left to her by her grandparents.

Her next door neighbor, Gavin Turner, is striving for a career in music, but also works as a handyman at the New Horizons Boys Ranch. He himself was a graduate of that school for troubled teens, having been abandoned by his biological parents and growing up within the foster child system. They meet the day Savanna drives up in a rented moving truck. He recognizes that she is at a low point in her life and he offers to help her with what she needs.

Angst accrued from personal life experiences, such as trust on Savanna's part and abandonment on Gavin's, hinder them from getting together. But, throw in a bit of sensual chemistry and the story line becomes somewhat predictable. Every good book needs conflict and a struggle on the journey, right? The obstacles are unique to these characters; their struggles to do the right thing reveals the innate goodness in the soul of each.

Why do I like this author's books, other than a common setting and loosely related characters? The hero in each comes from a troubled background and overcomes it to become an empathetic,  responsible, desirable, dependable, kind man. I dislike romance novels were the guy is an a**hole but the girl falls for him because he is a "bad boy" or a macho man with a great physique. Also in each of the books in this series the woman has a child or children to consider and the man is supportive of kids. Also, the kids and the hero mutually like each other. Brenda Novak's stories plausibly illustrate that romance prevails and can coexist with kids, even in the real world beyond fiction!