A Gentle Rain

The author deserves credit for creating an interesting story in a relatively-unused setting -- the ranches, small towns, deserted tourist attractions, and back highways of Florida, far away from the glitz and money of Orlando and Miami. The characters intrigue us by their very difference from our own experiences while calling on the nostalgic memories of readers who travelled Florida in the days before theme parks and spring break baccanalia took over the image of the state. The pairing of a subsistence cattle rancher with a wealthy albeit socially-aware woman provided reasonable contrast. The inclusion of the elderly and mentally/physically challenged is a welcome broadening of the population of romance novels.

The problem with the book is how the author subverts her own goals. She is clearly trying to convince us that all people have value, regardless of their deviation from societal norms and societal values. Older people and mentally-challenged people, the author demonstrates, are interesting and capable of being productive members of society. However, the author torpedoes her own goal by creating perfect characters. The two main characters are saints-in-training and the challenged characters are without blemish. The bad guys are uniformly evil and without redeeming qualities. We have white hats and black hats. Period. She could have made a much more meaningful point by having the 'good' guys demonstrate more complexity, showing us moments in which the good guys make mistakes, even serious ones.

Finally, I also grew tired of feeling lectured about the wonders of a vegan lifestyle.

Kara was raised by influential and well-to-do nature loving and hippy parents. Using their money and power to help the environment, her parents went against the family grain and made their own path. Hobnobbing with royalty, celebrities, and presidents was just something Kara grew up doing along with roughing it in Brazil and working side by side with all types and classes of people.

She had a well rounded upbringing, but growing up she was a little chubby and had a bad stutter, she struggled to keep up with her parents. When her parents die in a plane crash, in her early 30's Kara feels orphaned and alone; that is until she discovers she has another set of parents somewhere at a ranch in Florida.

When she comes to the ranch she finds Ben Thocco, ranch owner and all around good guy. He takes care of his little brother and a group of misfit ranch hands he has taken in and made his own.

This book is classified as Romance, but to me it was so much more, bigger, deeper, better. This is a story about families, those you are born with and then the families we make. About two people with very different backgrounds but more in common than they know. It's about second chances, hope and a lot of faith.

There are so many characters in this book and everyone is worth reading about and getting to know. Ms. Smith created a family out of several very special and unique individuals, each one with their own issues, but each one with a grand heart. I was moved and deeply touched by this story. I fell in love with every character and shared in their happiness and triumphs and cried with their sorrows.

Kara's biological parents were my favorite characters. Two people with so many odds stacked against them, so much heartache in their past, but in their childlike innocence, remained hopelessly in love. They were sweet and simple, warm and loving and two of the most endearing characters ever written. I enjoyed every page of this book, it's a truly poignant tale; this Gentle Rain floods the soul.

Cherise Everhard, March 2008

I normally like the books of Nicholas Sparks, Debbie Macomber, Luanne Rice, and Kristin Hannah and I've always wanted to give Deborah Smith a try. For me, I don't really think I was really missing much - I actually couldn't even finish reading this book - it's not my kind of romance. It's a little too melodramatic & "typical" for me. Rich girl meets a poor guy - they have sex and then fall in love (or lust). They can't be together for this reason and that reason but find their way back to each other. Yadda, Yadda, Yadda.

I know there is somewhat of storyline here attached to the romance and it does seem like the author tried to make the leap into Women's Fiction (versus flat out Romance) but something was missing. It almost seemed forced. I love to read love stories that involve real issues: family, children, marriage, etc. I don't really care for over the top, unbelievable romances with no kind of meaning or sentiment and for me, that's how this book left me.

The book was fairly well written and I can see that the author has a loyal following, but for me it's not the type of book I like, and I wasn't really interested in taking the time to finish it.

Sorry.

This book starts out with so much promise, but descends into monotonous predictability. The number of coincidences coupled with the almost saccharine "gifts of love," makes this a book for those who like impossible happy endings and who live in a dream world. Suitable for the Mills and Boon collection!

Okay, I'll admit it: This review is LONG overdue! Truth be told, this was one of my first review copies I got in the mail, and the fact that I haven't finished it shows my level of interest in it. It's a bit of a tricky book to review. There's nothing terrible wrong with it as far as I can tell. The story of an adopted girl falling in love with a rancher while discovering her past is easy enough to relate to for many people. In fact, I'd venture to guess that many people will love this novel. More power to them I say. But after a few months none of the characters really connected with me, and I have to finally admit when I'm beat. So while the story seems to be in good shape, I found the book too slowly developed for my tastes.

I hate to admit it, but I've had this review book sitting here for a couple years. I tried many, many times to read this one and every time I tried, I ended up putting it down soon thereafter. The story just never really grabbed me enough to make me want to continue reading. I tried when I was in various moods with different things going on in my life, thinking maybe I just had to be in the right frame of mind to read this one, as is sometimes the case. However, no matter when or how I tried, I never made it more than a few pages into the book. I didn't even get into it far enough to determine if it was a writing style issue for me or something else. Finally I decided I just needed to hang it up and quit trying to read the book. So I apologize for this non-review, but it's hard to review something you just couldn't read enough to form an opinion about.

I put this book aside after reading a few chapters. Totally unbelievable situations! Excuse me but it had me questioning the main characters. Kara, the daughter directing her parents funeral, bringing her noisy parrot on her shoulders. Ben, who runs a ranch with ONLY special needs people as his employees? Who ran away for several years to Mexico to make a large amount of money? I live in Mexico six months of the year, and an American doesn't come here to make money unless he already has some! Then the book casually explains he did it by wrestling? Part of me wanted to keep reading to see how far-fetched it would get, but I just don't have the time. This woman is a good writer, but I can't get into a story unless its somewhat believable.

"Deborah Smith's A GENTLE RAIN is a truly amazing tour de force, southern contemporary romance. (BelleBooks/Nov. 2007) New England heiress, Kara Whittenbrook, who was raised in the Amazon, is devastated over losing both of her parents in a plane crash. However, even more upsetting is discovering she was adopted and that her birth parents are mentally challenged. Kara, under the assumed name Karen Johnson, goes to the Florida ranch where they work to meet them. She pretends she is a down- on-her-luck traveling gypsy, complete with harp and talking pet macaw, Mr. Darcy. When her car gets wrecked due to a runaway horse, she gets hired to be the cook on the Thocco Ranch. Ben Thocco is a half-Indian, hard-working rancher, who is always taking care of strays like the Cracker horses he raises and people with problems like Joey, his brother with Down's syndrome. Ben, who has very little time for a personal life, even feels the need to take care of Kara. However, Kara proves quite competent in not only taking care of herself but being extremely helpful to Ben and his unusual family. This couple rescues each other time and time again until they finally realize they're perfect for each other! In a world with so much strive, Deborah Smith's beautifully written novels are all about the goodness of the human spirit, triumphing over adversity but most of all finding true love in the most unlikely places. A GENTLE RAIN is a masterclass in great contemporary romance with its cast of endearing, misfit characters and heart-warming, unforgettable love story." - Patricia Rouse, Rouse's Readers Groups

Deborah Smith writes with imagination that has run amok in this quirky romantic and humorous novel which also has serious undertones that are handled with gentle sensitivity throughout the book. There is an heiress, Kara Whittenhouse whose parents recently died in an airplane accident, after which she learns she is adopted. Her plans are to continue the environmental work at Dos Rios Preserve in the rainforest of Brazil begun by her parents, who were recommended for the Nobel Prize for their work. But now, she wants desperately to learn about her biological or birth parents. She wants to know who they are, why they gave her up for adoption and whether or not she has any brothers or sisters. She was discouraged from this search by Sedge, her parents lawyer. Kara then asked if he knew something awful about them. He replied, "Not something awful but something unexpected." Kara pressed him for what he knew and he replied, "They were mentally retarded." Kara wanted to meet them and learn about what happened ...

Kara obtained false identity papers and called herself Karen Johnson a she drove to Jacksonville, FL to discover more about her birth. She bought a used car and planned to live at a motel near Jacksonville, FL in hopes of running into them..As it turned out, her used car broke down and Ben Thocco, a local rancher, came to her rescue. Mac, her birth father, had ended up punching a couple of local bullies, the Pollo brothers who wanted to take ownership of a runaway gray mare which Karen managed to tie up and reign. The gray mare had been bought at auction by Ben's ranch hands, who did not want to see the horse sold and made into dog food. They pooled their money and bought her. The mare was wild, a local breed that had been brought to Florida long ago by Spanish settlers. Later, this horse would be tamed by Karen and win a barrel racing contest against a formidable opponent who opposed Karen's entry into the contest. Through serendipity and black mail, television cameras rolled as her female opponent in the race embarrassed herself before the cameras.

Karen ended up living at Ben Thocco's ranch after his worker's met her and she rescued their mare. Her handicapped birth parents worked for Ben. Ben had a brother Joey who was born with Down's Syndrome and also had end-stage heart disease. Ben cared for his brother since he was a teenager. He moved with Joey to Mexico to keep custody of his brothe. Later by chance he became "El Diablo", the star of a television program which was very popular then. After the show was cancelled, he returned to Florida. Ben bought a cattle ranch. He later helped other local handicapped people become independent by hiring them to work on his ranch. Karen became their cook and housekeeper. She learned how Ben needed money to make payments on loans and was being squeezed by a local banker. Karen rescued Ben by arranging through her lawyer to buy the loans via a Whittenhouse corporation - unknown to Ben.

When Karen helped tame the gray mare and demonstrated success with her training, the local ranch hands wanted her to enter the barrel racing contest which had a huge monetary prize. However, the cost of entry was $10,000. It is a great reading experience to learn how Ben wins $10,000 at an illegal card game held at a wealthy man's home on an island near Key West, FL. The book is filled with many amusing tales as Ben and Karen discover their feelings for one another. The story culminates in a heated romance between Ben and Karen. However, their relationship is nearly destroyed when Ben learns Karen is really an heiress named Kara, who helped bail him out of his financial woes. The author resolves their quarrel and misunderstanding in a most satisfactory manner and ends the story on a positive note. Erika Borsos [pepper flower]

Almost worth 5 stars! So close! I really, really love the way the characters come alive on paper, and how the Author's humor shines through, especially with some of the hysterical things "Mr. Darcy" (the Macaw) says. Deborah Smith is a gifted wordsmith, who is very perceptive, dropping little tidbits of wisdom & insight throughout the book. She is very creative in her storytelling, which makes for a pleasureable read. I especially love the "community" that Deborah creates in every book. For that alone, I keep coming back for more!

I think what holds the book back (or makes it feel somewhat "lacking") is the fact that it needs to be a romance book, but keeps pulling against the grain and tries to stand upright in the realm of either Women's Fiction or Faith-based Fiction. If Ms. Smith could just let it rip in the romance genre, this could be quite a powerful book! Straddling both worlds never works well.

The sex is so vague, it's annoying. Even beloved LaVyrle Spencer wrote more descriptive, beautiful love scenes. And I know that Deborah Smith is very capable of writing this kind of gorgeous poetry/imagery. When there is "no payout," it reduces the relationship from teasing, sexual tension to lukewarm nothing. As much as I liked Kara & Ben, I lost the connection between them halfway through the book when the love scene was reduced to a few inadequate words. There is a way to keep it real & authentic, but an author can't please all the readers. If some are offended by some "explicitness," then they shouldn't be reading romance.

I also have trouble with the quickly wrapped, overly-glossed ending. I think this is the author's general style with her books. Me? I like to stay with the characters, to celebrate the happy stuff that the book was leading up to. I wanted to "be immersed" in the wedding scene. Instead, I felt like I was a camera pulling away to an overview, faraway shot before slowly fading to black.

Overall, I love Deborah Smith's writing style, humor, quirky and wonderful characters, and incredibly insightful, perceptive statements (such as "we understood that diplomacy is merely deception"). I'm gonna especially miss being with Lily and Mac. For them alone, I didn't want the book to end.