For the Record: A Book Review

Would a Texan really up and leave Texas for good if he fell in love with a woman in Missouri? Mmh…doubt it.

For some reason, this is the question I found myself asking as I read For the Record by Regina Jennings. A funny thing to ask when the object is to read and review the book for the story it contains  - not the idea that a Texan could possibly fall so head over heels that he leaves Texas when, in the end, he didn’t have to. But I know Texans. Most of them would choose Texas over money, fame, love, family and maybe even God Himself. But I guess that’s what romance novels are essentially about: the impossible being possible.

Joel Puckett certainly doesn’t leave his beloved Texas by choice. In order to maintain the career he loves (a lawman) he moves to the hills of Missouri to a small town in need of some law and order (or so says the state of Missouri). Having been compromised by a woman before, he’s not interested in the woman who dashes across his path upon his arrival. But, then, she’s not much interested either. At least, not in that sense.

Betsy Huckabee is a woman who just wants a little freedom. With a desire to be a writer and a very keen imagination, she finds that the new deputy might be her ticket. Dress him up a little on paper and he just might sell...dress him up too much and he might sell a little too well. Which leads to a fiasco – not freedom.

While For the Record is a cute story complete with the happy marriage ending, it comes up a little short on a cohesive plot. A Texan leaving Texas for love wasn’t the only question I was left pondering. For instance, if Betsy doesn’t want to live with her aunt and uncle, what keeps her from just moving home again? In the 1800s, were stories really syndicated so far and so wide so quickly that within a few weeks, her serial had found it’s way all the way to Texas and so get her in a bind? And why would a huge state like Missouri care about a few hardly harmful vigilantes in one of their little hole-in-the-wall towns? The romantic encounters are a little over the top…and the heroic couple forgive and make up quite quickly for having hardly any discussion on how much they’ve hurt one another.

I understand that “romance novels” are supposed to be set on that goal: romance. But a little depth to the plot wouldn’t hurt…

This book was provided by Bethany House Publishers for review purposes only.