The Renewal of Love by Nancy J. Dowdy-Adams

Madeline Lewis should be the happiest woman in the world, but her happiness is destroyed when she tragically looses her fiancée on the eve of their wedding in a fatal car crash. After two years of intense therapy, Madeline is deemed “cured” and sent off to put her life back together. Her older sister surprises her with a three week trip to Greece in celebration. While in Greece both women find love, but Madeline resist. She is forced to confront her tragic history and open herself to love. Both women discover themselves and re-gain a normal life through their trip.
This book has so much untapped potential. The story, characters and writing are all there, but aspects of each need improvement. The story felt so rushed and crammed. The book is only 133 pages and took me about two hours to read. I really wish the story was drawn out more, written in a slower pace and developed deeper. Instead I found myself flying through month’s worth of relationship in a matter of days. Most of the relationship focused on sexual attraction. The characters are wonderful, but needed some development. They are adults, Madeline owns her own company, but quite often I felt they acted quite childish and immature. The drama was a little much for me.
The authors’ writing was easy to follow and read enjoyably. I didn’t like that the author put forth comments from the characters in regards to racism. A specific line in the book stated “…they were more wonderful that she had ever imagined them to be considering she was African American. She chided herself; after all, this wasn’t America. Not all people were racist. She had never dated outside of her race; in fact it had never crossed her mind…” This excerpt bothered me greatly. Racism is everywhere, and is not simply about the color of your skin. For example, she was worried about how Chryses’ people would accept her because he was royal and she was not. Racism can also come in regards to the class system. I also feel America has come a long way in regards to racism, for a romance novel of today to make it seem race is still a huge issue. For many Americans there is not racism, we have many different races in the United States. We have many inter-racial relationships and marriages. Just because one might live in the U.S. does not mean that the person is automatically racist. The character also contradicts herself in the next line. She has never dated outside her race and has doubts about doing so. Why is that? Couldn’t that thought be at least partially considered racist? If you are truly not racist why would it cross your mind as an issue once confronted with the attraction to another race?
Overall, I enjoyed this story, but feel is really needed to be longer and less dramatic. The characters needed to act like adults and not revert back to their childish manners and then decide to be adult again. It started to be annoying because it was too rushed and dramatic. I felt there was so much story to be told that wasn’t. The story didn’t feel real, as if it actually happened, because it was too unrealistic. I appreciated the moral that the book put across. Love is there, it can be found. If taken away it can come back. Love never leaves us; sometimes we just fail to realize its form. “The Renewal of Love” is a quick easy read that any reader can find some pleasure in.