The First Warm Evening of the Year
Like a mystery story, The First Warm Evening of the Year, held me in its trance. It is a love story, but unlike most romances, it is poignant, heart-rending and suspenseful. Saul's wonderfully crafted characterizations, and his ability to write with compassion and elegance make for a wonderful read.
Rated of 5
by Philip K. (San Anselmo, Ca)
Special
I am an older man who doesn't particularly enjoy love stories as they are often maudlin and unrealistic. The First Warm Evening of the year was neither as it was more character-driven than anything else, and it's characters were people you would want to befriend in life. Beautifully written, there were time I reread paragraphs for their beauty. Highly recommended.
Rated of 5
by Sandra H. (St. Cloud, Minnesota)
The First Warm Evening of the Year by Jaime M. Saul
How easy it can be for our lives to fall into a pattern, to accept the known over the unknown, and fall into a never-ending routine. We can be so accustomed to the everyday that we forget a time when life was exciting, when we welcomed the new and looked forward to the unexpected. That is where the characters in Jaime Saul’s novel find themselves. All are in their 40’s and have put behind them the exciting days of their youth and early adulthood. Laura and Geoffrey shared a unique friendship in college. Laura married a fellow musician and became part of a well-known jazz group that had gigs worldwide while Geoffrey remained a bachelor who became successful in the arts, had sophisticated friends and a girl friend who demanded nothing of him. Marian, Laura’s best friend, married her brilliant high school sweetheart and together they developed an innovative and successful landscaping business. But then Laura dies of cancer at age 42 and names Geoffrey executor of her will. Arriving in her home town of Shady Grove, NY, he meets Marian and suddenly realized that “No one had ever quite looked at me like that. That’s when I fell in love with her.” But this is not a harlequin romance. Rather, it is a beautifully written story of how love can, if we are willing to let it, change our lives. As the title suggests, for Geoffrey and Marian their meeting is indeed “the first warm evening of the year” that suggests many more to come. 5 stars
Rated of 5
by Sherrill B. (Columbia City, In.)
the first warm evening of the year
It was a very easy read and it definitely held my attention to the end. I liked the idea; I didn't know how it was going to end until the end of the story. The book is full of emotion, as the characters try to figure out just how they fit together in the puzzle of life: Whether to hold on to the past all their life, or move on to new territory and love.
Rated of 5
by Priscilla M. (Houston, TX)
A Slow Start...
There was much I enjoyed about this book, but initially I was tempted to put it down. When we first meet the main character, Geoffrey Tremont, he is a middle aged New Yorker who is content with his life as an actor doing commercial voice overs for radio and television. He is just beginning to feel vague stirrings of discontent when he finds that he has been named executor of the will of his best friend in college, a jazz musician named Laura, whom he has not seen in many years. In the course of settling her affairs, he quickly falls for Laura's best friend. Here is where I felt the disconnect. Do I know enough about Geoffrey at this point to understand or even care about his emotional turmoil? As the story unfolds, the reader begins to understand the self-doubts felt by each of the characters populating this novel. They all have decisions to make about goals, dreams, and how the pull of the past can shape the future.
I did enjoy the book. It was a pleasant, introspective read, best enjoyed by someone who can understand and appreciate a time in one's life when one wonders, ala Peggy Lee, "Is that all there is?"
Rated of 5
by Bea C. (Liberty Lake, WA)
Unromantic love story
This book is about love at first sight, but it is not a sappy romance novel nor is it action-filled. It is more about characters who have settled for their lives and resist change. It is a sensitive, moving, character driven story about a middle aged man who is called on to be the executor for the estate of an old friend and finds that the departed friend had, before her death, arranged for him to meet a widowed friend of hers. It is very analytical story filled with inner turmoil and it flows along smoothly, even though some people may find the situations sad and depressing. Great writing.
Rated of 5
by Sue P. (Richardson, TX)
The First Warm Evening of the Year
This book is definitely character-driven, and I truly liked the protagonists. Some may find it a bit slow; however, there is a great deal of depth here. A gentle romance, but a powerful one.
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of 5
by Cam G. (Murrells Inlet, SC)
of 5
by Priscilla M. (Houston, TX)
