#BookReview–> Cafenova (Clairmont Series) by S. Jane Scheyder

Title and Author: Cafenova by S. Jane Scheyder
Series: Clairmont Series
Publication Date: Andres & Blanton; 2 edition (November 17, 2010)
Print Length: 318 Pages
Language: Language
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Christian Fiction


My Review:
Maddy Jacobs has left her past, her broken heart and her dreams of a family with the love of her life behind in Seattle. Determined to start over, Maddy buys an old, dilapidated Victorian house on the coast of Maine with the intention of renovating it and starting her own Bed and Breakfast. With the huge and difficult task of bringing the Victorian inn back to its former glory in front of her, Maddy is happy to get the help of John Fordham who, apart from being a splendid contractor is also easy on the eyes. 🙂


Although sparks fly right at first glance, Maddy and John both have enough on their plates to think about love. John has the responsibility of two sons and Maddy is determined to settle in her new home and start a business.


What follows is a light love story between two people brought together by God! 🙂

This is my first book by S. Jane Scheyder and I cant say that I didn’t enjoy her book. Cafenova caught my eye firstly because it was free on amazon at that time and also because the blurb intrigued me. I love small town love stories and if the setting is as beautiful as the Maine coast then that’s an added bonus!


Although the blurb is very intriguing and promises a delicious romance, I was a bit let down by several things in this book. Firstly, the length of the story. I seriously felt that the whole story could have been wrapped up in some 150 odd pages. Secondly, the pace of the story is too slow. Things move so slowly that several times I felt like skipping pages to move ahead. Thirdly, the romance is almost zero. Maddy and John take almost half the book to get to know the starting intro about each other. In so many scenes the author left things unsaid which she took up after some 20-30 pages later. All these things could have been said and the story progressed at one place. Forthy, the message is quite strong and story preaches certain points which are noteworthy but due to the lack of synchronization in the romance, story progression and the message delivery, the book at some places feels too preachy.


At two points in the story I felt like their was a twist coming and was quite happy that now there would be some spice to this otherwise all too saccharine love story but alas at both places nothing happens! I would not give away those points but feel certain that you will know them when you read the book. The story is sweet, the characterization is good but could have been better. Maddy and John have almost no romance between them. A brief look here and there sums up their romance in the first part and brief peck on the cheek in the second part. I felt the reason for this unsatisfactory handling of romance was because the author didn’t want to delve in the physical aspect of romance but she could have handled the story just as beautifully by adding more emotional response between them and introducing the reader with some scenarios depicting them.
The only characters that I felt were sketched to their true potential are John’s two sons who are both sweet, charming and totally adorable. I read the story just because I didn’t want to lose even one scene with these two in it. 🙂


All in all, a quite lengthy and very slow romantic story which you can read for the beautiful locations, the spiritual message of caring and giving and for Parker and Blake, John’s adorable sons. 🙂
I give Cafenova a 3 out of 5. The author has the flair of writing but she needs to work on her emotional handling, length and the pacing of the book. 


Buy From:
Amazon.com: Kindle Edition | Paperback
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