Book Review-Candle in the Window

Christina Dodd
Candle in the Window
A Historical Romance Novel

I love searching out famous author's first novels.  As I read them I wonder why this was the one that got them an agent, an editor, and finally published.  Sometimes there is a unique twist or they have a different way of writing.  I sought out this book because I wanted to know how Christina Dodd burst onto the writing scene.  Candle in the Window appears to have been her first novel and was put out almost twenty years ago.  I set a different standard for books this old.  Romance writing has really changed since then so I give it a pass on many of the things that usually irk me like voice changes and long internal monologues.

From what I can see from this book, it was an interesting hook that got her noticed.  The heroine is blind and for a little while in the book so is the hero.  Dodd pulls this aspect off rather well.  The plot line is propelled and twisted by this handicap, it isn't just a character quirk.  I was also pleased to see that she kept to it very well.  I didn't notice any time when a person could suddenly 'see' something even though they were blind.

Considering the age of this book, it was fun read.  My main complaint would be that it seemed to go on for too long.  There were places where I wanted it to end and tie up the story instead of throwing in another dramatic test for the new couple.  It could have been two tightly written books instead of one longwinded one.  Overall it was an interesting read.

3/5