1 out of 4 stars
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Grand Central Station is a short romance novel by Marsha Casper Cook. It is the story of the Hudson women; Grace, Victoria, and Ava. The Hudson family loves each other dearly, but just like most families, they also drive each other crazy at times. This tale is about accepting each other's flaws, leaving your past where it belongs, and giving love a chance. Victoria is a dedicated pediatrician, mother to three children and the sole breadwinner of her family. This journey begins on that fated day when Victoria’s youngest son, Andrew, bumps into Dr. Jack Winston, who is a renowned author of books on parenting.
From the blurb posted for this book, I was expecting it to be a story of two people who have different opinions on various parenting techniques. Unfortunately, that wasn't the story I got. The book does start off on a high note. It introduces flawed but realistic characters. There is an emphasis on all relationships and not just the romantic ones. I especially liked the way the author portrayed Ana's loyalty to her sister, Victoria. I even liked Angus, the Hudson family dog. More often than not, his snarky comments echoed my thoughts and sentiments while reading this story.
However, halfway through the book, the central conflict (or so I'd assumed) was resolved. The rest of the novel was spent introducing and subsequently wrapping up new subplots. On the whole, the plot felt very jumbled and disorganized. This inconsistency within the storyline made me feel disconnected with the characters. Since they did not have any real crisis or dilemma, they came across as whiny and melodramatic. They turned from normal, relatable people to very unrealistic and two-dimensional characters.
Like the plot, the writing style too was highly erratic. The book is mostly written in 'third person limited' with multiple viewpoints. However, sometimes the viewpoint character would know things they couldn't possibly have prior knowledge of, at that moment, in the context of the story. An example of this is a scene in which Jack bumps into Victoria’s 6-year-old son Andrew for the first time, and he knows the kid's name before being introduced.
Overall, I’d give this book 1 out of 4 stars. It has the potential to be better because the author did have a good beginning and a great set of characters. She can also write amazing dialogue. However, I can’t recommend this book to others in its current state. I’d suggest going through the manuscript with an editor to fix the plot and technical issues.
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Grand Central Station
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