Once And For Always

by Stella Cameron

Twenty years after promising herself to teenage sweetheart Trevor, Caitlin returns with her troubled teen daughter to Wales, where she resists her feelings for still-faithful Trevor. Reissue.

Genres: Romance, Chick Lit

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Stella Cameron is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author. With over fourteen million copies of her books in print, Cameron is now turning her pen to mysteries and independently publishing COLD, Introducing Alex Duggins. She draws on her English background for this new, already critically acclaimed mystery series. Atmospheric, deeply character and relationship driven, COLD reveals the power of old secrets to twist the present. Cameron’s reputation for using her backgrounds to add tension and allure to her stories is heightened again.

Cameron is the recipient of the Pacific Northwest Achievement Award for distinguished professional achievement and for enhancing the stature of the Northwest Literary community. She lives in Washington with her husband Jerry, her Papillon Millie, black cat Zipper, and a cheeky little tabby named Jack.

Reviews

[Nightwitch · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started out really strong, particularly for a contemporary romance published in the 80s - the heroine is still married to her alcoholic husband and has moved back to a small Welsh town where she spent a happy time in her adolescence, along with her depressed teenage daughter. A surprising plethora of perspectives, from the hero (the heroine's now-widowed long-ago boyfriend) to the heroine's kindly uncle, and a pleasantly realistic view of small-town life: people are kind, but when they turn against the heroine they get nasty. However, the book went downhill when the heroine repeatedly veered from "spunky" to "doormat." Oh, she can't divorce her ex because her daughter is depressed! Oh, she can't explain her ex's myriad issues to her daughter because that would be mean! Oh, she can't call her mother out on her terrible behavior because her mother is grieving! It's actually pretty bizarre, because one minute Caitlin is a perfectly logical, normal adult, and the next minute she's insisting that she can't ask her abusive unfaithful ex to stop stalking her because every time she tries her daughter bursts into tears. Like, she's not a doormat all the time, just when the author reaches a plot point where it's convenient. Anyway various men in her life have to blackmail the various villains into behaving themselves, and then we get the happy ending. No thanks.