Review: Called Home: Two Hearts Answer by Gloria Schumann

Goodreads summary: Emma Benson's view of life was crafted by the death of her brother as a child, abandonment by her father and later, the man she trusted she would marry, until David Schlosser-back in town after years in New York writing best-selling novels-threatens her neatly tended life. Romance blooms. Emma and David eventually persevere in the face of tragedy, refusing to leave their dreams behind.

**Kindly provided to me by the Author for an honest review**

Favourite Line: "I don't need a hero, I just need someone to believe in me."

Emma Benson returns home to Wisconsin in order to help her mother and keep their farm from financial ruin.  David Schlosser, a best selling author from New York comes home again, seeking the quiet life that this small town has to offer. One stormy night, their lives are thrown together when David is forced to take shelter in Emma's cellar as a tornado rages above.

Essentially this a sweet romance with some crime and mystery thrown in. Unfortunately this book just wasn't for me. My main problem with the story was Emma. She is mean and rude and I cannot fathom why David is interested in her. She is nothing but harsh and sometimes cruel towards him. There is no endearing qualities about her, so I just can't understand what David sees in her. His irrational pursuit of her made me loose so much respect for an otherwise cool guy. 

Emma comes across as extremely bitter; a trait that I cannot stand. The reason for this bitterness is finally explained towards the end of the story and I did feel some compassion for her. But by then it was too little too late and the damage was done. I just couldn't warm to her.

David was a more interesting character for me. While he was very presumptuous and demanding, I did find his passion for Emma to be very sweet in the second half of the book. There are no sex scenes but what it lacks in sex it makes up for in the MANY steamy kissing scenes. Boy, those will get your heart racing. 

The suspense/mystery element is well written and exciting. Some of the crimes are particularly creepy which I enjoyed. The author kept me guessing as to who was behind all these crazy events and kept up a sense of suspense throughout the story. I did feel the the ending was a bit rushed but it was still intriguing. 

Overall I'm sorry to say that I didn't like it. Emma and David didn't gel for me. But if you like a clean, sweet romance with a bit of suspense and mystery to keep things interesting then I would recommend this for you. It's just not the one for me. 2 Out of 5 Stars