While reviewing the book Designed for Passion, by Francine Craft I had a mixture of emotions and opinions. Francine Craft is an author of romantic fiction and has over 20 titles to her name.

To summarize, Melodye Carter is a widow with twin boys who owns a boutique for plus sized women. Her marriage was not a happy one, nor was her childhood living under her mother’s scrutiny and in the shadow of her sister. Melodye is a woman who wasn’t willing to open her heart again. Detective Jim Ryman was assigned to her husbands murder. Jim, also a widow, has sworn off any and all emotional ties of romance since his wife’s death. Together they help heal each others hearts, ridding them of painful scars and hoping to move on.

 Let me start by saying I had two issues with this book. First, the book is intended to center around the investigation into her husband’s death. However, there was little in the way of an actual investigation mentioned, and when it was it was by way of fleeting comments. Second, the characters interactions with each other revolved around sexual reactions and not necessarily ones of the heart. This, at times, made it appear that there was nothing to the relationship but sex. For example, at a point in the first half of the book Jim is questioning a suspect and all that is said about feelings is the electricity between them. Nothing wrong with that, but in my opinion the way the characters were portrayed when together didn’t leave me knowing what was really inside their heads or hearts.

After saying that, it is apparent that Francine Craft is a born romantic and a great story teller.  What I like most about the book was that the main character, Melodye, didn’t fit the norm. Often times with romance you find that the characters fit into a perfect box and don’t have many physical flaws. Melodye is a woman with glorious curves and is more of a character that I feel most women can relate to. I applaud the author for doing this. The secondary characters; Bettina, her mother, and Lucia, her sister were down right cruel. The way the author wrote these segments made your heart ache for Melodye and could be quite a blow to your system. The initial attraction between Jim and Melodye kept me reading to find out what happened next. While reviewing I was at no time disinterested nor did I find any dead spots. I look forward to more of her titles in the future.