Twelve Across, by Barbara Delinsky

As a huge fan of crossword puzzles, I couldn't resist picking up Twelve Across, by Barbara Delinsky, an author I hadn't tried before.

Recluse Garrick Rodenheiser wasn't looking for love. But when the gorgeous Leah Gates arrives on his doorstep, he realizes he'd be a fool to send her away.

It was a pleasant, if unremarkable read. A C+.

The book has two pretty distinct halves. In the first, Leah and Garrick meet, get stuck in Garrick's cabin in the woods because of the mud season and fall in love. I quite liked this part. I'm a sucker for cabin romances (and this one was that, literally), and both Garrick and Leah were likeable, interesting characters, two lonely people who had got so used to living alone that they didn't even realize how lonely and hungry for some companionship and love they were. The way their romance developed was sweet, if a bit quick.

Half-way through, any conflict there was regarding the romance is completely and totally resolved, and the rest of the book deals with certain personal issues each of them (but especially Garrick) has to resolve in order to be completely happy. This part wasn't bad, really, but it just fell flat. While the first half takes place during a short period, the second encompasses months and months, and it was all random important scenes over this long period, which made it all feel unconnected and distant. Plus, Garrick's issues weren't particularly interesting to me, which meant I was faintly bored a lot of the time.

So, not an offensively bad book, or anything, but hardly worth recommending. Oh, and the crossword angle? Interesting enough, but I thought it was under-utilized. Too bad!