A Family Portrait

JJ Massa is a new author for me. I decided to try A Family Portrait after seeing an ad for it in the RT Bookclub magazine. There were a number of things I liked about the story, but I found it to be a rough read in some ways, too: 3 out of 5.

Tavist lost his mate and his child years ago, and he never expected to find love again. When he gets to know Tracey and her three children, he realizes that they are his new family.

A Family Portrait is part of a series, and it shows. I felt very much as if I had missed a big part of the story, like Massa assumed that readers would be familiar with the earlier books and therefore didn't include some background that would have helped, both in terms of character relationships and the world of werewolves.

I wish the story had included more build up. Tavist's previous loss and Tracey's abused past could both have been played up more than they were. In Tavist's case, it would have made finding a new family more touching. With Tracey, building up to a revelation of her past would have made it even more heartbreaking. Knowing about it so soon decreased the impact for me.

The book also has a few stylistic issues. First, commas are a helpful and lovely piece of punctuation. This book could have used more of them. In addition, the main characters also have a habit of using each other's name in dialogue. In one section:

"Tavist," Tracey said breathlessly when he sat down, "I'm so happy to be going home. I just hate hospitals, I've spent so much time in them."

"Tracey, you know you'll need help at home for a while." She nodded. "I'd like to help you. Would you let me?"

She looked at him for a minute. "Tavist you've been so wonderful since this crazy thing happened. Are you sure you want to be tied down any more?"

"Tracey, I'd like to be tied down to you much more."

This occurred frequently. This type of dialogue makes me think, Stop! I get it, already.

Now that I've spent a lot of time talking about the problems, I'll talk about the things I like. There are some great moments with several characters, times that just shine. Tav is gentle with Tracey's children and patient with Tracey. He's a great hero. Massa also drew me into the story enough that I wanted to know more about the characters and their world. That's definitely a good thing.