Weird Things Were Always Happening in Waco

This was a sweet little romance recommended by Mrs. Julien. My only complaint is that it was too short. Having just made that complaint, go ahead and skip the prologue.

There are already two reviews of this up, so I don’t really feel the need to do a plot synopsis. You can read Mrs. Julien’s review and Beth Ellen’s review yourselves.

Diving right in, Anne-Marie and Kit instantly have a lot of lustful thoughts about one another. Being freshly divorced and harshly judged for it, Anne-Marie is not inclined towards liking Kit. Kit would like to like Anne-Marie, but he doesn’t want to get tangled up with kids or a woman who always looks like she’s angry with him. Her kids, though, are very impressed with the astronaut next door, and his dog. And Kit keeps jogging by without his shirt on. The lust grows, and a few late night, neighborly conversations begin to breakdown the hostility between them.

I am very familiar with the stories of the Mercury Seven astronauts, on whom the book’s Perseid Six are based. I knew the story of Gus Grissom losing the return capsule. I already knew the story of the fear that the heat shield was damaged on an orbital flight requiring  John Glenn to return early. I also recently watched a portrayal of that incident from Mission Control’s perspective in Hidden Figures. So it felt a bit odd to be reading them as fictional events even with the changes made by the authors. Sometimes a good education is a curse.

I enjoyed both the main characters and many of the secondary characters. I particularly enjoyed the wives. The book touches some on the publicity surrounding the astronauts and their families. Being involved with an astronaut would have been a huge deal and Anne-Marie would have come under close scrutiny. The book teases that, but then glosses over it. I would have liked more. But I still enjoyed the book.

By the way, weird things still happen in Waco.