I’m dismayed there aren’t more romances written with an older main couple. It seems most love stories with a man and a woman over forty are delegated to second story status. What grabbed me about Donna Ball's Keys to the Castle is that the hero and heroine are over forty-five. Also, Donna, known as Donna Boyd, who wrote The Passion, (one of my favorite all-time books) is an excellent story teller. This is proven perfectly with Keys to the Castle, an endearing romance that has a nice chick-lit but mature tone to it. From beginning to end, this book left me with a warm, fuzzie feeling because the elements written creates a wonderful story and one I’ll remember for a long time.Sara Graves is in mourning. She thought she finally found true love with Daniel Orsay, a French poet. Their world wind courtship ended up with them getting married within months of knowing one another. Sara thought she had everything- a great job making a nice salary, respect from her peers and a husband who made her heart ache in all the right ways. But then Daniel was killed in a car accident only three weeks after they married. Sara is at a crossroads. She ended up quitting her job, and after a year stills feel adrift in her life. Now she must hop on a plane and travel to the French countryside and deal with an estate Daniel owned and one she never knew about. There seems to be many things she didn’t know about Daniel. She’s hoping to unlock the mystery surrounding her deceased husband.When Sara arrives in France, she’s in for quite a shock. Daniel’s estate is a four-hundred year old, falling apart castle. Daniel’s best friend, Ash Lindeman, a British lawyer meets her and says he owns a part of the castle. He’s willing to buy Sara out because along with the taxes and the renovations, she would be in over her head. Also, Ash’s ex-wife and Daniel’s cousin, Michele, wants the castle for her own purposes. Michele is deceitful and cunning and will do whatever she can to get what she wants. Sara feels like Alice down the rabbit hole, but Ash is there to help her. He shows her around the countryside and the beauty the France has to offer but assumes she’ll go back to the US and he’ll deal with the mess Daniel left behind. But then Michele shows up with a secret. Daniel may have a five year old daughter, Alyssa. Daniel never did a paternity test and Alyssa’s mother killed herself, leaving Alyssa an orphan. Alyssa was been hidden away at a private school that Daniel paid for. Ash knew about Alyssa and treats her like his ward. Sara feels even more duped and Michele wants to become Alyssa’s guardian because if Alyssa is indeed Daniel’s daughter, she would gain ownership of the castle.Sara longs to run away and go return home to her sister. But ever since she left her childhood behind at the trailer park where she grew up poor, she hasn’t backed down from anything. To Ash’s dismay, she’ll stay and renovate the castle and perhaps adopt Alyssa. Ash tries to talk her out of it and soon she’s treating him like the enemy, but Ash doesn’t want to be that. He wants something else entirely where Sara’s concerned.Keys to the Castle was an incredible reading experience for me. Donna has proven why romance and falling love isn’t dead after a certain age. Sara and Ash complement each other so well and their path to finding one another is filled with uncertainty, mistrust and deceit. Watching these two become friends, then adversaries and finally lovers will have you sighing. I even found Alyssa to be precious and adorable. She’s the catalyst that bring Sara and Ash together.There’s also a very slight supernatural element in regards to Ash when we’re first introduced to him. The way Donna writes it in and how it’s accomplished may bring tears to your eyes because it creates a truly wonderful ending.Keys to the Castle engages all the senses because of the setting and the story. Also Sara and Ash’s interactions are delicious, especially when they act on their desires for one another. The love scenes are not overly gratuitous but just enough that I was satisfied.If you’re looking for something a different and with two mature adults who learn something about themselves and life in general, do read Keys to the Castle. This is going in my top five of 2011 because of the profound nature I had while reading and the joy I felt when I finished. A true hidden gem. Thought this would be such a predictable story. But actually it was quite different from what I expected. I thought it was a charming story about an American woman who didn't seem to have her life together. She married a man for 3 weeks until he was killed in a car crash. The story starts after the crash when she hurries to France to find out her husband was not only poor but had a "castle." Next enters his lawyer, and a precious child. This story has many twists and turns. Loved it!
What do You think about Keys To The Castle (2011)?
Nice romance story. A bit of a fairy tale but sometimes that is what is needed in life.
—callsmita
Fun easy read but totally implausible. Full of holes.
—LilyLeeH
Predictable fairy tale, but entertaining light read.
—sachin
