Unfinished-Impossible Dreams by Patricia Rice

Synopsis:
Although home is a dusty curiosity shop filled with rainbows and crystal balls, Maya Alyssum's past has not been filled with good fortune. Her impossible dream is to open a school where kids can find unconditional love and acceptance, the very things she never had as a child. The town council of Wadeville, North Carolina, is determined to stop her -- until the day Axell Holm walks into her shop.

Axell knows trouble when he sees it -- and Maya Alyssum is definitely trouble. But he needs the ethereal schoolteacher and the magic she works on his motherless daughter. He's willing to face the wrath of his hometown to get what he wants, but he's unprepared for his reaction to this strange and wonderful woman who turns his ordered life upside down, making him believe in dreams again....


My review:
I'm sure this is a nice enough book for someone else.Frankly, it was just too unoriginal for me. I've seen this storyline too much lately- the "ditzy, "New Age" free spirit chick and the "uptight" conservative dude.  But of course, as soon as the heroine meets the hero- she cannot seem to function in life without him and must be  "rescued" by the big strong guy-this supposedly from a character who has a masters in education and has fought her way up from being a child of the foster care system? It gets tiresome.


 After repeatedly falling asleep trying to read this, I quit 70 pages in. The names are also laughably cliche'- Maya (New Age) Alyssum (a flower for flower child of course) and Axell Holm-Axell? are you kidding me? Like the Axell of a car or Axel Rose huh? LOL. I guess the big strong man has to have a big strong name right? Excuse me while I vomit.  Here's a question Romance writers-what the heck is wrong with regular names?


I've read another book by this author that I loved (The Marquess) so I'll definitely try her again as I know she can do better than this one.