Doing Good [Mass Market Paperback]

Pamela Morsi has been tied with Lavyrle Spencer as my favorite author ever since reading, GARTERS. She's excellent at making everyday believable charaters that you can care about. This one proves to be the same way. I enjoyed the book, but prefer more of a romance story, like in her previous books.

This story is just what the title states. Jane keeping her promise to God, of "doing good" the rest of her life, if he'd let her live. You get to follow Jane Lofton's growth, in family issues, charity efforts, and new friendships. Jane doesn't actually find romantic love until the last quarter of the book.

This isn't a book I'll be reading again, as I've done with her other books. Pamela Morsi does know how to tell an interesting story though. I'd suggest buying a used copy or checking it out from the library if, like me, you prefer more of a romance. I highly recommend buying some of her other books HEAVEN SENT, COURTING MISS HATTIE, GARTERS & THE LOVE CHARM. I've read all of these several times.

I am a reader of both historical and contemporary romance who has found myself reading even more contemporaries than historicals as of late. I am also a huge fan of Pamela Morsi's (her book GARTERS makes my Top 10 of all time reads). Since I like contemporary novels and really do enjoy first-person narratives, I was happy to see Morsi give this a go. And I wasn't disappointed. I very much enjoyed this foray into Jane's mixed up world, and every much enjoyed Pamela Morsi's foray into contemporary women's fiction. Although there is romance in the book, I would definitely call this book women's fiction as the romance isn't the main focus. Would appeal to fans of Jennifer Crusie, Millie Criswell - both of whom use comedic relief and a great turn of phrase to entertain as well as tell a good story, but think readers who enjoy books by mainstream women's fiction authors such as Barbara Delinsky, Jane Heller, and others will also enjoy DOING GOOD.

The book starts off with Jane Lafton, a woman who is "doing good" as in quite alright, thank you, who got into a car accident. She is saved with barely a scratch, but her scare got her thinking about her life, and how she wants to change it. With this resolution the heavy gears of change are set into motion, first slowly, then, as gears are wont to do, the changes in her life become much more profound.

This was not the most well-written book I have ever read, there were not a huge amount of fancy prose or spell-binding cliff-hangers, nor was this a romance in the true sense of the word. However, this was definitely a book that challenges you to take a good look at your life, and, even if you think you're "doing pretty good", as Jane Lafton thought of herself, there's always room for a small shift in priorities. I can honestly say that Pamela Morsi made me take a hard look at my own life, not to say I was exactly like that, but thinking through life, and growing, is what life is all about. This book had a tremendous amount of insights that I've never come across before in a book, romance or otherwise, and you can tell that Ms. Morsi really thought through her subject matter very deeply before writing this novel. I've read some other books with similar themes, with the protagonist going through a near-death experience and changing her life, but usually it transforms into a divorce, a career change, etc. Although Jane does go through those things, it is portrayed very differently, as a natural progression of her personal growth rather than a desire to actually change her life. Ms. Morsi also changed my views on divorce - until now I never thought there was such a thing as a GOOD divorce, I always thought that a divorce should be fought no matter what, but this book changed my mind. I am actually quite an opinionated person, and a pretty critical one, too - it takes a good deal to impress me. "Doing Good" impressed me very much.

If you're looking to change your life - even a little bit - you simply can't get a better how-to manual than "Doing Good". Thank you, Pamela Morsi.