Book Title:  Finding Stefanie
Author: Susan May Warren
Publishing Company:  Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Year:  2008
# of Pages: 351
ISBN-13:  978-1-4143-1019-0
ISBN-10:  1-4143-1019-6
U.S.:  $12.99 

3 Stars

Reviewer:  Deborah Ground Buckner (Kansas City Correspondent - USA) 

Susan May Warren continues her Noble Legacy series with volume 3, Finding Stefanie.  Stefanie Noble, the pretty, spunky, yet insecure heroine, finds her safe world of running her family's ranch turned upside down when Hollywood hunk Lincoln Cash moves into the neighborhood.  Lincoln, the handsome hero of big box office action thrillers, has his own vulnerabilities:  a troubled past and an uncertain future.  Their relationship proceeds in a bumpy fashion, but, in typical romance novel fashion, a happy ending awaits.

I have not read the two earlier books in the Noble Legacy series, but that should not matter, since each book should be able to stand independently.  Finding Stefanie has its own story to tell, and the characters of Stefanie's brothers, Nick and Rafe, who take the lead in the prior volumes, are only footnotes or minor characters in this book anyway.  In addition, new characters are introduced, including Lincoln's entourage of director and starlet, as well as a troubled young man on the run with his two younger sisters. 

Warren's work is heavily plot-driven, with about twenty characters and multiple sub-plots that continuously bump up against the standard romance plot of boy meets girl, boy and girl like each other, boy and girl get mad at each other and, ultimately, boy and girl realize they are in love.  I greatly appreciate a book with a well-constructed plot, but Warren could afford to ease up on the plot a bit and work on more character development and scene setting.

Viewpoint shifts constantly, enough to bring to mind the nasty label of "head hopping" applied in writing classes.  The result is an insufficient amount of time spent with any character to give the reader much of an emotional stake in the outcome of the story.  Holding the focus to the two lead characters and revealing the subplots through their points of view rather than hopping from character to character would be more effective. 

Scene setting generally seems to be a one or two sentence introduction with a brief description that is quickly lost as the action proceeds.  Seeing how the characters in play interact with their surroundings would be more helpful, both in telling the story and in developing characterization. 

A "surprise" twist brings about an ending that happens much too easily and too quickly.  A good surprise ending has a reader thinking "Why didn't I see that coming?"  An ending that shouts, "Ooh, gotcha!  You fell for that red herring, didn't you?" is insulting to the reader.  Unfortunately, the twist in this case is of the latter variety.

It is not surprising that Warren has developed a loyal following, for she is a good storyteller.  Her plot moves quickly, and there are enough events to hold interest.  Good writing will incorporate these storytelling skills with character development and artful scene setting.  That will come with practice.  Warren's loyal fans will demand enough future books to provide ample opportunity for growth as a writer.