Love is Monumental (A Walk in the Park)

Annalisa Daughety
Barbour Books (2010)
ISBN 9781602606944
Reviewed by Tiffany Schlarman for Reader Views (05/10)


Vickie Harris, loves her job as a park ranger, but has had her thirtieth birthday and still has not found love. She has had plenty of dates; in fact her friends call her the queen of first dates, but she still hasn’t found that one special person to call home. When she meets Thatcher, a handsome, brilliant history professor, she puts her heart on the line and takes a chance at love or hurt. Thatcher feels he doesn’t deserve Vickie. He has a past and he has regrets; his life changed at eighteen with a simple mistake and a forced marriage that ended in disaster. Will he ever be able to feel comfortable with another woman? Will he love? Can he be honest and give Vickie his whole heart? This novel and the relationship between Vickie and Thatcher dig into the issues of love, honesty, trust and faith in God and his plans for our lives.

“Love is Monumental” is a simplistic read. I actually felt like I was back in high school. It is easy to read and safely stays on the surface of a relationship while confronting some of the more difficult aspects of relationships as human beings. Whether the relationship is with friends, parents, husbands, wives, significant others or simply our relationship with God and our selves, the issues are all the same. I felt this book should have been a faster read given the ease and size of the book, but it just didn’t captivate me. I didn’t have that urge to push past my tiredness and just read one more chapter. It was easy to put down and come back to at a later time. I liked the storyline of the book and the characters were very easy to relate to. The author seemed to repeat herself a lot with the characters feelings and thoughts. I generally like to read a book and gather what I think the characters could be thinking or feeling. The author does that for you in this book. Parts of the book seemed over explained.

The story feels very real! It’s as if the author has taken tidbits of her life and her girlfriends’ lives and intertwined them with fictional happenings and events. It was very interesting to receive a different outlook on a park ranger. Generally I think of a ranger as someone responsible for the welfare of the grounds and upkeep. I didn’t ever think about the job title possibly being a teacher, someone who takes visitors through the park and explains the sites. I enjoyed seeing a new aspect of the typical park ranger job.

Overall, “Love is Monumental” was an easy, fun, recreational read. It was enjoyable and relatable, but not spectacular. I got more enjoyment out of knowing I went to the author’s sister-college, Harding University. I would recommend this book to readers of all ages, specifically 16-22 or 50 - 60 years of age. I would also recommend this book to those who like Wanda E. Brunsetter’s style of writing, although I prefer Annalisa’s.

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