In this book Sunny Lockwood presents to us six stories of individuals seeking or reexamining love. The characters of the stories are engaging and the author imbues them with considerable depth. Some of the characters are mired in relationships with contradictions and/or conflicts. Others are seeking that special someone who hasn’t arrived. There are all shades of love here: love for mates, for spouses, for parents, and for family. At times dramatic and at times funny, Sunny’s book is an in depth exploration of this most exalted of emotions within the human condition.
In the story “Something Special” a daughter struggles to come to terms with the particular style of her mother’s love towards her. In “Hilda’s Secret” a woman holding a terrible secret reexamines her life and her marriage. “My Worst First” is an autobiographical account of a first date that goes terribly wrong, while “Longing for Love” is the story of a lonely woman who seeks to fulfill her right to be loved, but first has to deal with the handicap of her disability. In “The Door” a daughter and a father struggle to accept each other. My personal favorite is “Love’s Echo” where a man staunchly opposes any intrusion of his past into his present.
The book is well written, has a functional table of contents, and a “Preview” section both at the beginning of the book and at the end of each story that presents a synopsis of the stories with a link to each one. If you want a short enjoyable romantic read that is not “black and white,” then Shades of Love is the book for you.