Efe returns to Nigeria after years in the United States, dreaming of a happy, independent life. However, her nights become plagued by nightmares of Kevwe Mukoro, her ex-fiancé. Long hours at work and drinking in nightclubs only provide temporary relief, and when she encounters Kevwe’s twin brother, she knows it’s a matter of time before Kevwe is back in her life. Sparks fly when they finally meet again, but desire is no match for bitter memories of heartbreak. All these years, Efe believed she was rejected; now Kevwe claims he’d never stopped loving her. Stuck at a crossroads, Kevwe prefers to look to the future, but Efe is not so sure. Can the traumatic events of the past be resolved, and will she give in to rekindled love?
Efe is ready to get on with her life after returning from the States. She has spent the last 7 years there getting her education and learning to get over the heartbreak of a failed relationship. You see right before she left for the States her fiancé, Kevwe, broke up with her – not even having the decency to tell her to her face and having his parents do the dirty deed for him. Her friends had seen him around with another woman and Efe is devastated that her love could be so easily thrown to the side of the road.
Now she’s older and wiser but upon her return to Nigeria she finds herself having strange nightmares about Kevwe. She’s shocked when a man walks into her office and she’s sure it’s him, but really it’s his identical twin brother, Ofure. When Ofure relates his meeting with Efe to his brother Kevwe is determined that he will do nothing about Efe’s return, but he eventually can’t hold himself back and plans a meeting.
Together Kevwe and Efe try to discover what happened 7 years prior and try to figure out if they can try and rekindled the love that they once had.
I was very interested to read this book as I’ve never read a romance set in Nigeria before. The different cultures and the tribal politics were definitely something that was new to me.
The book was told in a series of flashbacks – going back to 1999-2002 and then forward to 2009 – and though this sometimes works for me in a book I didn’t care for it in this novel. I would have preferred to read most of the past in one fell swoop and then read the current happenings with Kevwe and Efe with a few flashbacks interspersed. I think that because of the flashbacks the emotionality of the romance actually suffered. I would just be getting into what was happening in 2009 when the book would head on back to the past. I couldn’t get a true grasp of how the characters were feeling about each other because I was pulled from the story again and again. While the romance was sweet it lacked the depth that I thought the story required for such a huge issue as the couple’s break up.
I also had issues with what I believe is the slang of Nigeria. Not that the slang itself was an issue but not me knowing it was a problem. Sometimes the characters said things to each other and I had no idea what the meaning of the sentence was. Like the word “sha”. After reading it I thought it might mean friend but after looking it up just now I realize that it means “anyway; like that” and there were several other words that I was just as confused about. I just found it very confusing – especially if the author was writing the characters to be speaking in broken English. Now those were my personal issues with the book and someone else may not have the same problems.
In the end A Love Rekindled was a decent read but there were parts of the book I liked and others that I didn’t care for.
Rating: 3 out of 5
I like the setting and the cover of this book. It's too bad that the emotionality of the romance suffered because of the flashbacks though. And I can also relate to your issues with the slang of Nigeria, that would've bothered me too, I think. Great review!
Thanks for reading Tracy, and for the review. I appreciate it.
Janna – I really liked the setting as well and yes, the cover is quite appealing.
It was a good book that kept my interest with the political/tribal issues – I just didn't feel the romance as much.
Myne – Thank you and you're very welcome. 🙂
Did you heard what Rob Matts said about that?
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