"Grace Notes" is such a poorly written novel I’m embarrassed to say I read it. This book is advertised as a story about spousal abuse, however the only real abuse occurs 22 years prior to the opening scene. A description of the plot: it’s a murder but not a mystery, and the murder victim is not actually a character in the book. It’s a comedy but it is not funny. It’s a plea by the author to be broadminded and accept all people including gays, but Charlotte Vale Allen hypocritically seems to have a pretty narrow minded opinion of conservative straight people.

The plot is predictable and boring. And no surprise here...."Grace Notes" has a happy ending: the gay guys end up living together, Grace gets engaged, the daughter goes off to college, and the murderer gets caught. And Allen conveniently disposes of Grace's parents, who turn their back on gay Gus, by having them accidentally killed in a car crash.

Besides a plot with no suspense, emotion, or depth, there is no character development. In fact, none of the characters seem like real people. They are caricatures. Grace’s boyfriend is a redheaded Jewish “Santa Claus” - the author’s words - not mine. Grace’s daughter Nicky, is a very generous wealthy heiress “shiksa (meaning non-Jewish) princess” - the author’s word’s - not mine. All characters are 100% good, or 100% evil; a fairy tale. A good portion of the book is dialogue, but there is no serious conversation. All the characters talk in the same ‘cute’ jargon that was annoying and insulting to the readers intelligence...unless the reader is a ten year old.

Having suffered abuse as a child, Allen may be an authority on abusive behavior, but when it comes to offering advise through novels, her psychoanalysis and amateur philosophizing is ludicrous. Her intention to bring awareness to women that they don’t have to tolerate abusive relationships is honorable, but she needs to take a few creative writing classes. This is the first and last book I will ever read that was written by Charlotte Vale Allen. ( )

I really liked the characters in this book and that is what kept me reading. Was something going to happen to Gus? Were Grace and Vinnie ever going to get together?
Since we have been preached to about Internet safety, perhaps the topic was not so relevant.
I felt the characters were very believable with perhaps the exception of Stephanie. I thought there was something off about her.
I think anyone who has taken care of an elderly parent or someone could relate to Grace's feelings of being overwhelmed and wanting a life of her own. I think the author captured the emotions of a caregiver very well. ( )

Pretty mediocre - maybe it was more timely in 2002, but even still... There are some compelling themes (care taking, internet fraud, domestic abuse) but they are dealt with superficially. In particular, I felt that the descriptions of the abuse were more for entertainment value than for a specific purpose in the plot. Disappointing read. ( )