One night’s intimacy between friends Faith Barry and Sawyer Bell complicates their professional relationships as divorce attorneys on opposite sides of a case.
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Having Faith by Barbara Delinsky
Rating: 
Published: 1990
Published by: Harlequin
Genres: Category Romance, Contemporary Romance
Format: Hardcover, Paperback
Buy on: Amazon
Reviewed by: Introvert Reader
Harlequin Temptation #297
THESE ARE VERY MILD SPOILERS 😉
I don’t know the qualifications for getting the Harlequin Temptation Award of Excellence, but I wasn’t impressed with Barbara Delinsky’s Having Faith. I think the award was merely a way for editors to play favorites with authors without paying them more. That’s just me being cynical.
The Plot
Faith and Sawyer are divorce lawyers on opposite sides of the same nasty case. (Not a good sign, freaking divorce lawyers in a romance novel!)
They’ve been good friends for many years. Both went through rough divorces and had a very amicable platonic relationship. For over 15 years, they’ve been friends with no sexual attraction.
Then one night, they get rip-roaring drunk and have “oopsie” sex.
The pair reveal a lot more to each other than they ever have before—not only that they’re compatible in the bedroom but also that they’re both jerks.
They both mock their ex-partners. Sawyer moans about his ex-wife’s sagging boobs, and Faith complains about her former spouse being lousy in the sack. They drink some more and indulge in additional sex, then wake up with big hangovers and bewilderment at their actions.
After their night together, Sawyer decides it’s time to take it to the next level and be together. Faith, on the other hand, has intimacy issues. While she loves being friends with Sawyer, she’s not sure they’re compatible as a couple. And besides, there’s the drama of them representing opposing clients.
My Opinion
Too Old to Get Stupid-Drunk Like College Kids
I didn’t buy the book’s initial premise because these aren’t kids. Sawyer says he’s a Vietnam vet, and since Delinsky wrote this in 1989–1990, the youngest he can be is in his late 30s. Or, more likely, early 40s. Faith is in her mid-thirties, at least.
Maybe it’s just me; the older I get, the less sexy it seems to get sloppy and black-out drunk. (I’m no saint, but I haven’t binge-drunk that much in a couple of dogs’ ages.)
Your eyes get red, you slur your words, your face contorts all weird, and your body gets all wobbly.
It’s not a seductive state to be in. Tipsy, maybe, but three sheets to the wind, no.
No Prior Sexual Attraction? No, I Don’t Buy It
It stretches the imagination that these two good-looking, successful people shared no prior sexual connection. They “platonically” flirted like fools with each other. They were best friends who shared very intimate secrets. Then, “out-of-the-blue” one night of heavy drinking was enough to make them forget their boundaries.
I get the whole friends-to-lovers trope, although it’s not one of my favorites. It’s hard to accept when the pair have been friends for almost two decades.
Oh, I’m sure there are plenty of love stories in real life where people who have been lifelong friends suddenly fall in love, and that’s wonderful. But that story doesn’t make for a romance that I’d gladly plunk down cash to buy. Not unless there’s a funny twist on it, as in Lass Small’s Four Dollars and Fifty-One Cents.
There’s no fun here.
Heat Level: Sensual
The one bright spot about Having Faith is that the love scenes are fairly steamy. This is a Harlequin Temptation category romance, so that’s the least one expects.
This romance definitely heats up. The steam factor is decidedly sensual.
Final Analysis of Having Faith
Eh, I always thought the friends-to-lovers film When Harry Met Sally was overrated. It’s not a trope I seek out. I like romances where love springs up unexpectedly.
(My favorite romantic comedy is Don’t Tell Her It’s Me, aka The Boyfriend School. Shelley Long plays a romance novelist who acts as a matchmaker for her nice but loser of a brother, Steve Guttenberg, with a reporter performed by the wonderful Jami Gertz.)
As for Having Faith, I thought it was undeserving of any particular acclaim. Especially considering that Harlequin released this in May 1990. Two other great Temptation novels were released that month: #299 Changing the Rules by Gina Wilkins and #300 Glenda Sanders’ Island Nights. Compared to those, Having Faith was not anywhere as enjoyable.
It’s not a terrible read, just nothing special.
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| Overall: | 2.5 |
Synopsis
One night changed everything
Faith Barry knew making love with Sawyer Bell had been a huge mistake. First of all, he was an old and dear friend, and secondly, they were representing opposing clients in a complicated divorce case. She wished they’d never crossed that line between friends and lovers …
But they had–gloriously!–and there was no turning deck Even when she would have run in the other direction, she still had to negotiate with Sawyer on legal matters. But Faith was no match for Sawyer when he started pleading his own case. She knew that if he had his way, she was going to get life…
Having Faith by Barbara Delinsky
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