Eternal on the Water by Joseph Monninger

A book club member recommended this one and said it was an adventure and love story.  Hmmmm.  Maybe some people would consider Shades of Grey an adventurous love story.  My first red flag was a comment I read in a review on Amazon.  "Henry David Thoreau meets Nicholas Sparks in this poignant love story..."  I guess I have nothing against Nicholas Sparks, but I always have a hard time with men who write romantic love stories that are marketed to women.  But since it came recommended by a friend and receives great reviews online, I read it.  And I'll admit it is very well written.  The author captures the outdoor, nature scenes beautifully and his descriptions make you feel like you are there.  But I had two problems with the book.  The first is the relationship between the Cobb and Mary, the two central characters.  Have you ever been with a couple who are so in love and so physically turned on to each other that they can't keep their hands off each other?  And you feel like you should look away or you might throw up?  That's the way they act.  The story is told from Cobb's point of view, and he is constantly and repeatedly telling us how much he loves Mary, how wonderful/beautiful/perfect she is.  We get it.  You love her.  Move on with the story.  They never fight or disagree, and they have all kinds of cute personal jokes that they banter about in every chapter.  We know from the first chapter that Mary will die, and even the difficult conversations about how she will die become tedious after a while.  The second problem I had with the book is that all the minor characters are also perfect.  Cobb's father, Mary's mother and brother, their friends, everyone is good looking, smart, politically active, kind, etc. etc.  The last book my club read was Gone Girl, and we discussed how we can enjoy a book and dislike the characters.  But in this book, all the characters are completely loveable and yet I didn't like the book.  I'm not sure what that says about me, and maybe I don't want to know.  -June