Reviewed by Lesley Jones for Readers' Favorite

In The Yellow Balloon by Marty Martins, following on from The Blizzard, Chet and Melanie continue their loving relationship, and their promise to keep pure until their wedding. Chet has the engagement ring waiting to place on Melanie’s finger, but a misunderstanding results in a huge betrayal of their trust and the love story comes crashing to an end. Heartbroken, Chet joins the military as a Marine and tries to pick up the pieces of his life, but the memory of Melanie remains in his heart. Meanwhile, Melanie has met handsome and charismatic banker Carl, and although he is not Chet, Melanie agrees to marry him and they build a family and life together. When Melanie later discovers a dark side to Carl's personality, she leaves and begins a new life again as a single mother. Little does she realize that a day at the zoo would bring a second chance for true love. However, Carl lurks in the background, waiting for his chance to seek revenge on the woman he blames for ruining his life: Melanie.

Even though I haven’t read The Blizzard, I could easily follow the story line. The military section of the plot was excellently researched, structured, and detailed. Each of the characters was structured superbly, with little details of their personalities that brought them to life. The relationship and true love shared by Chet and Melanie was also believable and not at all clichéd. As a reader, I wanted them to find happiness together. The character of Carl was perfectly placed in the story as the bitter and vengeful villain. The author has managed to weave together a great story of love lost and rekindled. This is a must-read for lovers of true to life romance novels. The book is absolutely captivating and the climactic ending was full of tension and suspense. The epilogue also tied all the loose ends together and, hopefully, there will be another novel following these great characters.