Romance Book Reviews
Page One of TwoA Clean Slate by Laura Caldwell
Red Dress Ink, November, 2003Trade paperback, 320 pages
ISBN 037325038X
Subgenre: Chick Lit
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
Kelly McGraw seemed to have it all: a great, high-paying
job, the perfect boyfriend and lots of friends. But one
day reality smacks her in the face: she goes to her house
only to find that her key doesn't fit and someone else lives there.
Nothing is right -- her boyfriend thinks she's stalking him
and she doesn't seem to have any recollection whatsoever
of the last five months of her life. Kelly eventually finds out
that her downward spiral started on the day her boyfriend dumped
her and she got fired from the job where she thought she was
going to make partner. And worse things happened, but Kelly
can't remember them…which suits her just fine. Faced with
a blank slate for her life, she takes a job with a famous, but
disgraced fashion photographer and learns to love her
new life. But the past is never far behind us, and Kelly is
about to meet up with hers in a very shocking turn of events.
There is more "lit" than "chick" in this compelling and well-written second novel from Laura Caldwell, author of Burning the Map. Ms. Caldwell takes the genre up a notch with her intimate portrait of a woman's life when her world is shattered and she is forced to make some very tough decisions about her future. Written with depth, wit and humor, A Clean Slate is an engrossing read. The underlying theme of the book, that our futures are solely in our own hands regardless of circumstances, is both universal and relevant for today's woman.
Dark Melody by Christine Feehan
Leisure Books, November, 2003Paperback, 374 pages
ISBN: 0843950498
Subgenre: Paranormal
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
Dayan, the mesmerizing lead singer for the
Dark Troubadours, is a Carpathian. Carpathians are vampire hunters
with paranormal abilities who must find their
lifemate or risk turning into vampires themselves.
When playing a small club one night, Dayan senses
that his lifemate is near. Her name is Corinne Wentworth,
a widow whose husband was recently murdered. Now
the same people who killed her husband are after her
and her husband's sister, Lisa.
Corinne is pregnant, and has a terminal heart condition which
makes it unlikely that she can live through the
stress of giving birth. To save her life, Dayan
must turn her into a Carpathian. But the difficult transformation
can only happen after she has given birth.
The two fall in love, but it's a race against time to save
Corinne's and the baby's life.
This is the twelfth book in Christine Feehan's popular Carpathian series. In Dark Melody, Ms. Feehan throws a twist at her dark, handsome hero -- the woman of his dreams is pregnant with another man's child. To his credit, after his initial shock wears off, Dayan steps up to the plate and deals with the situation admirably. This heartfelt and passionate story is sure to resonate with Ms. Feehan's many fans.
Romance Reviews
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Return to the December 2003 issue of The IWJ.
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