Customer Reviews

Dancing in the Moonlight (Silhouette Special Edition)

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(48)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

RaeAnne Thayne has written an unconventional tale with familiar overtones. Dancing in the Moonlight is a continuance of her Cold Creek series and brings us Maggie Cruz - an Army nurse, stationed in Afghanistan. After receiving a life changing injury, she is forced to return home - a home that is now unfamiliar to her. When she meets Dr. Jake Dalton the story begins to heat up, but many uncertainties remain for Maggie. With her leg now gone - and using a prosthesis - how can he possibly be interested in an intimate relationship? At first, she believes she will be nothing more than a patient of Dr. Dalton, but as the story unfolds, we learn the strength of human nature and its willingness to overcome all obstacles. This is a wonderfully heart warming story that showcases the strength of true love. The book reminded me a lot like JoAnna Wylde's memorable novel Price of Freedom: Price of Freedom in that both books show the overwhelming lengths love can overcome. I highly recommend them both.

I read the Kindle edition in one day and really enjoyed it... and it was a free book. Can't beat that! My one complaint is the title is so misleading, it does the book a disservice.

Magdalene Cruz is a former soldier/nurse who loses a foot in a bomb blast in Afghanistan. Her amputation is from the knee down. Leaving Walter Reed hospital with her prosthesis, a broken heart and broken engagement to a surgeon, Maggie goes back home to her family's ranch in Idaho to recuperate. She goes with the intention of hiding out while she comes to terms with her lot in life, but when she arrives she finds her feisty 5-foot tall widowed mother running their ranch all by herself, having recently lost her right-hand man. Maggie knows she needs to quit feeling sorry for herself and pitch in. The little bits of Spanish dialogue between Maggie and her Mom, were very realistic and enjoyable for me, as I speak the language. I could completely relate to how we talk to each other, like all moms and daughters in any language. I chuckled at their interaction several times.

Maggie quickly encounters a childhood friend, Jake Dalton, who is the town Doctor, and has always had a thing for her. She wants to be left alone but he makes a pest of himself, worrying about her pain. He is such a good person, and a hottie to boot, she has to work at staying angry with him.

Although the plot line is predictable, it is written well, and the characters are engaging and totally likeable. I didn't realize this was in the romance genre until the end, which I don't usually read. I'm glad I didn't know that, as I find most of them superficial. This is more...it is not a sad depressing read, there is wit and humor here as well, and it does show us that there is more to our spirit than just what our limbs hold together, and that if we're given another chance at life, we have to grab it.

I have nothing but great things to say about this book. The storyline is outstanding and very inspirational. Once you read this book you ll view love in a more meaningful light. I ll recommend this work to any and every that wants to better understand life s positives.

This was not a quaint and loveable read. It was terrible. This is the first book in many, many years I couldn't finish, and believe me, in my line of work I've read a lot of crap.

The book had a lot of potential...the hero was sweet and kind (the best kind in my opinion). However, the heroine was whiny. I understand she was hurt and she's adjusting to a MAJOR life change. However, during the entire book (what I read of it anyway--about 93% on the Kindle...but I also skimmed HUGE sections, mostly everytime it went to the heroine's POV), she whined about two things she needed to let go of. It was not the hero's fault her father died. Even before the grand revelation near the end that her father's own stubborness had caused his death, she should have been mature enough to know that Jake (the hero) was not responsible and she needed to let the grudge go. Second, it seemed she was the one who couldn't accept her amputation, therefore, she was using it as an excuse for why he wouldn't accept her. As I said before, I understand feelings of not being whole, however, I didn't get the strong vibe the author was trying to portray by her doing things she had no business doing, or her constantly feeling sorry for her. It seemed to me like a giant pity party...not that she'd matured and accepted fate.

She didn't deserve him.

I normally don't read anything to do with westerns, cowboys, ranch-living, etc but Maggie's background in the Army enticed me to read the summary and then, the book. I loved this book from beginning to end. Brought me close to tears a few times and the characters were well developed. Loved it so much that I am going to read more from this brilliant writer!

The story of Jake and Maggie was very well told. Ms. Thayne obviously did her research into the physical, emotional, and a psychological problem faced by person's who loose a limb as well as those who care for them. Too often I find works dealing with such issues fail to integrate the problem seamlessly into the story line. Not so with this work. With few exceptions the thoughts and actions of both Jake and Maggie were believable, consistent and realistic. This was an enjoyable read. I am looking forward to reading more works by Ms. Thayne.

Since the title of this book is pretty corny I didn't expect much. However, this story turned out to be special - I'm not sure exactly what it is - maybe the protagonists and their intriguing backgrounds, the way the author develops them and their romantic relationship. . . Their relationship is expertly intwined with the main conflict: she's a recent amputee, he's a doctor, and the background story from their childhood really gives life to the story. The coming to terms with the bad blood between their families is an impetus to... actually i won't spoil it for you.

While I've done a lot of reading, I haven't come across a story that has intrigued me so deeply in a long time. The characters are easy to identify with, and I really feel that this element makes the book extremely special. I've never written about a book before, but I felt compelled to write this review because I loved this book so much.

I enjoyed this book. It dealt with the serious issues facing injured vets and provided a sweet love story. I liked both the hero and in this case "female-hero". I'm interested in reading more books by this author. Thanks Harliquin for a great free book-happy 60th anniversary!

3 1/2 stars... I enjoyed this book. It is not the best fiction or romance I've ever read, but the characters were likable and the plot, although not complicated, was plausible. (for the reviewers who say the heroine wasn't likable... at first she wasn't really--her attitude and behavior, at least; but she had compelling reasons behind her feelings and her aversion to getting involved with the hero) This story was definitely a twist on the 'wounded hero' romance.

If you want high quality fiction or an edge-of-your-seat romantic suspense, keep looking, but if you're in the market for a quick, easy read with a happy ending, this is for you.

This was a nice little story. I almost didn't get it after reading some of the Amazon reviews, but I've concluded those who left the nasty one star reviews are either people who don't really like this genre, have no real clue about the effects of a serious trauma on a person or people who look for some reason to leave nasty reviews. There was good character development, the author took time to show us in flashbacks how the relationship between the H/h developed over the many years of their acquaintance. The h is moody and annoying with huge chips on her shoulders but the first chip is an understandable thorn in her side from the loss of a beloved father and the need to blame someone. The second chip is perfectly understandable as well as she tries to deal with the complex emotions and trials of dealing with a physical trauma that changes her life forever. She's only five months out of the horrors of war and the devastation of losing a limb and some reviewers think it would be realistic for her to be eager to believe someone could love her and all happy sweet and nice? That's not how it works. Some people carry those wounds their entire lives.

Ignore the negative reviews at Amazon and definitely go for this one. The characters are strong and will provoke a reaction from you. Even the secondary characters are well developed and the plot is well formulated. The only reason I didn't mark this higher was that the plot did spend a bit too much time with them actually working on the ranch jobs...then they did more ranch jobs...then they did more ranch jobs...and neither is a rancher.