Customer Reviews

A Different Light

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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A Different Light by Mariah Stewart
Contemporary Romance - December 29th, 2009
3 Stars

A Different Light is a reprinting of one of Mariah Stewart earliest novels. But the author has added some additional scenes to spice things up and give the novel a more contemporary feel.

A Different Light is the story of Athena Moran a young widow of a police officer slain in the line of duty who is trying to get her life back together and raise her young daughter. When she meets Quentin Forbes a tough newspaper reporter new in town, they both find an immediate chemistry for each other. Unfortunately, when Athena is asked to run for mayor things take an unsettling twist, with Quentin's sudden suspicion of Athena and her true motives due to the previous mayor's habits of corruption and dirty dealing.

Mariah Stewart does a good job of creating a story that is complex. It includes: a nice romance, political intrigue and characters that learn and grow as the novel moves along. However, I feel it is a different style from her current works so readers expecting a similar to tone to her recent books may be disappointed.

This story starts out as a sweet romance and mixes it up with an intriguing political twist that makes things more interesting but lacks a true development of the original romance I found so charming in the beginning. And while Athena and Quentin are both complex characters who I did feel connected to as the novel progressed I felt the development of the characters was slow and could have been more interesting and compelling to the readers.

That being said, I still feel this was a solid read that combines romance and intrigue that is enjoyable but has a different style than her current books.

Reviewed by Mary from the Bookaholics Romance Book Club

In Woodside Heights, New Jersey, although she tries to put on a good pretense for her daughter Callie's sake, Athena Moran has not been able to move on past the death of her police officer husband John; killed in the line of duty. Nothing seems to turn her on anymore although she hides her grief and lethargy for the sake of their child and their friends who see the grieving widow as a reminder of what could happen to them.

Since she is the daughter of a former councilman and the wife of a slain cop, Mayor Dante Rossi offers Athena work in his office. She accepts. However, Athena is stunned when Dante asks her to run as his replacement. Although she wins, Dante still runs the city. Reporter Quentin Forbes is attracted to Athen, but detest that she is just Dante's puppet. He attacks her in the paper, which hurts her as she cannot understand his vendetta. Everything changes when Her Mayor meets Ms. Evelyn, who mentors Athena on redevelopment and living with gusto, which angers her puppeteer and his cronies.

Although this is a reprint of a Clinton Era political romance, A Different Light remains relevant with its simplistic instead of Mr. Smith goes to Washington, Ms. Moran remains in New Jersey. Initially blind to the corruption that surrounds her, Athen matures in political savvy without losing her idealism as she sees the town in A Different Light. Fans will enjoy this fun tale even if there are no instant blogger twitting on everything.

Harriet Klausner

This is my first book by Ms Stewart and I really enjoyed the story and characters. Even though I was pleased with the final outcome I found the finale a bit too neatly wrapped. I also must agree with a previous commentor that it's editing was not the best. But I look forward to reading more of Ms Stewart's books.

I haven't read the book yet but it came quickly and is in great condition.

I didn't read the original story. The updated version is ok.

The editing is AWFUL. The main character ATHENA was "spell-checked" thru the entire book to ATHEN. It's distracting at best. At first I thought it was a diminutive but it's only in the body of the book that it's ATHEN. In quoted text it's always ATHENA.