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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
SIMPLY OUTSTANDING!!!, June 6, 2005
This review is from: Summer's Child (Mass Market Paperback)
Once again Luanne Rice has gifted us with an emotional tale set but this time she strays a bit from her familiar New England and gives us a Nova Scotia setting; she uses fictional towns and locations but my best guess is the Cape Breton area.
The very pregnant Mara Jameson had disappeared from the garden of her grandmother's home in Connecticut on the summer solstice nine years earlier. Every year on the anniversary of her death, the media brings her name up again, wondering what in the world happened to the seemingly happy young woman. Recently retired police detective Patrick Murphy has never given up his quest. He has always thought her husband, successful businessman Edward Hunter had something to do with her disappearance but has never been able to prove anything. Every year he visits her grandmother, Maeve, hoping for another clue; something else she might remember.
Up in Hawk's Cove, Nova Scotia two women have come to escape abusive marriages. Both women have nine-year-old daughters. Lily Malone and her daughter, Rose, have lived in Hawk's Cove for nine years. Lily runs a stitchery shop and her real love in her life is her daughter Rose who was born with a heart defect and has been in an out of hospitals her entire life. The other woman is Marisa Taylor who with her daughter, Jessica, has more recently come to Hawk's Cove. Marisa is more mysterious but the two young girls have become best friends. The two young women are a part of a larger group of women who call themselves the Nanouks, a group of friends who are always there for one another in this isolated but idyllic area which draws many visitors who go on whale watching trips to see the many different types of whales including the amazing beluga whales.
Then there's Liam Neill. Instead of captaining whale watching boats like the rest of the men in his family, he became an oceanographer, even after a terrible tragedy as a youth caused him the loss of an arm. He has become protective of Lily and Rose ever since they came to down and even though Rose cares for him a great deal, Lily and him have always remained at a distance emotionally. Then when tragedy is barely averted during what was supposed to be a fun whale watching outing for Rose's 9th birthday, everything changes.
I started this book Saturday afternoon while looking out at the waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca where I had just recently started the first whale watching trip I'd ever been on less than a month ago so of course was gripped to the pages from the beginning. I had the sound of the waves hitting the beach resonating all around me as I was reading, unable to put the book down. And a more emotional book I'd be hard pressed to find. I rarely have admitted this to others, so to do so in a review is really putting myself out there, but I have been in a relationship such as the one Lily and Marisa found themselves in. I could really identify with them.
And Liam. Ah Liam. Jamie Fraser from the Outlander series has often been called the most perfect hero in fiction written today. Liam Neill gives him a run for the money. He is sensitive, caring, and downright sexy. He is strong, intelligent, and loves children. What more could you ask for??
Luanne Rice's emotional writing brought me to tears more than once, and she gave a twist near the end that I never saw coming - one that had me sit straight up from my halfway-lying down position! I was completely exhausted from a stay spent doing a very tedious chore, arriving home at 11PM, but I had about 90 more pages to read and even though I knew I had to get up early to go to work in the morning, there was no way I could not go to sleep without finishing this book. It is that good.
If I had any complaint about this book, it's that I found it to not quite stand alone. It leads into Rice's June 21st release SUMMER OF ROSES. But really, it is a minor quibble. You can be sure I will be first in line to get that book the day it comes out (do you think I can call the summer solstice a holiday so I can take the day off work to read it??) The book is so outstanding, the characters so wonderful, and the villain such a well-done villain. I've long been a fan of Luanne Rice's books and this just cements her standing as one of the authors on my automatic-buy list. I think I actually may have a couple of her books around the house I haven't read yet; that won't be the case for much longer because I am going to round them all up and move them to the top of the TBR pile. Well done, Ms. Rice, I don't know how I can stand waiting for the next two weeks! Note to family: Gift certificates make a good birthday presents (mine being in 11 days :-)
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Luanne Rice has doen it again!, July 19, 2005
This review is from: Summer's Child (Mass Market Paperback)
Luanne Rice is back and better than ever!
As much as I love most of Luanne Rice's books, I was a bit worried about her next book after reading her holiday entry, Silver Bells. It wasn't that Silver bells was entirely disappointing and didn't have all of Luanne Rice's signature marks, it was just that for me it missed its mark somehow. And when early reports indicated that Summer's Child had a bit of a mystery angle, I wondered if this gifted auuthor, who previously wrote The Secret Hour, was venturing into a new genre. Now that I literally gulped down Summer's Child, Rice's newest book, I am happy to say that Luanne Rice, as only she could, gave to her readers and myself a wonderful book filled with some of the best characters I've read about for sometime. And if the mystery angle was a bit easy to figure out early on, I still found myself captivated by the story and how wonderful it all turned out.
In Hubbards Point, Connecticut, the scene of many of Luanne Rice's previous novels, lives an elderly woman whose pregnant granddaughter vanished in the night. A devoted detective has relentlessly searched for the young woman and has indeed sacrificed much of his life and marriage obsessed with what happened to Mara. At the same time in Nova Scotia live two women fleeing from a difficult past. Lily Malone runs a needlepoint shop while her young daughter, Rose, suffers from a debilitating heart ailment. But Lily seems to have cut herself off from finding a man for herselfserself and is consumed with caring for her child and spending time with her women friends known as the Nanook women. Lily is pursued by a gentle man Liam who would give her the world if she would only give him the chance but seems too consumed with her past to allow this. A recent addition to the community is Marisa, another wounded soul who arrives with her young daughter. Both Lily and Marisa's daughter become fast friends almost sensing they share a similar history. And then there is a mysterious presence in both Lily and Marisa's lives which neither of them can shake no matter how far they have gone. What secrets do these people share and how their lives intersect and intertwine intrigues the reader as this book crescendos to am amazing climax. This was one of the most heart wrenching books I have read in a long time and one which I won't soon forget.
I first began reading Luanne Rice in 1993 and never thought any of her future books would be as good or as well loved I felt about Blue Moon, Home Fires or the recent Firefly Beach trilogy. I am happy to say that I was wrong then and imagine I will be in the future. And I won't have to wait too long to be reunited with these endearing characters since a sequel to Summer's Child, Summer of Roses has already been published.
My reading life has been so enriched with the hours I have spent with Luanne Rice's books which for the most part I love. I can't think of anything better to do when reading a book then spending days and nights with Ms. Rice's characters or spending time in Hubbards Point, a wonderful beach community in Connecticut. This is one author who despite an occassional book I don't love, remains one of my favorite authors and I imagine I will always feel this way based on the many books I did love by her. As I've often said, a so so book by Luanne Rice is still better than a lot of what I read these days. My hats off to you Ms. Rice. May you continue to write wonderful books like Summer's Child and may I continue to look forward to reading them.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Beatifully written love story, September 26, 2005
This review is from: Summer's Child (Mass Market Paperback)
A very pregnant Mara Jameson escaped from her abusive husband Edward and relocated to Nova Scotia, where she soon buried her former self and became Lily Malone.
Nine years later, Patrick Murphy, the now retired detective in charge of her missing person case believes that she is dead (and that Edward was the culprit), but after following up on a couple tips, soon finds himself in Nova Scotia. His relentless search to solve Mara's case destroyed his marriage and career. But he feels an obligation to her ailing grandmother to see the case through to conclusion regardless of the outcome.
Lily has carved out a life for herself and her daughter Rose. Unfortunately, Rose was born with a heart murmur which results in her needing some operations in order to live a normal life. Mysterious Liam Neill has taken it upon himself to be the benefactor of Rose. He has loved Lily from afar since the night he helped bring Rose into the world, but Lilly is too consumed with her daughter and her past with Edward to open her heart to Liam.
Liam is a scarred man. He lives with horrible memories about the loss of his brother and his arm in a shark attack. Instead of committing himself to the family enterprise of piloting whale watching boats, Liam has become and oceanographer and studies sharks in particular. A shocking event finally brings Liam and Lily together, and opens her world to the possibility of love. But will her world comes crashing down when she comes face to face with her past?
I really loved this book. But I really was not happy when I got to the end and found that I will have to read another book, "Summer of Roses" to find out the conclusion of the story. I like self-encapsulating novels that can stand on their own.
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