Back across the Atlantic for some American contemporary fiction that’s quite tense; less chick-lit, more sexy thriller. Kate Alexander can only remember the last eighteen months of her life since her car accident; only her personal memories are gone, she still retains her professional knowledge as a geologist (similar to the amnesia condition in The Man Who Forgot His Wife). When her doctor husband Jake is killed in a plane crash on his way home from a business trip, Kate’s identity and her past begin to unravel as confusing evidence comes to light- including a photo of a girl who could only be her daughter.
In San Francisco, Ryan Harrison is raising his 9 year old daughter, making a success of his business and dating the hottest women on the social scene- all the while staying emotionally detached, mourning his wife Anne who died in a plane crash 5 years earlier. When Kate, along with her 5 year old son, moves to San Francisco to investigate her past, their paths collide, but more questions are raised than answered. Together they discover what really happened to them all, and find themselves in even greater danger.
Kooks for your Kindle?– Like many heroes in american romantic fiction, Ryan’s the manliest of men, hard as nails in business and in physique, and passionate about his woman. His brother-in-law Mitch is similar but with more sense of fun, his secondary story with Simone the lawyer is a good companion piece to lighten the story. Nine year old Julia was especially entertaining with her age-inappropriate questions to make her Dad and uncle feel awkward.
The Bella-Swan-Pathetically-Self-Sacrificing-Factor– The dynamic between the cautious but (of course) devastatingly attractive Kate and the aforementioned uber-manly qualities of Ryan rather reminded me of some Stephanie Bond books, but with less froth and more of a mystery in the story line. Kate was pleasantly intelligent and go-getting, she also thought very quickly in a crisis.
Painting a picture for your paperback?– Warning: don’t start reading this in the bath tub, the beginning is such a page-turner your water will go COLD! The pace eased a little once everybody found out who they were, not quite living up to the promise of the beginning, but then intensified again towards the end with some good old life-threatening peril.
Nookie for your Nook?– No cheesy euphemisms here, just telling it like it (steamily) is; only to be recommended to the most cheeky of mother-in-laws.
Evaluation of your eBook?– In some ways it also reminded me of Before I Go To Sleep in as much as a woman’s memory damage was taken advantage of, but this book felt like more of a romance too. I had a minor reservation about the ending, lets just say there was a small betrayal that felt a little off. But I didn’t guess who the bad guy was, and that’s always good! This seems to be a departure into modern contemporary fiction for the author; most of her previous works have a muscular, topless, sweaty man on the cover and involve greek mythology or ancient artifacts; so quite an effective change of genres. I’d happily read more like this modern one, and if the prices stay as per the details below, make sure you snap it up as an absolute bargain for an easy, gripping read.
Frothy Ranking: 3.5/5 cocktails.
Can be obtained from:
UK: Only 98p on Amazon.
US: Only 99c on Amazon.