Romance rings in a new era

Amid all the contemporary and historical romances, there is an era finally getting its due: the mid-century romance. Virtually ignored in romance fiction, the middle of the 20th century -- namely, the World War II years -- is rich ground for love stories. As Tom Hanks would say, "It is time."

The mid-century romance combines elements of historical romance, which draws from sweeping events like the Civil War or French Revolution, and contemporary romance, which emphasizes the intensity of one-on-one personal relationships.

REVIEWS BY SANDY HUSEBY

The intimacy of Susan Wilson's Hawke's Cove also conveys the power of World War II through the lives of Vangie Worth and Joe Green.

Vangie has retreated to the sanctuary of Hawke's Cove after her husband John chooses to go to war, and she miscarries their unborn child. Both Vangie and Joe hold scars and secrets, and their closeness tightens, until John, reported missing, is freed from a concentration camp.

Vangie and Joe each choose lives apart, yet the bond they shared remains unbroken through years of letters. When a downed Hellcat plane prompts Vangie's reporter son, Charlie, to search out the story of Hawke's Cove, Vangie and Joe's story, too, is at risk. Susan Wilson's writing is like filigreed platinum: delicately spun, and priceless. Hawke's Cove is a poignant, evocative love story that transcends its place and its generation.


What the teacher learns

When you're coping with the greatest challenges life throws at you, the appearance of a man bent on courtship is both torment and exhilaration.

In Sally Mandel's Out of the Blue, Anna Bolles is struggling to cope with her advancing multiple sclerosis. Wheelchair bound and feeling her worst, she meets Joe Malone. She can't believe this virile and vigorous man is really interested in her. Yet Anna keeps telling herself that she has much bigger issues to worry about, primarily keeping her teaching position at an exclusive Manhattan private school.

When her MS is in remission, Anna frets about her memory and her vulnerable muscles. She's settled for an observer's role; Joe has merely skimmed the surface of true commitment. Now both are faced with opening completely to each other, nothing held back.

Mandel captivates readers with such clarity that Anna and Joe emerge from the pages as exhilarating and buoyant as Olympian gold, two vulnerable people willing to entrust their hearts to each other and triumph together.


Farr and away

The remote Scottish Highlands is the running ground for Alexandra Raife's Until the Spring. Kate retreats to Allt Farr to restore her shattered emotions amid the family of the man who broke her spirit. Max reluctantly takes on the task of cleaning up Jeremy's love life, and finds in Kate the woman who can fill his own empty world. This contemporary love story captures all the resonance and flavor of an almost ethereal world. Small wonder that Kate chooses Max and that world for a lifetime.


Plucked from obscurity

An aristocratic adventurer's pursuit of the ultimate exotic flower brings him more than he bargained for in Jill Marie Landis's The Orchid Hunter.

Trevor Mandeville's hunt brings him to the steamy jungle of an African island where he finds Joya Penn, the identical twin of his adopted sister, Janelle. Like the exotic flowers she harvests, Joya is far more tenacious than her fragile appearance. When Trevor brings her back to London, she must discover the secrets of her past in order to understand the mysterious truths of her island upbringing. For Trevor, the challenge seems to be taming the exotic woman he has brought to his hothouse world. Yet Joya proves that her true value is holding fast to her exotic roots. Jill Marie Landis's joyous storytelling always delivers the perfect blend of colorful realms and people who work their magic deep in the heart.


Playing by the rules -- not

Who better to teach an undisciplined male than a prim and proper governess? In Christina Dodd's Rules of Surrender, Lady Charlotte Dalrumple has reason to keep her aristocratic heritage hidden. In the company of two other resourceful women, the Distinguished Academy of Governesses is launched so each can build a self-reliant life.

Having spent their entire childhood in the exotic kindgom of El Bahar, Leila and Robbie become Charlotte's charges as she teaches them proper British customs. Their father Wynter, however, ultimately becomes both student and master tutor.

Dodd launches her trilogy of the Academy of Governesses with a sparkling charm that promises delightful reading to come. Rules of Surrender is a tale of promise fulfilled, by story and author alike.


The saga continues into the wilderness

Romance readers too often finish a story and wish they didn't have to let go of the characters, wondering how their lives play out beyond the courtship. Sara Donati more than meets the trust of telling a worthy continuing story. In Dawn on a Distant Shore Nathaniel Bonner leaves behind his wife, Elizabeth, on a mission of honor to his father. Like his father, he is taken prisoner, and Elizabeth confronts the treacherous wilderness in an effort to free him. Reunited, Nathaniel and Elizabeth must travel back to their Scottish homeland to rescue their babies.

Donati masterfully weaves the evocative history of the founding of America with the powerful challenges faced by those, like the Bonners, who settled this new world. The strengths they find in themselves provide a timely reminder that this melting pot nation is a rich fabric, woven by the lives of ordinary people who rise to extraordinary challenges.


Sandy Huseby writes and reviews from Fargo, North Dakota and Nevis, Minnestota. She is online at SHuseby@aol.com.

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