~ Review: Under A Blue Moon ~

UNDER A BLUE MOON is the latest offering from Shirley Harrison and it is indeed as rare as the proverbial blue moon.  Ms Harrison takes the tried and true and fashions it into a fresh and exciting story with the perfect balance of romance and intrigue.

Angelica Manchester is tricked into spending the day with her estranged husband and gets more than she bargains for—she and her husband are captured by some of his underworld cohorts.  Although Angelica manages to escape, she is injured and cast onto the shore of a private island.  She awakens in the home of a handsome stranger and has no memory of anything that happened to her.  She can’t even remember her own name.

Dr. Matthew Sinclair sought his island paradise as a retreat from his personal tragedy.  The last thing he wants or needs is a mysterious stranger to care for, but that is exactly what he gets.  After her injuries begin to heal, the doctor becomes the patient as Angelica tries to help him put his own past behind him.  But they can’t give in to the attraction that is flaming out of control until Annie’s own past is revealed—or can they?

Ms. Harrison has crafted a book that is a real page-turner.  I could not put it down until I knew all of the secrets of Angie’s past and Matthew’s.  Her style of writing is masterful; she balanced the events on the island beautifully with the events that were taking place in Florida where Angie’s family was searching for her.  The secondary characters were vividly drawn and each served a purpose.  The plot was well executed and believable as well as compelling. 

Amnesia stories are not new, but the way Ms. Harrison tells it, is like reading one for the first time.  Angelica is not your typical amnesia victim.  Although she is confused at times as her memories flicker in and out, she is a strong, decisive woman determined to live in the now.  And she is not afraid to take risks—she is not going to be a victim of her situation, she is going to survive it and get what she wants.  I loved that about Angelica.  She is a fighter, not a whiner, and in Matthew Sinclair she definitely has a hero to match her strengths.

If you have not had the pleasure of reading PICTURE PERFECT, also by Ms Harrison, by all means get it.  I enjoyed that one every bit as much as UNDER A BLUE MOON.  It is always a pleasure to read a romance that is so well written that the writer in you gets a jealous and the reader in you does a little happy dance...this is definitely the romance and Ms. Harrison is certainly the writer.  Although it was a bit strange to see Trevor Grant and Corinthians Avery on the cover…