Friday, July 23, 2010

One Season of Sunshine by Julia London Review

Adopted as an infant, Jane Aaron longs to know the identity of her birth mother and why she gave her up. Her only clue is the name of the small Texas town where she was born, so she’s come to Cedar Springs for answers.

Handsome ad executive Asher Price lost his wife, the beautiful, mysterious Susanna, in a terrible car crash eighteen months ago. When he hires Jane as the nanny for his two children, sparks fly. Jane finds herself falling in love with both Asher and his children, but begins to suspect that Susanna was not the perfect mother and wife the family portrays her to have been.

As Jane gets closer and closer to finding out the truth about both her own and Susanna’s past, devastating secrets begin to emerge that may be more than anyone can bear. Will the truth bring Jane and Asher closer together or tear them apart forever?

My Take: This has been sitting on my TBR pile for way too long. I think the above summary is off-putting and vague. The story is actually much better than the summary.  The book starts out with Susanna, drunk, at a bar. She's obviously at artist and lacks good judgment.  She dies by the third page in a head on collision. Next we meet Jane who is not plain but wants to gain her genetic history.  Although a teacher by trade, she moves to a small Texas town to place herself closer to her birth.

Asher is widower of Susanna. It's been nearly two years since her death and he is dealing with life as a single father of a pre-teen and pre-schooler.  He needs a nanny. Jane needs a job. He's handsome. She's beautiful. Perfect.

Actually, there is much more to the story than a romance.  The author covers subjects such as adult children of adoption and dealing with a mother's death as a young, near teen, and interpretation of mental illness label. It's really quite a nice story that reaches many different audiences.  I quite liked it.

3 and half stars.

1 comment:

Riahli said...

Sounds pretty good.