Late Bloomer

Once a daring child, Cady has turned into a cautious and fearful young woman. Though haunted by a twenty-year-old incident involving the death of a young friend, she has no memory of it. And her friends don't want her to remember. But when Cady's ailing gram asks her to return home, she agrees and moves back to Indigo. There she confronts the ghosts from her past. Narrator Michele Pawk realistically depicts Cady's former friends as suspicious and fearful and Boomer, a former love interest, as intriguing. Her portrayal of Cady's childish excitement and fear is gripping as she retraces her steps on that fateful day. G.D.W. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine

February 1, 2003
The eponymous late bloomer in this new novel by the prolific Michaels (No Place Like Home) is Cady Jordan, a dowdy 30-year-old loner who moves back to her hometown of Indigo, Pa., to take care of her ailing grandmother. Lola Jor Dan is no cuddly, cookie-baking granny; she's a flamboyant retired movie star, widowed six times and living on a lavish estate. She revamps Cady's wardrobe ("You're going to buy off the rack?") and encourages her to start living her life. But Cady can't: when she was 10 years old, she took part in a daredevil stunt that landed her in the hospital and killed another child. She has no memory of the accident, but has been a nervous, timid creature ever since. Now that she's back in Indigo, Cady hopes to recover her lost memory. Fortunately, the town is still home to all her cohorts of that day: Pete Danson, now a local lawyer; Boomer Ward, the town's police chief; Amy Hollister, who had been leader of the mischievous pack and is now a stay-at-home mom; and Amy's twin, Andy, an insurance salesman. The childhood attraction between Cady and Boomer becomes an on-and-off-again romance that complicates matters as Cady tries to get to the bottom of what happened, while her former playmates do everything they can to stop her. The action-packed plot holds few surprises, but Michaels's fans will be satisfied with this feel-good page-turner. (Feb.) Forecast: Michaels's protagonist may be a late bloomer, but this novel won't be-expect it to hit bestseller lists early, winning back readers who tired of her Kentucky series.