Hummingbird Lake

Starred review from February 21, 2011
This heartquake of a contemporary romance easily persuades readers that fictitious Eternity Springs, Colo., has mystical healing powers. Sage Anderson, a young doctor, witnessed terrible violence and tragedy while volunteering in central Africa. As she recovers in peaceful Eternity Springs, Sage is comforted by her friends (including characters familiar from Angel's Rest), her passion for painting, and woodcarver Colt Rafferty, whose very touch is like a balm on her troubled soul. March is a master of delightful banter, especially among her empowered female characters, and her light and playful sex scenes ("If a Hall of Fame for penises existed, surely he'd qualify for membership") have a spark that sets her novels apart. By the story's end, readers will be fairly panting for the next novel in this delightful series.

February 15, 2011

Mystical, magical, and possibly angel-touched, the tiny, isolated community of Eternity Springs was founded in 1888 by a trio of miners who struck it rich in silver high in the Colorado Rockies and named for its restorative hot springs. The town flourished then dwindled as a result of family feuds and enmities, and today, with 827 permanent residents, it is fighting to survive as the special, conceivably bewitched place it is. In Angel's Rest, averted from a suicide attempt when he was tackled by a mangy boxer on a snowy Colorado mountainside, landscape architect Gabe Callahan, devastated by the deaths of his wife and young son, finds the same dog caught in a trap and takes him to the local, very attractive vet, Nicole Sullivan. But this is just the beginning, and as Gabe is reluctantly drawn into the life of the town, agreeing to design a healing center around the legendary hot springs and dealing with the dog who thinks he is its owner, Gabe slowly begins to heal--and then a passionate Christmas Eve sends his life, as well as Nic's, into a tailspin. Bridal skeletons, silver bars, and old secrets add zing to this sweet, touching story that takes a pair of emotionally wounded souls and gives them a gentle, angelic shove in the direction they both know they want to go.

In Hummingbird Lake, Sage Anderson, establishing a new artistic life in Eternity Springs after a mentally debilitating, lethal tour of duty with Doctors Without Borders as a pediatric surgeon in Africa, is terrified when her lessening bouts of post-traumatic stress disorder spike after she is called upon in an emergency to deliver her friend's twins. Her painting has always helped keep the flashbacks in check, but now the nightmarish episodes are returning, and keeping them secret will be harder than ever, especially when perceptive scientist Colt Rafferty gets involved. Longstanding family issues, mental and physical illness, and a dash of evil drive the conflict in this tense but ultimately uplifting story that reprises old characters, introduces some new ones, and lets love work its healing magic. VERDICT March also writes lighthearted romantic comedies as Geralyn Dawson; she lives in Texas. Her new series gets off to a satisfying start and will appeal to fans of Debbie Macomber and Marilyn Pappano's "Bethlehem" series. [Heartache Falls, the next in the series, will be out in May 2011.]

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