Dance with Me

January 26, 2004
Heartbreak gives way to love and reconciliation in this poignant tale by veteran romance writer Rice (The Perfect Summer
, etc.). After more than a decade as the owner of a trendy New York City bakery, Calamity Jane's, 35-year-old Jane Porter returns to her native rural Rhode Island to help her sister, Sylvie, care for their ailing mother, Margaret. Neighbor Dylan Chadwick has recently moved back to the Twin Rivers area, too, after abandoning his career as a federal law enforcement agent in New York. Both Jane and Dylan are badly scarred by life's blows: Dylan is still mourning the death of his wife and daughter in a shootout, and Jane can't forget the outcome of a doomed college romance. As Dylan embarks on the daunting task of restoring his father's beloved apple orchard, Jane takes an avid interest in Dylan's 15-year-old niece, Chloe, baking apple tarts for the orchard roadside stand where Chloe works. Sparks fly between Dylan and Jane, but the novel's plot hinges on Jane and Chloe's growing friendship. Rice relies heavily on coincidence and contrivance, concocting a tear-jerking mix of family strife, juvenile impetuosity and misunderstood motives, but her sympathetic protagonists keep readers engaged. Even secondary characters like Sylvie, a tightly wound school librarian, and Mona, Chloe's eccentric best friend, make an impression, and readers will breathe sighs of relief when the long-awaited happy ending comes for Dylan, Jane and Chloe.

October 1, 2003
Happy-go-lucky Jane Porter returns to the rural Rhode Island town she once fled and takes up with Dylan Chadwick, another lost sheep back in the fold.

Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2003
Jane Porter is traveling back to her hometown of Twin Rivers, Rhode Island, with a heavy heart. She has stayed away as much as possible for the last 15 years, while her sister, Sylvie, has remained in town and taken care of their ill mother. The girls' mother was once a proud school principal who raised her brilliant daughters alone after her husband deserted them and then, because of her pride and fear of abandonment, convinced young Jane to give her newborn child up for adoption when the father wanted nothing to do with them. Jane has always regretted that decision and now wants to see her daughter. The opportunity arises when she meets her daughter's uncle, Dylan, who has lost his wife and daughter. Dylan and Jane both have an aura of tragedy about them. He and Jane become involved, and through him she develops a relationship with her daughter, Chloe, without revealing the fact that she is Chloe's birth mother. Once again, Rice captures the wonder of life, warts and all, and puts in a bid for hope. Her latest is a stellar example of why Rice continues to gain popularity.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)