First Impressions

Eden Palmer, a 45-year-old single mother, inherits a home in the town of Arundel, North Carolina. Eden makes a new life for herself in Arundel, deciding to provide landscaping services to local historic homes. She also garners the attention of two men, her gruff neighbor, Jared McBride, who has secrets, and attorney Braddon Granville, a handsome Arundel native. Jennifer Wiltsie's smooth, crisp diction provides Eden with a lilting voice, the voice of a woman who has successfully overcome some of life's obstacles. She gives Jared a smooth and sensuous tone, hinting at the possibility of romance with Eden, but preserves his hidden identity. S.M. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

October 15, 2005
After Eden was thrown out by her religious zealot parents when she was raped at 17 and became pregnant, she was taken in by Mrs. Farrington, a member of Arundel, North Carolina's elite. Mrs. Farrington put Eden to work cataloging family papers, and Eden and her daughter lived there until Mrs. Farrington's pedophile son came home. Now that Eden is 45, her daughter is about to become a mother, and Eden has received an inheritance, she decides to leave New York and head back South. But her return is marred by Jared McBride, an undercover FBI agent. His mission, to romance the single mother and find out what she knows, is complicated by Eden's romantic interest in the local lawyer. Deveraux's spunky heroine and quirky hero make this an entertaining read, and the surprise ending is a fun fillip for longtime fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)