Night Swimming

May 1, 2003
When marine biologist Dr. Lily Banyon returns to her hometown of Coral Beach, Florida, to finish an aborted study of the town's offshore reef to see if proposed development will be harmful, she has to confront an unresolved past that includes an overly critical mother; a perception of once having been an awkward, first-class nerd; and a secret love for the town's mayor, Sean McDermott. What she does not anticipate is having one of her staff bribed into undermining the study by Sean's rival, the developer, forcing her to dive under extremely dangerous conditions. Or that she will reconcile with her mother, or that she and Sean will finally realize that they love, rather than hate, each other. Their grandmothers play a matchmaking role in all this, adding some whimsy to the plot. Although the reader is way ahead of her characters, Moore does provide a fairly satisfying tale about how things are not always what they seem.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)