Out of the Blue

February 9, 2004
Ross's latest, the second in a trilogy begun with the far stronger Out of the Mist
, follows famous country singer Lark Stewart through perils worthy of the silent screen's Pauline. They begin when Lark's longtime bandmate Danny Murphy is shot in New Orleans. Briefly suspected of the crime, Lark is then released, but not before a sadist who has stalked her escapes from jail. Her family sends her girlhood sweetheart, Lucas McCloud, to protect her. A onetime sniper and FBI agent turned furniture maker, Lucas's lifelong love for Lark—derailed first by teenage folly and later by his dangerous work—has never died. Though their return to their birthplace in the Smokies re-ignites their romance, Lark remains under threat from the stalker, a scheming ex-husband and Danny's still-unidentified attacker. In place of the colorful history and family humor found in Ross's previous installment, this book offers a jumble of overcomplicated backstory, inconsequential characters and melodramatic plot twists, including a temporary and unlikely bout of amnesia and a plane crash. Crowded with contrivance, the story never finds either its rhythm or its heart; to the end, Lark and Lucas remain puppets of the frantic plot rather than compelling characters in and of themselves.

March 1, 2004
Desert Storm vet Lucas McCloud, ex-lover of internationally renowned folk singer Lark Stewart, is brought out of FBI retirement by her aunt, who senses trouble for Lark in the form of a stalker. Lucas discovers that his passion for Lark has never ceased, nor hers for him, and Ross concentrates on describing how they rediscover each other both psychologically and sexually, and endure the tearful exorcism of their respective demons. Lucas blames himself for the death of a teenage girl hostage he tried to save, and Lark has to get past her fears of flying and of the dark. All the torment, suspense, and good sex Ross whips up obscures the fact that this is a sequel to " Out of the Mist" [BKL O 15 03], and that Lark is the second of the three Stewart sisters who were raised in Stewart's Folly in Tennessee. Late in the book Ross plays catch-up, which slows things down, but doesn't ruin the suspense because the reader is already rooting for Lark and Lucas.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)