Moonlight in the Morning

October 3, 2011
Readers will blaze through Deveraux’s latest contemporary romance set in Edilean, Va. (after Aug. 2011’s Heartwishes). Jecca Layton was raised in New Jersey, but now she’s a committed New Yorker who manages an art gallery and hopes her own paintings will find an audience. When the gallery closes for the summer, she travels to Edilean to spend time with her friend Kim and possibly reconnect with Kim’s older brother, Reede, whom she met as a teenager. While she doesn’t remember also meeting Dr. Tristan Aldredge, he remembers her, and he’s determined to get her attention. Borrowing from the Cupid and Psyche myth, Deveraux delivers a modern romance addressing relatable relationship obstacles such as the challenges of distance and the need to balance career aspirations. Tristan and Jecca’s chemistry jumps off the page and effective backstory adds depth and realism to their encounters.

December 1, 2011
Jecca's summer in Edilean, her best friend Kim's hometown, was intended to be a break from life in New York and the art gallery in which she worked and a chance to concentrate on her painting. But instead she meets Kim's cousin Tristan, the town doctor, and they fall in love during several midnight talks. She begins to consider whether she can sidetrack her career to stay in the town from which he seems inextricable. Meanwhile, Tristan must consider whether his home is anchored to a place or to a loved one. Jecca's story is the first in a new trilogy by popular romancer Deveraux about three college roommates finding love in the real world. The novel's build-up and resolution are simplistic, and some characters are poorly drawn, but die-hard romance readers will dismiss the flaws and be pleased that love prevails. Deveraux's loyal fans will certainly snap this up, then eagerly await the next volume, which will feature Kim's romance, a subject raised enticingly at this novel's close.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)