Book Review: Summer Light

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Summer Light     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Luanne Rice
Class/Genre:   Romance
Bantam, Jul 2001, $21.95, 372 pp.

May Taylor, boarding the plane with her beloved six-year-old daughter Kylie, notices all the couples. May feels lonely in spite of her cherished daughter and she feels hurt because the child’s father deserted them. Kylie begins talking with an angel that no one else can see. This frightens May who worries that her child is schizophrenic. However, that concern goes on the back burner when the plane makes an emergency landing. Hockey superstar Martin Cartier helps mother and daughter jump down the slide.

He wonders how Kylie knew trouble was coming because she had stopped to ask him to help her on her way back from the restroom. Kylie says that his daughter told her, but Martin knows his child is dead. Still Martin feels a bond with Kylie and an attraction to May, but his personal life is filled with tragedy and sadness while May has little faith in men and in her daughter’s clairvoyant abilities. Only a loving child with the help of angels could turn this duo into a couple, but that may prove too big a mission.

SUMMER LIGHT is a fabulous relationship drama that uses the paranormal to focus on lonely people. The story line is beautiful as Martin and May struggle with attraction and love while worrying about Kylie’s mental health. The paranormal not only feels real and right, it helps propel the plot and provide understanding to the lead trio. Fans of contemporary romance with a dash of the paranormal will find Luanne Rice’s latest novel a poignant, interesting, and entertaining tale.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner