Romance Book Reviews
Page Two of TwoWhen My Sister Was Cleopatra Moon by Frances Park
Talk Miramax Books, June, 2001.Trade Paperback, 276 pages.
ISBN: 0786886455
Subgenre: Women's Fiction
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
In 1970s Washington, D.C., there are very few
Korean-American families living in the suburbs.
Cleopatra Moon tells the story of two sisters,
the beautiful Cleopatra and
the bookish, shy Marcy, and their relationship with
each other and with their parents. Marcy always
looked up to her wild, fun-loving sister and when Cleo
finally left home, Marcy was devastated. Eventually,
Marcy went to live in abject poverty to help the White
Sky Native Americans, while Cleopatra married, had two children,
and founded a wildly successful gourmet foods business.
Years later, when Cleo's husband dies, she asks Marcy to come and
stay with her. The two sisters will clash as all the old
resentments and rivalries of childhood surface in an
explosive denouement.
When My Sister Was Cleopatra Moon is a haunting, funny and memorable novel which has as its heart the pull and tug of intricate family relationships. The anxious and shy Marcy, the outwardly outrageous Cleopatra, their shy, withdrawn mother who has never adjusted to America, and their father who works constantly, is always cheerful, yet suffers terribly from insomnia, are all expertly drawn characters. Marcy's father's story is particularly moving, as are his letters home from his travels to his youngest daughter. The novel focuses on several issues: the relationship between the sisters, the relationship between Marcy and her father, and the subtle and pervasive racism faced by the girls while they were growing up. There is love, loss, rage and healing in this well-crafted novel. Crisp dialogue and a sharp sense of humor (especially when Marcy's neuroses about her sister are totally revealed) keep the novel from bogging down into treacly sentimentality. Frances Park has crafted a tender, moving and ultimately joyous novel which would make perfect summer reading material.
Whispers on the Wind by Judy Gill
Love Spell, May, 2001.Paperback, 315 pages.
ISBN: 050552435X
Subgenre: Futuristic
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
Feeling burned out from her job, Lenore Hemming
retreats to her family cabin high in the Rocky Mountains
for some much-needed relaxation. Lenore starts having the
most sensual dreams, which involve a man who keeps calling
to her to come to him. The "dreams" get more and more real,
and start happening in the daytime. Unable to resist the
siren call, Lenore sets out hiking towards the source of the
summons to find out once and for all if she is going
crazy. Lenore is not crazy; in a cavern she finds the gorgeous
man in her dreams, but he is gravely injured. He's also
an alien, who crash landed while on a mission to Earth to
stop a notorious criminal who is hiding on Earth.
His name is Jonallo and he needs Lenore's help to find
his crewmates and to survive. Lenore agrees to help him
and the two fall in love. But there are evil forces at work
to destroy them both, and Jonallo's commitments on his
home world may prevent him from staying on Earth -- even
to be with the woman he loves.
Judy Gill is known for her heartfelt stories which have a touch of magic about them. In Whispers on the Wind, she turns her formidable talents to a futuristic tale of passion, loyalty and the deepest longings of a woman's heart. Jonallo is an intriguing hero, who is human enough to be familiar, yet alien enough to be exotic. Lenore is a bit older than some romance heroines, and is a strong and interesting character. Lovers of futuristic romance will adore Jonallo and Lenore's story, which will have readers checking the night sky in hopes of finding another sexy alien needing a helping hand.
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