SELECTION ROMANCES CONTEMPORAINES

(EN VERSION ORIGINALE)



Coup de coeur d'untilyouj

Parution en Juin 2008 - What matters most
de Luanne Rice  (Bantam)

True love never dies—but it may need the helping hand of the Virgin Mary and the luck o' the Irish to survive in Rice's latest, effectively a sequel to last year's Sandcastles. Sister Bernadette Ignatius (the former Bernie Sullivan), Mother Superior at the coastal Connecticut Star of the Sea Academy, travels to Dublin with Tom Kelly, the academy's ombudsman, seeking James, the son they gave up over 20 years ago. In a parallel narrative set up in a prologue, young James and Kathleen, raised together as orphans, are devastated when they are forced to separate when Kathleen is 13. While Bernie and Tom look for James (now calling himself Seamus), James searches for Kathleen, who pines for him in a Newport, R.I., mansion, where she is a cook and maid for an atrocious, wealthy family. Rice juices up the predictable plot line with miraculous visions, ghosts, convenient encounters and melodramatic twists of fate—yet the effects are still lukewarm, though there's guilt, redemption and three-hankie moments aplenty for those who stick it out to the end.


Coup de coeur d'untilyouj

Parution en Juin 2008 - MEET ME IN VENICE
d'Elizabeth Adler  (St Martin's)

In this globe-spanning, intrigue-filled thriller from veteran bestseller Adler (Hotel Riviera), an American antiques dealer working in Paris, 38-year-old Precious Preshy Rafferty, is drawn into a scheme that also ensnares a cousin she's never met in person, Shanghai antique dealer Lily Song. Lily owns a fabulous, superexpensive necklace that Lily's business associate, Mary-Lou Chen, is out to steal. It's the job of Mary-Lou's paramour, American businessman Bennett Yuan, to find a buyer. As the suspense builds, Lily and Preshy must travel to Venice to meet and, among other things, protect the fortune Preshy is due to inherit from her Aunt Grizelda. Adler remains as adept as ever at making her various locales come to life and doesn't disappoint in keeping the mystery surrounding the necklace, and the two cousins, swirling.

Parution en Juin 2008 - DOUBLE TAKE
de Catherine Coulter (Jove)
Julia Ransom is enjoying a liberating stroll on San Francisco's Pier 39 after having been suspected of the brutal murder of her renowned psychic husband, Dr. August Ransom, six months earlier and hounded by the media. When an unknown assailant throws Julia off the pier, FBI Special Agent Cheney Stone rescues her. Stone later senses a link between the attack and the death of Julia's husband. Meanwhile in Virginia, Sheriff Dixon Noble is finally feeling his life is getting back to normal after his wife went missing three years earlier. When Noble comes to San Francisco to pursue a lead into his wife's disappearance, he gets involved in a harrowing investigation with Stone into both mysteries. As usual, the author conjures strong visual images, particularly a wild car chase through the streets of San Francisco. Credible characters and a fascinating look at the world of psychics and thieves help make this one of Coulter's best.

Parution en Juin 2008 - THEN YOU HIDE
de Roxanne St Claire  (Pocket) Book 2

Although she claims to be on vacation, Vanessa Porter is really looking for missing friend and co-worker Clive Easterbrook, who disappeared while vacationing in the Caribbean. Sniper and prospective Bullet Catcher Wade Cordell agrees to take an "easy" job for Lucy Sharpe by tracking down Vanessa, one of three black-market babies who may be a bone marrow donor for their dying biological mother.

Wade soon realizes there's more to Clive's disappearance than meets the eye. They make a deal: He'll help her find Clive, and she'll check out "mommy dearest"... if they live that long!