An interplay of human sentiments
Tulip Chowdhury relishes two tales in a story
Windfall
Nora Roberts
Silhouette Books
TWO unforgettable stories, "Impulse" and "Temptation", are put into the book Windfall and the result is a two-in-one pulsing romance. Nora Roberts is indeed a word artist, painting her stories and her characters with vitality and verve. Both the stories hold the reader mesmerized. With clear-eyed vision and a sure pen Roberts nails her characters and settings with awesome precision, drawing readers into a vividly rendered world of family centered warmth and sheer magic.
Impulse: Rebecca Malone was the highly qualified CPA, the perfect CEO of the company she worked for. She was always in the tidy suit, punctual in her office and the reliable colleague at her office. She had lost her parents in an early age. Then Aunt Jeannie, the woman who had been like a mother to her, died suddenly. It was like a wake-up call for Rebecca. How much time had she given to this aunt? Had she not been too busy pursuing her career? It seems as though she had been missing too much in her life. On an impulse Rebecca threw away her alarm clock that had been waking her up at six. She resigned from her office, sold her furniture and even her house. No more of tax-deferred investments or retirement plans! She packed up and headed for Greece, that mystical land. For once she wanted to know what it meant to be free of duties and responsibilities. Her soul was simply crying out for a real vacation! She headed for Corfu.
Rebecca was looking for adventure. Her hotel overlooking the Ionian Sea was full of tourists. But she was not prepared to meet the adventures that Stephen Nickodemus brought with him when he first met her in the hotel lounge. Stephen was a wealthy Greek businessman. The tall sturdy woman with the hazel eyes was like a dream to him. Her serenity captured him and he felt an inner urge to know this woman. When Rebecca revealed that she was an American woman out for adventure he took her to be a woman of the world, a woman who knew her way about. As days went by and Stephen continued to come closer it was a worried Rebecca that gave her first kiss to the stranger who had opened his heart to her. But she had to come up with the truth that it was the first time she had come out of her hometown and that he was the first man she was dating. She wondered if Stephen would find her interesting when he found that she was not after all the worldly woman he had taken her to be. Rebecca wondered what the future held for them. In her heart there was trepidation. Of one thing she was certain and that was of her love for Stephen. She wondered if the first love of her life was going to bear fruits.
And Rebecca faces an uphill journey before things settle down for good.
Temptation: Eden Carlborough had just lost her father. Her father had been part of the social elite and was respected by society. However, she was in trouble when she found that her father had left a huge amount of debts. Their house, in the heart of Philadelphia, had to be sold off to pay off pending debts. Her college was closed for summer and she was on the lookout for a summer job. Just then her friend Candy offered to take her to a summer camp for girls. Eden did not expect running Camp Liberty to be easy, but she never thought that she would literally be run up an apple tree by the little monsters. She was equally surprised to come crashing down into the capable arms of the orchard owner Chase Elliot. From this day Chase continued to hum around her like a June bug around the daisies. Her handsome neighbour had overbearing ways but his touch ignited feelings she had never known. Chase was always there, wanted or not. Eden had difficulty keeping Chase at arm's length.
Chase behaved as though she had been sent for him like a windfall. He was always so sure of himself around her. He thought he had never set his eyes on a more beautiful blonde woman. Eden had no intention of getting into a romance, not at least with Chase. She had broken up with her fiancé Eric prior to her joining the girl's camp. She wanted some time before getting involved with anyone. And Chase was not a man to give up either. He was there when she was feeding the horses. He came up from nowhere when she was standing beside the lake and even dared to put his arms around her. When the campfire was roaring and high he took his seat beside her to share the hotdogs. And to her dismay Roberta, the trouble-making teenager of the camp, started noticing Chase. Roberta did not stop here; she was out there gossiping that Eden and Chase had something going between them. When Eden told Chase of this gossip he only laughed heartily. Rather he said that she was blind to the truth that others had already accepted.
Finally Eden found Chase taking her thoughts more deeply than she had ever thought possible. Just when she had had her first date with Chase, Eric appeared and wanted a reunion. Eden had to take a decision. Just then Roberta disappeared from the camp. Eden was out there in the storm and drenching rain looking for the missing girl. Out of the blue Chase came up with Roberta. Eden realized how much Chase cares for her and wanted to help her out. She wanted to know Chase deeper but Eric was on the way, pleading for her to come back to him. The path of true love never runs smoothly. And Eden has to take many twists and turns before she finds the true love of her life and decides to settle down in a new home.
Readers do not only read the stories by Nora Roberts but they dwell in them. Both stories have characters that are palpably real. The plots take the reader on rollercoaster rides and settle down like real 'breath-catchers'. The reader spends spellbound hours while wishing that the "page-turner" book would not end. And indeed sublime are the hours in which they relish their reading!
Tulip Chowdhury teaches and writes fiction and poetry.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments