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Trouble seems never
ending in schoolteacher Meara O’Rourke’s life. She’s hardly recovered
from her adopted parents’ death than she gets a summons to the hospital
where her birthmother’s in a critical condition. Sheila dies with a
cryptic warning on her dying lips and Meara is left devastated and full
of unanswered questions. She’s further surprised to learn that through
Sheila’s late husband, she stands to inherit a portion of a beautiful
and highly desirable historic inn. With her emotions and finances in
utter chaos, Meara decides to spend a few days at the inn which seems
hauntingly familiar.
But the inn owner’s
son, Fletcher Black is a taciturn and rude man who makes Meara feels
very unwelcome. While she understands his natural shock and dismay,
Meara determines not to turn over her share of the inheritance to
Fletcher if it means that the lovely forested area will end up turned
into a resort. Diligently searching for answers to her increasingly
frustrated questions, Meara discovers a dangerous and intricate web of
lies and deceit and Fletcher, who has some of the answers, isn’t
telling. With secrets and deception creating an profound chasm between
them, do these two wonderful human beings ever stand a chance of having
a loving relationship?
Edie Claire has a
flair for creating a strong and suspenseful narrative that still
contains satisfying elements of love and romance. This sensitive book
takes a poignant look at the lives and emotions of adopted children and
their natural curiosity about the circumstances of their adoption and
birth parents. The questions are many, the answers fewer and not always
welcome, as the characters in this book, particularly Meara, soon
discover. The suspense which continues unabated through the length of
the novel, holds readers utterly captivated while the compelling story
and growing romance tugs at their heartstrings. Eco-conservation is yet
another serious topic which is part of this irresistible book. In short,
richly imagined and very insightful, “Mean to Be” is destined for the
keeper shelf.
Reviewed By
Rashmi Srinivas for The Road to Romance
April 14, 2004 |
