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Hallie O’Brien was a well known artist, famous for her impressionistic paintings of ballerinas. Most of the time, it was in the middle of the night when inspiration struck, but she’s surprised and a little frightened when her midnight paint sessions begin to produce images of the circa 1800 town, Cripple Creek, and it’s inhabitants. Even more disturbing, she feels like she knows this town and its people. She’s especially haunted by her portrait of a man that she’s only seen in her mind’s eye, but feels a connection to, nonetheless. The portrait’s title: Gabriel.
After a debilitating injury while on assignment in a war zone, photojournalist Gabriel Quinn hung up his journalist hat but kept the photo one. No longer able to work on the front lines, Gabe started his own boudoir photography business. While the boudoir photos were certainly bringing in the money, Gabe still longed to be back in action as a photojournalist but his maimed leg prevented that from ever happening again.
Seeking resolution to the dreams and trances that haunt her, Hallie goes to Colorado to see if visiting the town that haunts her will purge its ghosts from her system. She arranges to have a friend meet her at the airport only to find he wasn’t able to make it so he sent his brother, Gabriel. Hallie and Gabe form a fast friendship that feels older than the one day they’ve known each other. Gabe is the exact image of her Gabriel painting and she is sure he is the key to unlocking the mystery that infests her dreams. Her trances become more frequent and begin to be a danger to her health. What happens if she trances to the past and never wakes up? Are her feelings for Gabe real or those of a ghost for the Gabriel of the past?
A fun and lively romance, HALLIE’S COMET takes the reader on a ghostly journey through time that leads only to love. Denise Dietz has created funny and warm characters in Hallie and Gabe. The secondary character Jeffery Quinn, adds a teensy bit of romantic tension between Hallie and Gabe, but Jeff and his monster of a dog are delightful enough for me to beg for their story too! A book to please any reader, HALLIE’S COMET is one to put on the top of your “to be read” pile.
Reviewed by Tina Burns
for The Road to Romance
June 16, 2004
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