| As a Luanne Rice fan, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Safe Harbor and as usual, could not put this Rice book down either! Rice has the endearing quality of drawing the reader right into the world she is portraying and making the reader one of the family. One cannot help but become intensely involved with the character's lives. Rice also paints a realistic picture for the reader, and not some made-up fantasy world, where one cannot really relate to the experiences that they are reading about.
Rice does a wonderful job portraying the deep bond of two sisters and the aftermath of Dana having to raise her sister Lily's children, after her and her husband's untimely death. Family issues arise, centered on Lily's two girls, Quinn and Allie, and once again Rice portrays the intense emotions from the entire family, so that the reader can feel them and experience them. Throwing a bit of mystery into the untimely deaths, the reader is left wondering for a long time just exactly what is up. Dana, a well-known artist, makes the heart-wrenching decision to abandon her career in France and raise her two nieces. Sam, a former sailing student of Dana's and Lily's comes back into Dana's life to provide support, wisdom, friendship, and ultimately love. The themes of Rice's books seem to center around the family unit and how each member copes when tragedy enters into their lives. Yet it is done poignantly and with depth and sensitivity, that the reader is left with a renewed sense of hope, and that love can and will prevail. The romance angle woven into this story is not overwhelming or intoxicating, but has just the right dose of sweetness so that the reader is rooting for Sam and urging him to never give up on Dana! The reader comes to know the characters so intimately, that one cannot wait to get to the next chapter! I found this story to be endearing and touching and it is classic Rice at her best! Rice fans will not be disappointed, and I found this book to be one of her best! | ||
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Plot & Themes Time/era of story Inner struggle subplot Yes Struggle with... Children/Pregnancy Yes Children/Pregnancy: - kid(s) make adults sensitive Family focus? Yes Family, loving Yes Main Male Character Profession/status: Age/status: - 20's-30's Main Female Character - 40's-50's Setting United States Yes The US: - Northeast Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths What % of story is romance related? - 70% How explicit is the sex? - vague references only - descript of kissing Focus of story - many multiple characters How much dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog How much sexing? - 3-4 sex acts |
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