MOON IN THE WATER

Author: Elizabeth Grayson ISBN: 0553584243 4/2004 HISTORICAL Publisher: Bantam

SHE WAS MORE THAN HE BARGAINED FOR... Ann Rossiter is no man's idea of the perfect wife, yet she has a chance—a single chance—to insure her future. To protect her unborn child, Ann agrees to marry a common riverboat pilot. In exchange, he'll gain command of her stepfather's magnificent new steamer—the Andromeda. But as they ply the western rivers together, Ann is drawn to her new husband, to his quiet strength and smoldering magnetism. Still, she dares not yield her heart for fear he will discover her most terrifying secret. HE WAS THE LAST THING SHE EXPECTED... As the Andromeda steams toward the wilds of the Montana Territory, Chase Hardesty finds himself falling in love with his new bride. But when Ann's past comes back with a vengeance, will their marriage of convenience end in tragedy—or in love forever?

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Marriage of convenience stories are a dime a dozen. It's always been a popular storyline in historical romance, so when I started MOON IN THE WATER and read the first few pages, my first thoughts were, Oh, boy, here we go again, and I might as well put the coffee on, because I'm going to need it to stay awake to try and get through this one.

Man, did I ever get that wrong. Leave it to Elizabeth Grayson to put pen to paper and create a thought provoking, emotional and tender love story that left me with only 3 hours of sleep before work time. I really should have known better, because there's never been an Elizabeth Grayson book that has ever left me wanting.

What Grayson has created in this emotional and, at times, heart-rending love story are two three-dimensional characters who reach out to each other and learn to grow together, striving to make their initially platonic relationship into a full-fledged marriage of hearts and souls. It is more than just a marriage goal for both—this is a chance for each to confront their insecurities, face their futures, and begin to heal themselves from within, using their evolving love in the process to help.

I should warn some readers that Anne's past life in this story isn't a very nice one, and those who are sensitive to the subject of rape and its emotionally devastating aftermath may have a few problems reading MOON IN THE WATER. But I give kudos to Ms. Grayson for showing through Anne's character that healing can and does take place, and that even when life seems darkest with nowhere to go, there is always a light in the storm.

For Anne, Chase is that light. He is a man who, though he has his own insecurities to overcome, is a patient and good man. And I mean a good man. Strong and dependable, he shows Anne by action, not words, that he's a man to be trusted, a man to give her the confidence she lacks and help her accept a past she cannot change. It is his total acceptance and his support of Anne, regardless of her background and the predicament she now faces, that shows the exact true goodness of his character.

What also moved this story along was the location and time period: aboard a steamboat shortly after the close of the Civil War. With fascinating descriptive detail, the author paints a vivid and compelling picture of the life of a steamboat captain, as well as the individuals that worked aboard them and depended upon the great rivers of that frontier era to provide their livelihoods. The secondary characters are well written and tended to compliment, rather than detract, from the main characters.

The short of it? MOON IN THE WATER is another of Elizabeth Grayson's wonderful historical romances to plop upon the keeper shelf right next to her many others.

Nancy Davis