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Moonshell Beach (2012)

by JoAnn Ross(Favorite Author)

3.99 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0451237382 (ISBN13: 9780451237385)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Signet

series

Shelter Bay

review 1: Shelter Bay, Oregon is like so many women's fiction-inspired towns: The locals -- family and friends -- are in each other's business, mostly in a good way; love flows as freely as the tap water; and strangers end up seamlessly woven into the fabric of the society. In this fourth installment of JoAnn Ross' latest contemporary romance series, the youngest Douchett brother, J.T., has come home to Shelter Bay to try to shut out the sorrowful memories of his last assignment with the Marines. His brooding and drinking have his family worrying about his well-being. So it seems more than a tad inexplicable that Kara Conway, the town's sheriff, who readers will remember from "The Homecoming," would ask her future brother-in-law to be the unofficial bodyguard for Mary Joyce, an... more Irish-born movie actress and screenwriter who somewhat surprisingly agrees to come to town to headline Shelter Bay's inaugural film festival. Readers might remember Mary as a secondary character in Ross' Castlelough Irish trilogy. Mary is the younger sister of Nora, the female lead of the trilogy's first book, "A Woman's Heart." Mary is startled to realize that J.T. is the man she's been having erotic dreams about since before they met. J.T. spends the first half of the novel acting like he'd rather be anywhere but with her. But Mary isn't the Hollywood diva he was expecting, and her down-to-earth demeanor and sensual screen presence inspire J.T. to cast her in a starring role in his own sexual fantasies. When they end up acting on their mutual attraction, the sparks fly, the earth moves and both are left wondering how to turn a flash fire into an eternal flame. A few days of carnal pleasure aren't usually a strong enough foundation for a lasting real-life relationship. But in the romance novel game, the strength of the attraction and commitment can't be measured by elapsed time. As do other writers of popular book series, Ross infuses "Moonshell Beach" with characters and story lines picked up from earlier Shelter Bay books. Fans of Kara and fiance Sax Douchett, for example, will be pleased to see their love story advance to its expected conclusion. Likewise, readers will enjoy catching up with Maddy and Lucas, and Phoebe and Ethan from "On Lavender Lane," the predecessor to "Moonshell Beach." The compelling side plot featuring domestic violence survivor Phoebe gets a major development in the latest novel. But it almost gets buried in the wrap-up to the main love story. (Thankfully, Ross tells readers in a follow-up novel more about Phoebe, new love Ethan and her homicidal, estranged husband, Peter.) Conversely, the centerpiece romance of "Moonshell Beach," that of J.T. and Mary, accelerates unnaturally when the Irish screen siren is called home to Castlelough for a family emergency. Their happily ever after comes together far too easily to be totally satisfying. Ross' small-town sagas, like similar series by other writers, have become formulaic and, for me, not as memorable as her earlier works, such as the Callahan Brothers and Stewart Sisters trilogies. Maybe that's to be expected when you've written as many of these contemporary romances as Ross has and read as many of them as I have. Still, there's something to be said for passionate sex, charismatic characters and happy endings, which is as good a reason as any to keep coming back for more.
review 2: J.T. Douchett is back in Shelter Bay, Oregon, where his family has lived for years. J.T. is still trying to find what he will do after his stints in the Marines. His last assignment as an officer giving bad news to military families still has J.T. undecided what to do with his life after the military. His older brothers, Cole and Sax, who are both former military men, are married or soon will be married and they keep telling J.T. to find a girl to settle down with. Sax's fiance Kara is sheriff at Shelter Bay and she gives J.T. the duty to watch over the movie star coming to Shelter Bay for a film festival. less

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