That Summer

By Joan Wolf

Book Overview

Amy Foster returns to Virginia when her father dies and is soon plunged into the past when the body of a young woman missing for ten years is found and the man she once loved is suspected in her... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0446610445
• ISBN13: 9780446610445
• Release Date: September 2003
• Publisher: Forever
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 1.0" x 4.3"

Customer Reviews

Warm contemporary romantic suspense

Maryland veterinarian Anne Foster returns home for the funeral of her beloved father in Midville, Virginia. Everybody who knew Pete loved Pete, which just adds to Anne's warm feelings about her dad. She worries how her mother will adapt to the loss of her long time mate so Anne is on a leave of absence for one month to help with the adjustment.When Anne sees Liam Wellington of Wellington Farms horse racing family, she realizes that she still loves him, but he still considers her his "little Sister". Anne reflects back one decade to the incident that ended everyone's youth: the vanishing and probable murder of Leslie Bartholomew whose body was never found. She wonders who killed the girl. Was it her beloved, his cousin, or their friend? Liam soon realizes that he loves Anne too, not as his sister, but as someone he wants as his wife even while the truth slowly surfaces that point towards him as the culprit who murdered Leslie.Though the who-done-it takes a back seat for much of the novel, readers will appreciate this warm contemporary romantic suspense due to an engaging cast. Anne is a delightful lead female protagonist who struggles with conflicting feelings about her beloved, as she wants to believe he could not have committed homicide, yet the evidence makes him the likely suspect. The rest of the secondary characters augment Anne's question of who is the killer, but like the heroine they will have to wait until Joan Wolf reveals the killer's identity.Harriet Klausner

Joan Wolf Returns to Form

"That Summer" is Joan Wolf's third full-length contemporary romance, and with it she has once again found the unique voice that made her Regencies so enjoyable. Anne Foster has come home for her father's funeral, a home she has avoided for ten years. Her father was the highly successful trainer of Wellington Farms' colts when he died suddenly of a heart attack. Anne's stated reason for taking a month's leave from her veterinary practice was to help her grieving mother, but she also hoped that spending a month around Senator Wellington's son, Liam, would exorcise Liam from her heart.Anne first met Liam when she was six and he was eight, when her father took the Wellington Farms' job. They grew up together, with Anne loving Liam and Liam regarding her as a little sister. Now that they are 26 and 28, Liam still thinks of Anne as his little sister, but Anne's feelings for Liam haven't been sisterly for a long time. She is taking this opportunity to either get over him or seduce him.Woven skillfully into Anne and Liam's romance are two more stories: the story of Wellington Farms' promising three-year-old thoroughbred, Someday Soon, and the story of an old crime in which Liam is implicated. All of this is told from Anne's point-of-view, I am happy to say. There are few romance authors writing from the first person point-of-view - Patricia Gaffney does come to mind - and aside from Ms. Gaffney, I know of none other doing it as well as Ms. Wolf. Anne's distintive voice adds much to a well-told tale.Welcome back, Ms. Wolf!