Susan Charlotte Haley

Widowed early, Amber is living by herself by the ocean in Florida. She has a quiet connection with nature, and a wild, reckless side, That is characterized by her enjoyment of speeding along in her silver convertible, while heavy metal blasts from the car stereo.

During a trip into town, Amber meets a man in a local bookstore. There is some sort of connection between them, so they see each other a few times. They sit on a seawall feeding seagulls, instead of the "usual" activities like dinner or a movie. After hearing nothing from him for several weeks, Amber gets a letter from Texas. He (she learns that his name is Ben) is in a hospital with an undefined, but life-threatening, case of cancer. Amber immediately flies to Texas, practically drags Ben out of the hospital and brings him back to her place in Florida, where she nurses him back to health.

There are the usual ups and downs, as with any relationship, but for Ben and Amber, it’s mostly up. After a period of time, they decide to go on a trip of unknown duration, to find a place to live that isn’t His or Hers, but Theirs. It has to be near the ocean, but, otherwise, pretty much at random, they get in her car and head for Maine. Staying off the interstates as much as possible, they pass through all sorts of quirky small towns.

When they reach Maine, a series of coincidences lead them to a vacant stone house right on the ocean. Amber is convinced that they were led to that house for some sort of greater cosmic purpose, while Ben is much more of a down-to-earth pragmatist. The book ends with that moment where the relationship is put to the test, and will emerge stronger than ever, or be forever destroyed.

From the first few pages, the reader will realize that this is not your average relationship story; it’s a lot better than that. It’s very well done, and is very much worth the reader’s time.… (mer)