Review: Creative setting for a great story...
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 14, 2011
My Review:I became completely immersed in this book. It is shorter...approximately 50,000 words vs the normal 100,000 for a full-length novel. But I was completely taken in by the story, to the point where I actually felt like I had seen a movie rather than read a book when it was finished. The imagery and the writing is so complete and lush and it wasn't even until looking back at the book that I realize what an effortless read this was for me as the reader. I could see every single detail of the scenes completely and without doubt in my mind's eye and that takes incredibly skilled writing. I don't think that there was ever a single instance where I had to go back and re-read a sentence for clarity or confusion, and that may not sound like such a huge deal, but it really made this book a lush reading experience for me. I definitely need to pick up more of Julie Rowe's books.It's also very creative. I liked the different locale to the story. You don't think about an outpost on Antarctica as a good location for a romance story, but this was fabulous. The 65 people on this station become like a huge family and, as such, provided a great backdrop to the romantic story line with a variety of supporting characters that I really enjoyed getting to know.Tom & Emelie's love story...so rich and poignant. They are both dealing with demons that stand between them developing an actual relationship. I enjoyed watching them each grow and develop into the people that they needed to be for that to happen. The best thing is that they did this through the growth of several other characters that live on the station with them. There are some great sub-plots and story lines throughout this entire story.Emelie is the new doctor at the Antarctic station. She is there a year after her husband's sudden tragic death and the loss of their baby via miscarriage caused by stress of the incident. Her husband was working on a NASA science experiment and Em wants to carry out the research for his project. As the doctor, she works very closely with the station manager, Tom. Tom is a confirmed bachelor and NEVER plans to change that. No marriage or babies for this guy, but he has reasons for that which take some healing for him to get past. These are two wounded people who are perfect for each other. Eleven months trapped in the very close proximity of the station life may be just what they need to realize that fact.I highly recommend this book. It was simply a really, really good read!! A few of the plot twists are nothing new, but the quality of the writing and the uniqueness of the setting makes up for that fact in my mind! I really loved that I got the chance to read this one.