Imagine Love - Softcover

Stone, Katherine

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0449228185 ISBN 13: 9780449228180

Publisher: Ivy Books, 1997

Synopsis

Imagine moonlight and roses. And London and Paris. And the intoxicating magic of a Louisiana bayou. Then join bestselling author Katherine Stone on this enthralling journey of passion, of danger, and of love.

They met beside the brilliant blue bayou. She was an innocent girl, and he was a reckless and angry boy. Claire Chamberlain believed in dreams, and Cole Taylor believed in nothing at all. He had no reason to believe--until her. They pledged their love beneath a silver winter moon. But their moonlit promise was shattered by violence.

Now, twelve years later, Cole Taylor, singer of love songs, returns to the bayou. So much--for Claire--has changed. Everything has changed. And yet, when Cole makes his astonishing--and perilous--request, how can she possibly say no?

"ALLURING . . . FASCINATING . . . Each page brings a new adventure, every plot twist another question begging to be answered."
--Rendezvous

About this title

About the Author:

Katherine Stone is the bestselling author of eleven novels, including Happy Endings, Illusions, Promises, Rainbows, and Pearl Moon. A physician who now writes full-time, Katherine Stone and her husband, author Jack Chase, live near Seattle.

Review:

(Imagine Love is a well-written but detailed novel consisting of several inter-connected characters. I hope I can do justice to it by whetting your appetite without giving away too much of the wonderful plot.) Jed Taylor used and abused drugs and his two little boys. One night, Jed hit his two year old and the older boy decides to save his brother. He takes him to a truck stop and gives him to a kind man and makes up a story that his father will believe, and insists the man tell his brother the same story. The Taylors later move to Harlanville when Cole is eight and he meets five year old Claire in the bayou. Claire and Cole become best friends; they sing and dance and play, and Cole promises Claire that he will never sing with anyone else. Cole becomes a teenager and he distances himself from Claire, and sometimes he teases her, but secretly he still cares about her. Claire's Aunt Augusta is the music teacher and because of her, Claire becomes pen pals with a girl in France named Sarah. In Italy, nineteen year old Emma falls in love with Lucas Cain, a sculptor student from California and they make love. On December 23, everyone's life changes forever. Cole admits to Claire that he gave his little brother away to save him and he also confesses that he loves her. But later that night, Cole fights with his father and kills him, then Cole leaves Harlanville for good. Also on that night, in England, Sarah and her parents are kidnapped and Sarah is brutally raped. He parents did not even try to help her; she is mentally and emotionally scarred by the experience, and she also becomes pregnant. Claire writes to Sarah and tells her everything, but Sarah never writes back. To avoid a scandal, Sarah's parents and their friend, a lawyer, tell Sarah that her baby died and they give her infant daughter to Lucas Cain, whose infant son just died. Claire marries Andrew and on their wedding night, Cole comes back to town to see her. When he realizes that she married Andrew, he leaves. But as Claire and Andrew drive away for their honeymoon, there is an accident and it leaves Claire blind, and later, Andrew divorces her. Years later, Cole, now an internationally famous singer, returns to Harlanville to see Claire, assuming that she is happily married to Andrew, and is surprised at what he finds. Sarah is now a war correspondent and she has received a letter with a black heart on it in the mail so she sends it to Scotland Yard who calls the FBI and murder consultant, Jack Dalton. Jack meets Sarah and immediately he falls in love with her, but she is reserved with him. Two women were murdered in LA on Valentine's Day last year, and they had similar black hearts imprinted on their bodies so Jack is looking for someone who knows all three women. Cole goes to London and he asks Claire to join him, then later he meets with Sarah. On New year's Eve, Cole sings at a gala, and Claire is there, with Sarah, Jack, Lucas and Emma. Jack approaches Claire, and she thinks from the sound of his footsteps, that it is Cole. One afternoon, Sarah gets another letter and Jack thinks it is from the murderer, but it is a confession from a woman whose husband was the attending physician when Sarah had her baby. Sarah learns the identity of Cole's brother and she tells Jack; Cole knows who the murderer is and once again, everyone's life changes that night. Cole has the most to lose - his life for Claire's, and quite possibly, Claire's love forever. Jack could lose what he has just within his reach and Sarah could lose her new found daughter. And yet they all learn about the different kinds of love: love between brothers, a parents love for a child, and the love of man for a woman. No one has to imagine love anymore, because it is found by all.As I read Imagine Love, words like tormenting, traumatic, tortuous and tense swirled in my mind. As I neared the end, I thought, tremendous, terrific, tumultuous and touching! Katherine Stone sculpts a magnificent piece of work using words and pen as her tools! Imagine Love by Katherine Stone is no ordinary romance. . . it is extraordinary! Kudos to and for Ms. Stone! She is a very talented and gifted author! Imagine Love is a riveting mystery and tender romance!Gloria Miller -- Copyright © 1994-97 Literary Times, Inc. All rights reserved -- From Literary Times

About this edition

• Publisher: Ivy Books
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0449228185
• ISBN 13: 9780449228180
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 473