CHECK IT OUT

With almost a full year before Valentine’s Day 2003 rolls around,

there’s plenty of time to search for love in new romantic fiction.

From one of the most consistent writers of the genre comes the first

installment of the Three Sisters Island trilogy. Set on an enchanted isle

off the Massachusetts coast, Nora Robert’s “Dance Upon the Air”

introduces Nell Channing, a heroine in search of herself after years of

living with an abusive husband.

Unaware she’s a witch, Nell finds a fellow sorceress as a friend,

hires on as a cook in her new pal’s cafe and wins the heart of the hunky

local sheriff. But terror looms when her ex tracks her down, bent on

revenge for Nell’s escape via staged death. Whether her newfound powers

will be enough to extricate her from his violence is the heart of the

mesmerizing tale.

Another veteran romance writer spins her newest saga about the

complexities of relationships in “Cypress Point.” In her 12th yarn, Diane Chamberlain pairs newly divorced social worker Joelle D’Angelo with Liam

Sommers, a co-worker married to her best friend, Mara. Drawn together

after Mara suffers brain damage during childbirth, Joelle and Liam form a

bond that mushrooms into a thicket of guilt only an expert healer may be

able to untangle.

For readers who fell for Sam Trevor in “Firefly Beach,” Luanne Rice

brings back the dolphin researcher in her newest offering. As much a

rumination on family ties as it is a romance, “Safe Harbor” is about

sisterly connections and how an aunt learns to be a mother to her two

nieces.

Drawing on her own love for sailing, Rice launches the drama with a

boating accident that takes the lives of young Quinn and Allie’s parents.

When Aunt Dana, a renounced painter, arrives to whisk them back to

France, unruly Quinn becomes obstinate about unraveling the circumstances

of her parents’ drowning. For both her and Dana, Sam becomes pivotal in

solving the mystery.

Cementing family relationships also is central in Barbara Samuel’s “No

Place Like Home.” More than 20 years after she left Colorado on a

musician’s motorcycle, 40-year-old Jewel Sabatino is returning home with

her teenage son and best friend Michael, who’s dying of AIDS. Finding her

estranged father missing and facing the loss of her dying soul mate, she

sends for Michael’s younger brother, and sparks fly.

Still looking for love through the pages? Head for the Romance Writers

of America Web site at o7 www.rwanational.org f7 for information about

popular authors, award-winners, bestsellers and just about anything else

that might provide a happy ending in a search for literary romance.

* CHECK IT OUT is written by the staff of the Newport Beach Public

Library. This week’s column is by Melissa Adams, in collaboration with

Susie Lamb. All titles may be reserved from home or office computers by

accessing the catalog at o7 www.newportbeachlibrary.org. f7