After all, they are like brother and sister, so there should be no need to get all jittery when seeing the other in a bathing suit or dancing with each other. They are stunned and desperately try to deny it. While joking around, a sudden sexual attraction catches both of them unawares. Yet their friendship is convincingly platonic until they end up in the same hotel bed and the same swimming pool. Right from the start it becomes clear that these two have a special relationship: they share their innermost secrets, tease each other, give the other back rubs and are perfectly comfortable together. When one of his numerous dates cancels their vacation to Acapulco, he persuades Cyn to join him instead. Now, two years after Tim’s death, Cyn is still not ready for a new relationship, despite Worth’s urging her to get a life. When Tim dies in a car accident, Cyn and Worth become even closer in their grief and eventual recovery. Together they went through college, Tim and Cyn’s marriage, the establishment of their own law firm, Cyn’s pregnancy and the birth of her little son Brandon. Worth Lansing and Tim and Cyn McCall have been the best of friends since high school. It is a story that can fall flat if not handled delicately, but Sandra Brown has created an absolutely delightful little book that captures all the confusion, emotional chaos and forbidden sexual attraction that the two protagonists experience. The premise is one of my favorites: two high school buddies who have always had the most wonderful platonic relationship, suddenly fall in love with each other. A few hours, barring interruptions, should be enough to devour it, and I am sure it will provide for some moments of unadulterated reading pleasure.

It is a light, sexy, feel-good book and a perfect summer read. A Whole New Light, however, is in my opinion one of her best series romances. Despite contrived plots, too many virginal heroines to count and slightly outdated moral standards, they appeal to me on a gut-level. Sandra Brown’s series romances are my guilty pleasures.

A Whole New Light by Sandra Brown