DANCE UPON THE AIR
By Nora Roberts
Piatkus - August 2001
ISBN 0749905824 - Hardback
Contemporary Romance

Reviewed by: Rachel A Hyde, MyShelf.com
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Nell Channing is a woman on the run. She has left behind her luxurious life as a rich man's trophy wife which the paper say was the perfect marriage, faked her own death and found refuge on Three Sisters Island just off the coast of Massachusetts. The life she has left behind was a nightmare and she now intends to make something of herself on her own, using her skills as a cook working in the Café Book, a place run by glamorous witch Mia Devlin. She soon succumbs to the island's friendly charms and discovers that she is a descendent of one of the original three sisters, witches who escaped from persecution and legend says created the island back in 1692. One of the charms is handsome sheriff Zack Todd. She finds herself falling in love with him and must risk all if she is to find happiness.

Nora Roberts knows how to dish up a real feel good book. There is something about this tale of the island sanctuary that is as tasty as homemade apple pie and as wholesome. She also paints a chillingly convincing picture of a battered wife and a spoiled, cruel husband that is sure to strike a chord of sympathy in the hearts of all women and have them cheering her on as she finds ways of empowering herself. The witchcraft angle adds a certain escapism to what is essentially an all too realistic story although I felt that it would have been even better if this had been omitted as in the end, it makes Nell's newfound strength seem at least half the stuff of fantasy, which is a pity. This minor gripe aside though, I did truly enjoy this novel and can recommend it heartily.