Heywood draws three story lines together in this slim book. She moves easily from Adelaide's past life with her late husband to the story of her young sailor lover, to the story of her life within a remote outpost in the south Atlantic. Bits of these stories are woven carefully, revealing more and more until the fateful conclusion.

I was charmed by the story Heywood has created about the life of the colony in an area that I wasn't familiar with. Her idyllic description of Adelaide's life with her proxy husband often made me forget that the time period was 1946 and not 1846. The authenticity with which these scenes are drawn probably comes from Heywood's own life with her husband on a remote farm in New Zealand's North Island, which is also home to other farmers, fishermen, potters, and artists.

Nonetheless, Adelaide's restless heart and a profound secret disturb this pastoral scene. I became quite fond of her proxy husband and really liked him more than the young sailor. But that may be because I really liked the colony and how he and Adelaide lived there.

The romance in Cherished is sensual and spicy. Readers who are looking for passion will find plenty in this book.

Beth Heywood is currently working on her next novel. I would hope she might draw more from her own farming experiences in New Zealand. I would welcome a novel about life in that setting.