"Strong relationship drama"

In Hubbard's Point, Zebulon Mayhew and Rumer Larkin became best friends when they were five, as they divided the universe between them with he gaining the heavens and she attaining the earth. They remained best friends until they were fifteen when her older sister Elizabeth caught Zeb's attention and not just with his peaking through the blinds. Eventually Zeb and Elizabeth marry, move away, have a child, but ultimately divorce as he goes NASA and she goes Hollywood. A hardened (at least towards humans) Rumer becomes a veterinarian vowing to never give her heart away again.

Two decades later Zeb comes home to New England accompanied by his seventeen-year-old son. When Zeb sees Rumer at a wedding, he knows what he lost though he also believes Michael was worth the price. He wants Rumer permanently in his life, but must compete with her boyfriend and the specter of his former wife as he realizes he married the wrong sister.

Luanne Rice is always a TRUE BLUE dependable author who consistently provides powerful gut wrenching contemporary romances that grips the audience because the characters seem like you and me. The story line of TRUE BLUE uses flashbacks to depict the childhood relationships between mostly Zeb and Rumer, but also separately between the lead protagonists and Elizabeth. Though Elizabeth appears too childishly contemptible to be considered even as a rival, fans of relationship dramas will relish Ms. Rice's strong novel.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted July 12, 2002

Summary

The story of two sisters and the boy next door... The acclaimed author of Firefly Beach and other New York Times bestsellers, Luanne Rice explores the powerful bonds that connect old friends, and the joy of life's unexpected second chances. Now, returning once more to the Connecticut beach town at the center of many of her most beloved novels, she touches our hearts with a spellbinding story of a love lost--and saved--by the power of what was always meant to be . . . True Blue Schoolteacher Rumer Larkin never felt the need to stray from Hubbard's Point. Rich with legends of seafaring spirits and lost treasures, the rustic village still echoes with the memories of Rumer's past--even after those she loved have left. But now, so many summers after Zeb Mayhew broke her heart, he has returned with his teenage son, and Rumer knows her quiet life will never be the same again. Zeb has come back to hoping to reconnect with his son, with the past and all its mistakes. Suddenly facing Rumer again, Zeb discovers where he belongs. He could never forget the girl who used to climb onto his roof with him to watch the stars. But neither Zeb nor Rumer knows if it's too late to do more than regret the path not taken--or if every path leads us back to the one true love of our life . . .