"A winner"

Many of the residents of Paradise, Rhode Island observed the intense argument between Sandra and Victor Winslow. When their car crashed through a safety railing into the nearby Sound, Sandra survived, but Victor apparently died though his body was never found. Ruled an accident, most locals encouraged by the media branded Sandra as the Black Widow of Blue Moon Beach. Even her friends believe she got away with the murder of their favorite son, a state legislator.

Two years later, Sandra remains the town pariah. She decides to sell her family home, but knows the historical house needs costly renovation. Victor's friend Mike Malloy needs the money badly after getting killed during a divorce. Though he believes Sandra murdered his pal and he does not really want the job, he accepts the work for the fee he will earn. As he becomes acquainted with Sandra, he realizes that she could never have killed her husband. As he falls in love with her, he wants to prove her innocence not for his own need, but for hers.

PASSING THROUGH PARADISE is an engaging romantic suspense that never stops entertaining readers. The story line takes off once Mike makes up his mind to prove to the world what his heart knows. Sandra is innocent. Though Sandra should have filed a liable suit against an obnoxious reporter and a final twist leaves a key character seem disjointed, the lead couple makes the tale succeed. Known for her fabulous historicals, Susan Wiggs scores with this superb thriller that hooks the audience from beginning to end.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted January 22, 2002

Summary

THE LAST THING SHE EXPECTED WAS TO FALL IN LOVE AGAIN.

Once upon a time, Sandra was happily married to Victor Winslow, the favorite son of a town called Paradise, a politician who could do no wrong. Then a change to an accident took Victor's life, and everyone blamed her for his death.

Now Sandra has had enough of Paradise. Her only way out of the nightmare of controversy is to rebuild and sell her Victorian beach house at the edge of town. She hires Mike Malloy, who's as skilled with his hands as he is at touching Sandra's lonely heart. His fight to secure a future with his children awakens all of Sandra's hopes and dreams. But can she trust a man with unbreakable ties to the community, a man determined to discover her deepest secrets? Torn between her need to confront the past and her longing to begin again, Sandra must decide where her heart is--a new life far away, or right here in Paradise.

A deeply stirring novel of all the loves that fill a woman's life.