Cute, confused, self-conscious, and emotionally vulnerable. It’s almost too easy. Scientist Grace Ramsay takes one look at the young woman limping into the villa next door and decides Dawn is just what she a distraction. Tasked with evaluating Moon Island for a chemicals giant looking for a waste dump far from civilization, Grace feels increasingly uneasy about her job. She usually responds to stress by having good sex and it sure looks like Dawn Dawn could use a confidence booster, given the scars she’s so sensitive about. After surviving a hurricane on Moon Island a year earlier, champion swimmer Dawn Beaumont vowed she would never return. But here she is, taking refuge after a car crash that claimed the life of a team mate. Haunted by guilt and bitter over the injuries that have ended her Olympic dream, she is in no mood to be hit on by a player like Grace, who acts like she’s doing her some kind of favor. As sparks fly between the two women Annabel Worth, the owner of the island, refuses to sell her home to a chemicals conglomerate, but then her plane goes down in the Pacific under suspicious circumstances.
Librarian note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Jennifer Fulton is the romance pen name of best-selling lesbian romance and mystery novels writer Jennifer Knight. She is the prolific author of romance and mystery novels under three pen names — Jennifer Fulton, Rose Beecham, and Grace Lennox. She was first published by the Naiad Press in 1992. Jennifer is a recipient of the Alice B. Reader's award for Lesbian Fiction, multiple Golden Crown Literary Award winner, and Lambda Literary Award finalist for both romance and mystery.
Neither Dawn nor Grace are particularly likeable at first. Dawn’s homophobia is really offputting, especially since it never comes up with main characters in lesbian romances these days, but also makes total sense because Saving Grace was first published in 1993. Grace is almost mercenary in how she approaches her career as well as her interactions with people, which extends to how she pursues Dawn. Both women have tremendous character growth throughout this book, however, which makes it particularly satisfying and they were both very different people by the end of it.
I detest fake-dating but I even detest books with internal homophobia even more, because who are you messing with.. I don't want that stuff in my head. I almost dnf-ed, but it was still weirdly fine.
This is the second book in the series and returns to Moon Island (written 1993). It is supposed to take place three years after the first story and I was mostly interested in catching up with Cody and Annabel. I think Annabel is the only main character I've read about that is an albino. The two main characters in this book are not particularly likable. One is recovering from a car accident that ruined trying out for the Australian Olympic Swim Team. The other is a Grace Ramsey who is ten years older and a scientist. She is there to see if Moon Island can be a toxic chemical dumping ground for a large international company. Grace does eventually have a change of heart about her actions but only when her company goes too far. This has some mystery and intrigue but the main romance didn't hold my interest.