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Silken Sands
Barbara DelinskySilken SandsIt sounds too good to be true—housesitting for three months, by herself, on a small island off the coast of Maine. Associate professor Cynthia Blake couldn't ask for a better place to finish her dissertation. No phone. No television. No distractions. At least, that's what she thinks—until she meets Jonathan Roaman. The tall, tanned, impossibly tempting owner of the island, Jonathan is nothing like the "old miser" she expected. And Cynthia is more than Jonathan could have ever hoped for…When the surf hits the sand, all bets are How can they resist each other? Sometimes a summer fling is all it takes to find true love…
- GenresRomance
182 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 1981
About the author
Barbara Delinsky
318 books4,384 followersI was born and raised in suburban Boston. My mother’s death, when I was eight, was the defining event of a childhood that was otherwise ordinary. I took piano lessons and flute lessons. I took ballroom dancing lessons. I went to summer camp through my fifteenth year (in Maine, which explains the setting of so many of my stories), then spent my sixteenth summer learning to type and to drive (two skills that have served me better than all of my other high school courses combined). I earned a B.A. in Psychology at Tufts University and an M.A. in Sociology at Boston College. The motivation behind the M.A. was sheer greed. My husband was just starting law school. We needed the money.
Following graduate school, I worked as a researcher with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and as a photographer and reporter for the Belmont Herald. I did the newspaper work after my first son was born. Since I was heavily into taking pictures of him, I worked for the paper to support that habit. Initially, I wrote only in a secondary capacity, to provide copy for the pictures I took. In time, I realized that I was better at writing than photography. I used both skills doing volunteer work for hospital groups, and have served on the Board of Directors of the Friends of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and on the MGH’s Women’s Cancer Advisory Board.
I became an actual writer by fluke. My twins were four when, by chance, I happened on a newspaper article profiling three female writers. Intrigued, I spent three months researching, plotting, and writing my own book - and it sold.
My niche? I write about the emotional crises that we face in our lives. Readers identify with my characters. They know them. They are them. I'm an everyday woman writing about everyday people facing not-so-everyday challenges.
My novels are character-driven studies of marriage, parenthood, sibling rivalry, and friendship, and I’ve been blessed in having readers who buy them eagerly enough to put them on the major bestseller lists. One of my latest, Sweet Salt Air, came out in 2013. Blueprints, my second novel with St. Martin’s Press, became my 22nd New York Times bestselling novel soon after its release in June 2015. Making Up, my work in progress, will be published in 2018.
2018? Yikes. I didn’t think I’d live that long. I thought I’d die of breast cancer back in the 1900's, like my mom. But I didn’t. I was diagnosed nearly twenty years ago, had surgery and treatment, and here I am, stronger than ever and loving having authored yet another book, this one the non-fiction Uplift: Secrets From the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer Survivors. First published in 2001, Uplift is a handbook of practical tips and upbeat anecdotes that I compiled with the help of 350 breast cancer survivors, their families and friends. These survivors just ... blew me away! They gave me the book that I wish I’d had way back when I was diagnosed. There is no medical information here, nothing frightening, simply practical advice from friends who’ve had breast cancer. The 10th Anniversary Volume of Uplift is now in print. And the money I’ve made on the book? Every cent has gone to my charitable foundation, which funds an ongoing research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Connect with me on Facebook: facebook.com/bdelinsky
Look for my photos on Instagram: instagram.com/barbaradelinsky
Following graduate school, I worked as a researcher with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and as a photographer and reporter for the Belmont Herald. I did the newspaper work after my first son was born. Since I was heavily into taking pictures of him, I worked for the paper to support that habit. Initially, I wrote only in a secondary capacity, to provide copy for the pictures I took. In time, I realized that I was better at writing than photography. I used both skills doing volunteer work for hospital groups, and have served on the Board of Directors of the Friends of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and on the MGH’s Women’s Cancer Advisory Board.
I became an actual writer by fluke. My twins were four when, by chance, I happened on a newspaper article profiling three female writers. Intrigued, I spent three months researching, plotting, and writing my own book - and it sold.
My niche? I write about the emotional crises that we face in our lives. Readers identify with my characters. They know them. They are them. I'm an everyday woman writing about everyday people facing not-so-everyday challenges.
My novels are character-driven studies of marriage, parenthood, sibling rivalry, and friendship, and I’ve been blessed in having readers who buy them eagerly enough to put them on the major bestseller lists. One of my latest, Sweet Salt Air, came out in 2013. Blueprints, my second novel with St. Martin’s Press, became my 22nd New York Times bestselling novel soon after its release in June 2015. Making Up, my work in progress, will be published in 2018.
2018? Yikes. I didn’t think I’d live that long. I thought I’d die of breast cancer back in the 1900's, like my mom. But I didn’t. I was diagnosed nearly twenty years ago, had surgery and treatment, and here I am, stronger than ever and loving having authored yet another book, this one the non-fiction Uplift: Secrets From the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer Survivors. First published in 2001, Uplift is a handbook of practical tips and upbeat anecdotes that I compiled with the help of 350 breast cancer survivors, their families and friends. These survivors just ... blew me away! They gave me the book that I wish I’d had way back when I was diagnosed. There is no medical information here, nothing frightening, simply practical advice from friends who’ve had breast cancer. The 10th Anniversary Volume of Uplift is now in print. And the money I’ve made on the book? Every cent has gone to my charitable foundation, which funds an ongoing research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Connect with me on Facebook: facebook.com/bdelinsky
Look for my photos on Instagram: instagram.com/barbaradelinsky
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 30, 2022
Ack this is why I don’t read romances (or long-ago books from authors I like). As she said in the forward, the seeds of her later pluckier funnier heroines are there, but I had a hard time with the abuse disguised as “isn’t he so rugged and masculine?” schtick. Cynthia should have run away at the first arm-grabbing that left marks, handsome or not.
August 7, 2014
It's been quite a few years since I've read a book by Barbara Delinksy, but I remembered really like the books that I had read by her. And since I was in between books for my book club and Silken Sands was a shorter book, I decided to give it a go.
Thankfully it was a shorter book! Maybe I didn't like it as much since it was written in the '80s and the style reflected it. Or maybe reading books like "Fifty Shades" and the "Crossfire" series has severely affected my opinion of what a good romance novel is....or at least what I expect out of a romance novel.
It felt like there were too many descriptive words, like the author was trying too hard to sound like an author. Seeing as how the author did say that it was one of her first books in the letter to the reader at the beginning, I don't doubt my suspicion. I'll have to read a newer book by her to compare.
The story was actually OK and not too predictable. At least, it kept me reading until the end. However, I was about ready to smack Jonathan upside the head. I don't care what secrets he needed to keep, you don't physically abuse anyone...especially someone you claim to love!
BTW - who shakes someone by the shoulders when they're frustrated with what they're saying? Really?
Needless to say, it's not a book that I will re-read or recommend to friends anytime soon.
Thankfully it was a shorter book! Maybe I didn't like it as much since it was written in the '80s and the style reflected it. Or maybe reading books like "Fifty Shades" and the "Crossfire" series has severely affected my opinion of what a good romance novel is....or at least what I expect out of a romance novel.
It felt like there were too many descriptive words, like the author was trying too hard to sound like an author. Seeing as how the author did say that it was one of her first books in the letter to the reader at the beginning, I don't doubt my suspicion. I'll have to read a newer book by her to compare.
The story was actually OK and not too predictable. At least, it kept me reading until the end. However, I was about ready to smack Jonathan upside the head. I don't care what secrets he needed to keep, you don't physically abuse anyone...especially someone you claim to love!
BTW - who shakes someone by the shoulders when they're frustrated with what they're saying? Really?
Needless to say, it's not a book that I will re-read or recommend to friends anytime soon.
April 19, 2015
Strange character
The story needed to be developed a little better and I wasn't a fan of the violent tendencies of Jonathan.
The story needed to be developed a little better and I wasn't a fan of the violent tendencies of Jonathan.
June 22, 2018
This was an enjoyable story with very little substance. Another early book by Delinsky.
April 23, 2014
Silken old fashion romance
I used to read her books and at the time I loved them. Now I'm fascinated with her ability to describe surroundings with such details that they take you right there on the island with Cynthia. This is kind of lost in more modern literature.
It took me by surprise the fact that I "missed" 21century technology. Typewriter, really. Who from younger generation even knows what they were or how they looked? Lack of cellphone - unthinkable now. But my generation remembers those times and it took me back while I was reading that book.
I'm glad that I read it. It shows that good book is timeless.
I used to read her books and at the time I loved them. Now I'm fascinated with her ability to describe surroundings with such details that they take you right there on the island with Cynthia. This is kind of lost in more modern literature.
It took me by surprise the fact that I "missed" 21century technology. Typewriter, really. Who from younger generation even knows what they were or how they looked? Lack of cellphone - unthinkable now. But my generation remembers those times and it took me back while I was reading that book.
I'm glad that I read it. It shows that good book is timeless.
January 1, 2017
I found this novel very boring and worrisome. Cynthia a ?? college professor teaching classes, yet she still has her dissertation to complete?? No she was not described as a TA. Then we meet strange, physically abusive, mysterious, wealthy Jonathan who has this island that he is using as bait with the DEA to nab drug smugglers. ?? No reason apart from civic duty is given for his cooperation with the DEA.
The plot is flat and uninteresting, along with the poorly developed characters. I could careless about the characters, BLAH!!
The plot is flat and uninteresting, along with the poorly developed characters. I could careless about the characters, BLAH!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 30, 2018
A college professor, Cynthia take a job on an Island for the summer while she is working on her
doctorate paper. The Island owner is a wealthy young man with a few other projects going on she does not know about.
doctorate paper. The Island owner is a wealthy young man with a few other projects going on she does not know about.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 4, 2012
more like 2.5
February 27, 2013
Eh...it kept me reading, but I wouldn't read it again, nor would I "highly" recommend it to anyone. Skip it unless you've got nothing else to read.
March 31, 2014
best I can give this book is 2 stars - I found both main character quite annoying.
February 19, 2017
Okay- much like a Harlequin romance.
Read
December 9, 2017It was a moment of exquisite torture. Cynthia's nerves tingled madly under his piercing blue-eyed gaze. "Understood?" he asked, his voice as commanding and arousing as his look had been.
"Yes," she managed, turning away, breaking the spell he had cast over her.
But what did she understand? She had come to concentrate on her work, and here she was utterly distracted by Jonathan Roaman, the most attractive man she had ever seen. Who would want to hurt her on this tiny island off the rock-bound coast of Maine? And, more important still, if she put her life in his hands, who would protect her heart?
"Yes," she managed, turning away, breaking the spell he had cast over her.
But what did she understand? She had come to concentrate on her work, and here she was utterly distracted by Jonathan Roaman, the most attractive man she had ever seen. Who would want to hurt her on this tiny island off the rock-bound coast of Maine? And, more important still, if she put her life in his hands, who would protect her heart?
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews