The Outsider

Rebels and Rogues #3

by Delinsky

Living on a tiny island, Summer Van Vorn takes on the role of healer, much as her mother and grandmother did before her, until the arrival of Cameron Divine, a mysterious man of extraordinary ability, intrudes into her peaceful and solitary existence.

Genres: Romance, Paranormal Romance, Science Fiction, Paranormal, Audiobook

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Sara the Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

So as some people know I've been sort of cautiously peeking out of my comfort zone and exploring romance novels. I know Barbara Delinsky is a big name (and clearly an insanely prolific writer) in the genre and based on the book jacket summary (mysterious vaguely supernatural stranger meets lonely local healer living on an isolated island sexy times for all) this seemed like it would be right up my alley.

First we have the delightful Summer Van Vorn. She's a somewhat socially inept sort of wise woman/healer on The Isle of Pride where the locals are all salt of the earth types who've lived there for generations and say "Ayuh." While they value what she does no one actually likes Summer. They're happy to use her for aches, pains, and injuries but they never like thank her or anything. Its sort of the old "use the witch's powers when they benefit you but don't invite her to dinner" thing.

Summer likes this arrangement just fine. She has a very full life tending her garden, listening to audio books and caring for a mysterious pack of wild ponies that can only eat a very specific type of beech tree leaf that grows in a meadow that the island people want to see developed. She's constantly butting heads with the town elders because every time they try to bring in developers or scientists or whoever is interested in the land weird things happen to send them away. The meadow floods or lots of creepy bugs show up. Naturally the islanders have always blamed Summer for this.

One day Summer underestimates an approaching storm and gets caught in her small sailboat far from home. Everything is looking totally doomed when she's rescued from the jaws of death by the hilariously named Cameron Divine who, as I understand it, is the typical strapping, dark haired kind of man candy typically found in these books.

Summer doesn't really buy that Cameron just happened to be sailing too and wants him gone but they're also super into each other from the second they meet so she's conflicted. She's also pretty sure that he's reading her mind and has some sort of almost supernatural healing ability (that's oddly similar to hers).

This was a pretty adorable very quick read. Vaguely supernatural turned out to be vaguely science fiction which ultimately soured me a bit on the story. Plot wise things get very, very hung up on whether Summer can deal with who Cameron really is and accept some hard truths about herself and they kind of have the same conversation over and over while she tries to make up her mind. So it gets repetitive and it takes up a big chunk of the narrative. But honestly that's my only real structural beef.

I thought I might take a leaf out of my friend Carmen's book and just list the good and the bad:

Good:

1.) Both Cameron and Summer are really likable and adorkable so they're very cute together. They've both got this sweet innocence about them (for very different reasons) so you get why they'd like each other. That's pretty subtle for a regular novel much less a romance and I'm guessing it speaks to Delinsky's popularity that she pulls it off.

2.) Delinsky's a really good writer. She does a wonderful job of really showing us the island, which sounds like a glorious place to live. You get why Summer could be happy there even if she's alone.

3.) Cameron's true identity, however much I thought it was stupid, is pretty cleverly handled. The things that set off the alarm bells for Summer aren't all obvious things like not knowing what money is or something. My favorite bit was his issue with the language, especially idioms, that she's always correcting and it's adorable. Delinsky also doesn't overuse the gimmick or use it on obvious, stupid mistakes so it doesn't get tiresome.

Bad:

1.) Cameron keeps calling Summer "sweetie." I don't know there's just something kind of paternal about that and it continually bugged me.

2.) As mentioned before the plot involving Cameron's identity just didn't work for me. I'm not going to spoil it except to say I would have liked something that was more connected to the island's mythology maybe? Like he was a selkie or something?

3.) The issue of whether or not Summer "trusts" Cameron is brought up over and over as if her distrust is something she just needs to get over already. Given that the whole book takes place over like a week I don't think its weird that an isolated young woman who's never really even talked to a man wouldn't just trust a guy because he says she should. But they never really have that conversation its always just about why she should just trust him and stop being afraid.

4.) Weirdly rape and attempted rape comes up with jarring frequency and is handled kind of terribly. The most troublesome point occurs when a guy, who it turns out has done this before, tries to rape someone and justice is considered done because he gets the tar beat out of him. People make a bunch of "tsk tsk" sounds and there are murmurings that the guy should maybe have a permanent accident but they don't like deal with the trauma that's been inflicted on apparently more than one woman or that this guy should be arrested. Its a plot point that gets characters to where Delinsky wants them and then its over.

How's the Sex?

Pretty awesome and well written though I don't have a ton of experience in literary sex scenes to compare it to. The love scenes are very sweet, no rough stuff here, which is fitting given how the characters are drawn but still quite hot and heavy. It's all very vanilla and innocent. It's very much the sex is amazing BECAUSE they're in love which is totally fine since Delinksy never goes crazy spelling that out.

I was definitely cringing a bit with certain things (there's a boob handling scene that made me like physically uncomfortable) and the phrase "okay I didn't need to know that" crossed my mind more than once but taken as a whole its pretty good stuff.

So this was fun, solid characters and top drawer writing but the big reveal just did not work for me. Hence three stars!

[Shay · Rating 1 out of 5]

Here I was reading this decent potentially paranormal book and out of nowhere I get stopped in my tracks by one sentence. No I won't tell you what it is. But to be clear, this book is nothing like described. I finished it laughing the entire way through because of how utterly ridiculous I found it to be. From what I now understand even die hard fans of Delinsky are like "WTF happened?" So I think i'll give this author another go at a later date.

[Vicki Papworth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was quite enjoying the whole romance of this mysterious stranger who came to help the healer woman but then he became an alien and told her that she is part alien............it lost me somewhere.

[Ree · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just finished the book out of pure defiance of my brain. I thought it would be a good story as I enjoy paranormal romance. This book on the other hand is just none of the above.

Summer VanHorn or whatever was extremely annoying. Just nothing likeable about her character to me. I get strong willed female characters, but she was just a walking contradiction. Summer claims she can handle everything on her own, but yet is so meek and an utter push over.

After all Cameron has done for her, for the life of me I don't ever recall her saying "thank you". One moment she doesn't believe in anything and the next she only believes in herself.

The chemistry is blah and predictable, the plot is just random and poorly executed. The point of the grey horses is only there for what purpose ??! And the towns ppls hate her because she can HEAL ppl?!? Makes no damn sense. If other weird unexpected stuff happened outside of things in the meadow no one else sees.....why make the others resent her?

Ugh this book was just do bad I can't even form a cohesive review. No romance, no paranormal, no plot, no point.

[Eileen Sheehan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I sat down to read this on Thanksgiving Eve, thinking I'd start it and then finish it on the weekend. I was surprised when I closed the book just a few hours after the clock struck midnight. Not only is this a fast read, but it was so enjoyable that I didn't realize I was zipping through it. The author is well versed and well written. Although I basically guessed Cammeron was an alien or super something from the get go, this was a romance, not a mystery so it didn't detract from the story. The characters and situations were well developed and believable... as sci fi goes. If you''re wanting a quick and pleasurable read, this book is a good one.

[Maggie Shanley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Summer Van Vorn lives by herself on small Pride Island in Maine. She cares for the wild ponies, a meadow, beech trees and the town. She is a healer but is treated with disrespect and scorn. On a stormy day Cameron Divine comes to her aid and her life goes in a direction she never thought it would. This was not a horrid book, but it was very predictable and the world building seemed lacking.

[Betsy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting romance about a young woman and a stranger who comes into her life.

[Barb · Rating 1 out of 5]

Started alright but got freakish and alien. If I could rate with minus stars I would! It was that bad!

[Ginger Mcclintick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoy Barbara Delinsky's books but this one was just ok I'm not really a fan of paranormal books.

[DarkLioness22 · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was a nice read, was simple romance then with a twist and a happy ending.

[Maria]

I didn't like this book as much as I like other books by Barbara Delinsky. It started out good then it started to get sillier page by page.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

HT #385 re-release

[Sherri · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not like this book at all. Nit your typical Barbara Delinsky book. I couldn’t get passed the alien. Very disappointing.

[Abita · Rating 1 out of 5]

I know Mills and Boon aren't known for their literary greatness but my god, this was bad even for them!!

[Ada Iaboni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lighthearted and more toward a fantasy story than romance, although there was a lot of that too.
Not one of the best from this author but it was fast read and a nice diversion.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a real "fairy tale." Summer Van Vorn has been living alone on an island just east of New York for the past 10 years since her mother passed away. And that's just fine with her. She's 28, and she is a healer. She is not well accepted by the folks on the island, but they do come to her for her healing potions on a frequent basis. Caught in a terrific storm on her way home from another island, Summer is dumped in the ocean, her boat capsized and destroyed, and all hope of reaching land lost. But fairy tales don't end in disappointement. As Summer is snatched from the waves and swam to shore by a strong, beautiful man (of course), she finds her privacy invaded, her thoughts read, her body miraculously healed, and, frustratingly enough (!) she's fighting falling in love. Cameron Divine has things in mind that don't include Summer spending the rest of her life alone.

[Karli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find it interesting that so many people are/were turned off by the alien story line. While I admit to not being a fan of the usual sci-fi genre - I never feel I can relate to the characters/story since EVERYTHING is so alien - I was fine with this bit of alien and actually enjoyed it. In this story, being alien is no different than any of the vampire/werewolf/witch books I read. Too bad more people can't get past the word "alien". I'm assuming most of the naysayers are not into the paranormal genre in the first place and didn't know they were reading one.

Otherwise the book was exactly what I expected and wanted at the moment, a light and MINDLESS romance. I did find her blathering on and on about "I don't know _how_ to be an alien" to be WAY overdone. And the name of the planet, which I already forget, makes me cringe.

[Maria João · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esta minha memória deixa realmente muito a desejar. Estava eu toda entretida a ler este livro e nunca em nenhum momento ele me pareceu familiar. Quando por fim vou fazer o registo no Goodreads descubro que não só já o li como até o tenho. A versão portuguesa obviamente. Só mesmo eu. Bem pelo menos serviu o seu objectivo que era terminar um desafio. Enfim podia ser pior :)
Quanto ao livro, é bem o género que Barbara Delinsky nos habitou. Recordo de que há uns anos atrás a descobri e num só mês tive de trazer todos os livros dela para casa. Uma escrita simples, com um final amarelo, ou melhor cor de rosa. Com referências a outros livros. Enfim para passar um bom bocado.

[NatalyaVqs · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book has its own genre as its a romantic fairy tale. i did not pick this up from the cover or descruption so i was surprised when the supernatural element started showing up. a touching tale of all consuming love, though a bit silly at times. I was a bit off put by the unworthy heroine who needs a man to feel whole and become confident, and open her eyes to truth about herself. bit dated but a sweet story nonetheless

[Kristi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I HATED this book. I was so mad at myself for finishing. It started out as a love story and everything was going fine and then BAM- it was all about aliens and other planets and mysticism, etc, etc. I picked it up at the library because I had read another book of hers and I actually got online to see if it was the same author. It really was that bad.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read some of Delinsky's books before and have enjoyed the drama between the characters. This story was different in that there were very few characters (most of the book features only the main character and her love interest.) It was also delving into the paranormal, which I was completely not expecting. That being said, it was a good story with a strong setting.

[Trish Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

really interesting book is all i can say

[Dana Lyness · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was pretty far fetched and weird.

[Shari · Rating 3 out of 5]

good read

[Wendy T · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was enjoying this book, but once the book turn to the alien topic, I lost interest in the story.

[Jackie Spell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was definitely different.

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A steamy romance with an interesting twist.

[Lorraine · Rating 3 out of 5]

sheer wish-fulfilment. But at least it wasn't trying to overreach itself!

[Eileen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Aliens? Seriously? What a stupid bunch of drivel. Don't waste your time reading this.

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

WOW that was a terrible book.