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Night Swimming: A Novel
The deeper you dive, the sweeter the reward
When college offered an escape, Lily fled her hometown of Coral Beach and never looked back. Now a marine biologist, she must return there on a job to preserve the reefs that give the town its name. But going back means dealing with her past, her family, and worst of all, Sean McDermott. As teens, while Lily passed through an especially awkward phase, Sean—attractive and self-assured—was her constant tormentor. Lily doubts that things will have changed. But Lily’s awkward phase is long over . . . and though she finds that Sean still makes her blood boil, it’s for very different reasons.
As mayor, Sean knows how important it is to maintain the town’s natural beauty—and if the return of Lily Banyon is the price he has to pay, so be it. He can overlook her cold shoulder and give back as good as he gets. What’s harder to disregard is the fact that Lily has grown into a smart and beautiful woman, as passionate about saving Coral Beach as she once was about leaving it. While working closely together, it becomes obvious to Sean that if he and Lily can put the past behind them, they could have a passionate future. . . .
When college offered an escape, Lily fled her hometown of Coral Beach and never looked back. Now a marine biologist, she must return there on a job to preserve the reefs that give the town its name. But going back means dealing with her past, her family, and worst of all, Sean McDermott. As teens, while Lily passed through an especially awkward phase, Sean—attractive and self-assured—was her constant tormentor. Lily doubts that things will have changed. But Lily’s awkward phase is long over . . . and though she finds that Sean still makes her blood boil, it’s for very different reasons.
As mayor, Sean knows how important it is to maintain the town’s natural beauty—and if the return of Lily Banyon is the price he has to pay, so be it. He can overlook her cold shoulder and give back as good as he gets. What’s harder to disregard is the fact that Lily has grown into a smart and beautiful woman, as passionate about saving Coral Beach as she once was about leaving it. While working closely together, it becomes obvious to Sean that if he and Lily can put the past behind them, they could have a passionate future. . . .
422 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
23 people are currently reading
155 people want to read
About the author
Laura Moore
32 books268 followersI was born in New York City and grew up there and in Western Massachusetts. I began writing while pursuing my master's degree. My first novel, Ride a Dark Horse, filled most of a spiral bound notebook. I soon realized I far preferred writing love stories to term papers!
I now live in Rhode Island with my husband, two children, and our black lab. Our cat Zevon keeps us all in line.
I now live in Rhode Island with my husband, two children, and our black lab. Our cat Zevon keeps us all in line.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
September 9, 2010
The "idea" of the book was great! Two people who have secretly been in love with each other for 10 years unbeknownst to the other. But upon reading it, it fell flat for me. The only interaction I really enjoyed between Lily and Sean were in the flashback scenes. To me that part of their relationship was more interesting. There was a lot of miscommunication and assumptions by both parties.
The subplot with the reef study was too long and dry, and I found myself skimming the majority those aspects. Also, Lily's relationship with her mother was also lacking. With Lily and her mother, Kaye, having problems in the past, I wasn't expect such a quick fix to those problems.
After reading Remember Me, I was expecting more from this author. But since this is one of her earlier works, I didn't hold it against her. I will continue to read this author, as a matter of fact I have In Your Eyes sitting on my shelf to be read and Believe In Me on my wishlist.
Read more of my reviews at Book Obsessed.
The subplot with the reef study was too long and dry, and I found myself skimming the majority those aspects. Also, Lily's relationship with her mother was also lacking. With Lily and her mother, Kaye, having problems in the past, I wasn't expect such a quick fix to those problems.
After reading Remember Me, I was expecting more from this author. But since this is one of her earlier works, I didn't hold it against her. I will continue to read this author, as a matter of fact I have In Your Eyes sitting on my shelf to be read and Believe In Me on my wishlist.
Read more of my reviews at Book Obsessed.
August 6, 2008
I liked the premise of this book: Childhood friends/rivals meet up later in life and fall for each other. It didn't quite measure up for me. It bogged down with the mild suspense story about the environmental conspiracy. I should've liked that part, but it didn't pull me in enough. The relationship aspect worked better when it was in the minor flashbacks to when the H/h were teenagers. The adult relationship was too forced; well, the issues presented to them seemed a little forced to me. I'll try another by this author though.
August 4, 2016
I was hopin they’d liked each other as kids, or at least that 1 of them liked the other, but their relationship was far from what I had expected. They’re dancing together &Sean thinks Lily isn’t a girl but an alien, a pale, blond-haired, freaky-eyed alien monster. I cudn’t believe he felt that way about her&I didn’t like that. I did like that she was just weeks younger than him.
Her nose is snot-filled &he’s like gross me out. He also thinks she’s snooty, &Idk y the author used the word contempt wen Lily glared down at him but the kids wudn’t use that word. He pulls her hard in the fox trot, hoping she’ll fall down. He compares tryin2 knock her down 2 felling a giant sequoia. &she has monster-sized feet. Crazy.
“Lily actually believed she’d invented sarcasm.”
R we2 believe that Sean, a kid, had that thought?
“Loathed, detested, adborred--Lily had looked that last 1up in the dictionary, needing a richer vocabulary 4the list of grievances that grew each time she saw him..”
The author had Lily look the last word up in the dictionary..guess she realized a kid wudn’t know that 1..wonder y she didn’t about the others.
Her mom says that Sean looks cute.
“(with Mrs. McDermott loyally adding that Lily looked quite nice, too, which her mother wud ignore as a polite but blatant untruth) and wasn’t this a good idea to insist their kids take dancing lessons, such an invaluable tool for later on in life.”
“Lily wudn’t b surprised if they’d exchanged squinty-eyed glares from their strollers.”
Sean uses the words cosmic, coordinated, deranged, ballistic, wafting, accelterated, empathy, wrenching, restraining and compares the dancing to a drunken cricket. They didn’t sound like kids at all. She chose to make them 6th graders, but wanted them 2hav an advanced vocabulary &great insight into the intter workings of their own relationship &their parents to them. &Lily isn’t cute, she’s a foot taller than him, she compares herself 2an ugly stork,&storks always stay ugly. Her own mom doesn’t like her. Lily sounded like a freak of nature. I didn’t like that at all!
Our 1st introduction 2 Lily &she’s scarfing down donuts—rly obsessed w/the donuts, the crullers, the saturated fat& sugar & there bein plenty of donuts 4 every1, Idk what the big deal is about donuts &sweets—& drawing a castle w/a wave coming toward it. She seemed childish to be doodling a castle, esp. during a meeting.
Their relationship was blown completely out of proportion. Lily sees his name on the list of committee members & stiffens w/a gasp. Karen, the photographer, asks wut’s wrong &she stares horrified, shuddering & squeezes her eyes closed. Karen asks if she’s ok, she still duznt answer, she opens her eyes &it takes a few secs 4 her eyes2 focus. Karen asks if she shud call the flight attendant & squeezes Lily’s arm tryin 2get her2 talk. Lily finally stirs&says she’s all right &her voice sounds like the weak croak of a dying frog. How dramatic.
Sean’s walking into the room reading the list of scientists &sees her name, when he had ben so relieved she wasn’t coming. She’s replacing another scientist. He trips over the threshold &almost careens into a chair. She obviously is a fan of the dramatics.
He thinks of wen she slammed the door in his face when they were in Rome &almost broke his nose 4the 2nd time. We were missin way 2much of their past. All we knew was they despised each other as 6th graders. That’s the last we heard &this was2 random. She looked even better than he remembered, a memory hot enuf 2make him lie awake at night, aching.
After college Kaye, Lily’s mom, asked him2 visit Lily in Rome bcuz she was worried about Italian men bein around her &wanted her2 hav a friendly face, so he agrees 2take her out. I liked how he had2 calm his racing heart b4 he knocks on her door. It was 3 yrs since they were in college &she hadn’t been home since. I hated that so much time had passed, 10 years is a long time &I hate wen authors hold things back about the past as a plot device, instead of just divulging everything in the beginning. She drops random fragments of their past&I want to know everything so I know where they stand. He cudn’t look at a blonde w/o comparing them 2 Lily &I liked that.
I can’t believe we dint find out that Evelyn, Sean’s assistant, had pink hair until pg. 38 &was an old lady w/raspberry colored hair until pg. 44 wen Lily met her. Y wasn’t that made clear from the start?
By the time she was 14 she was a 36C. That is 1big 14 yr old. But after this wen Sean’s at the bar he says she’s had them since she was 13..so which is it?
They were so stiff-sounding during the meeting, all this political jargon &crap. I did like that wen Pete Ferrucci questioned her ability 2 perform the study, Sean jumps 2her defense &says all these nice things about her career, that she’s acknowledged thruout the world &she’s ben all ovr the world&that most ppl r unaware she’s a native of Coral Beach &her knowledge of the waters is extensive. He goes on 2say an entire chapter of her bk is on the Florida Keys. “As u might alredy suspect, I cud easily continue listing Dr. Banyon’s many scientific accomplishments. Fascinating as they r, I’ll refrain. . .I know u’d like 2get home b4 midnight.” & “Suffice it 2say, any community wud b thrilled 2hav Dr. Banyon lead its study. &we shud count ourselves lucky that Dr. Banyon is willing 2 accommodate her busy schedule 2suit our own.” He says she was about 2start the 2nd phase a project in the Bahamas. She can’t believe he knows about her career &schedule.
She thinks his role as major had him defending her publicly &she knows how he feels about her in private. Karen, the photographer, is impressed by Sean &said he blew every1 away&that him &Lily basically shut Pete down. Lily says “I’m sure we have Ms. Roemer to thank for that polished recitation.” Evelyn smiles &says u mean did I prep him? She said “No, that’s not Sean’s style. He’s 2quick on his feet 2need his lines spoon-fed. 2tell u the truth, I myself am mystified how he managed 2pull that 1off. U c, Dr. Banyon, until half an hr ago, Sean didn’t even no u were on this advisory panel.”
I rly liked that!
Sean is moody at the bar w/Dave. He asks how far he goes back w/Lily &Sean says pre-diaper. She’s always hated him. Suddenly Dave puts it 2gether &says he’s got a thing 4her. Sean says yeah&I dint realize he liked her that much. Dave asks how long the unrequited feelings hav ben goin on&he says 8th grade, wen she took her sweater off. I wished it had ben something about her as a person, not her big boobs. That’s shallow &I wished it had been something sweet! Ugh, none of this is happening the way I wanted it to. I just cudnt get ovr that their hateful, mean relationship wud go2 this extreme where he wanted her. There needed 2b somethin2 bridge this, another memory in-btwn.
Sean tells Dave he’s liked Lily since 8th grade &Dave asked what’d she do? That dint make any sense 4him 2ask that, it’s not realistic at all&was an obvious lead-in 2wut Sean was sayin. If u found out sum1 liked sum1, u wudnt ask them wut the object of their feelings did2 make them like them…so, yeah. Ppl don’t hav2 physically do something 4u 2like them. That was so unnatural &a set by the author.
Sean leaves the bar &catches up wher, jumpin into her car as she’s waitin 2pull out. He has her drive to her grandma’s house to see her, not letting her grandma find out she was in town a day before she saw her. He asks if she needs directions &I was surprised that she flipped him off. I didn’t like that, or the way she drove. Cuttin in&out of traffic &speeding. ¬ing that Sean was “aggravatingly” calm. Damn him 4stayin calm while u try2 shake him up in a wild, dangerous car ride…Wen they got 2her gma’s driveway she yanks the steering wheel hard, hopin he’ll hit his elbow on the window…it’s 1 thing not2 like sum1, it’s another 2 drive recklessly while they’re in the car w/u, which is putting their life at risk, as well as every1 else’s on the road. I didn’t like her.
Lily’s disappointed 2think he only cares about the reef 4political gain, and I liked that he got mad that she believed that of him&they argued. He accused her of lying about the results just 2get back at her.
I thought it was convenient how Lily used 2b a ft taller than him wen they were young, but now he’s taller than her&she’s almost as tall as him.
His gma has him get Lily a drink &I liked how as he’s outside givin her&her gma privacy he’s taking in air&he says he needs 2pull himself 2gether, bcuz the Lily Effect was at work on his brain. &he’s questioning y he told her he’s coming on her dive, how he was goin2 keep his sanity &knows it’s bcuz he’s as hung up on her as ever. He’s hurt&mad that she accused him of being a crooked politician.
Stung, he’d retaliated in kind, implyin that Lily might stoop so low as2 manipulate the reef study.
Retaliated is the wrong word, I know it’s nitpicking, but it shud b just “responded” in kind. 4him2 retaliate in kind, she wud hav had2 retaliate 4sumthin he did&he dint do anything. She insulted him&he responded in kind, or he retaliated. He didn’t retaliate in kind.
At her gmas house she thinks that he stands out&he’d looked just as good in the bar, &devastating in her car. Her gma says it must b a relief 2him 2hav Lily on the reef project, &she’s embarrassed thinkin he won’t answer. He ends up sayin she’s the best&he’s thrilled 2hav her. She thinks he’s only sayin it cuz he likes her gma, his words were “perversely cruel, far more painful than any slight” bcuz his feelings 4her wud nvr change. &that’s wen I had the awful, sinking feeling that this whole “plot” wud b based on stupid misunderstandings &wrong assumptions. I was surprised that she seemed 2like him back so much &care how he felt about her. How did those kids go from hatin each other 2 likin each other so much?? It rly was as boring as 2ppl likin each other &both thinkin the other doesn’t like them. Wut fun. So much 4 tension &fighting &everything.
This author also displays a major pet peeve of mine—sumthin that shudn’t b allowed in books. She uses Italian words &I find it unacceptable &un4givable that an author wud use a word in a language that not all readers know. U can at least put a dictionary in the book so we know wut they mean. I wasn’t exactly sure wut a pensione meant, she also sed la bella americana, which I happened 2no meant the beautiful American. Fellatio, which I’m told by urban dictionary, wen used in means “the subservient act of orally stimulating the male sex organ w/, but not limited 2, the lips, mouth &tongue, during which suction pressure is applied 2the male organ.” Thank u 4that. The only1 she defined was sprezzatura, which was casual sophistication.
It took a crude turn wen Pete Ferrucci, the jerk, got his own POV. I hate bein in the POV of a character that isn’t the hero or heroine. Esp. wen they’re sayin things like “women get promoted ‘cause they’re banging the chairman of the department.” “Vertical drilling aginst the bathroom stall”&“pussy cud wait.” Vry nice, vry classy. &Pete is gettin John Granger—the guy on the project that came w/Lily &Karen—drunk &he’s badmouthing Lily. There was no mention whatsoever that they had bad blood—certainly not that he asked her2 handle his penis, touched her butt&she pushed him off the dock in2 the ocean& threatened 2hav lobsters eat his penis.. She even puffed his ego at the meeting 2shut Pete up. She had John talk about his career knowin he’d take a long time.
Idk y their gmas decided 2meddle with them & “stick 2the plan.” I hate meddlesome old matchmakers. They’re alredy gettin there on their own. We don’t need their gmas nosin in on it.
I wish some things hadn’t ben so obvious. It was clear after Sean sed he touched her breasts 1ce&then teases her about doing an experiment 2gether again, that was wen he touched her breasts. It was confirmed wen he has a dream about it. The zoology teacher paired them 2gether, Sean had2 cut the frog &Lily take notes. He’s shakin cuz she’s so close &he can smell her, so he lies &says her breath stinks 2get her 2move back. She leans closer &her breast touches his arm. &I knew from the moment he sed he’d walked in on her &the guy in Rome that it wasn’t her boyfriend, it was her roommates. No surprise there at all.
It was funny how on the boat Karen says Lily is changin in the bathroom bcuz she’s had trouble w/guys b4 &his head whips 2her, he thinks it’s about him, until she says it’s not you, it’s John. I was hoping for more anger & jealousy wen he found out about John touching her, but he barely sed anything.
I was just waiting 4it &of course a woman had2 come in2 the pic. Stacy from high school, who was apparently always w/Sean. Lily had a memory of a bonfire wher Sean was shirtless &Stacy was flirting &whispering things in his ear, &he throws his head back laughin &then looks at Lily &they stare at each other &then he goes off w/Stacy. Sum1 asked if he had gotten lucky w/her Monday &he grinned cockily &that’s wen Lily got mad &aimed the volleyball at him, thinkin she wudnt hit him but she ends up breakin his nose.
I cudnt beleve they hadn’t had sex yet&it was after 250 pages. They were in the pool kissin &got interrupted, then they’re at her gmas house &her mom interrupts them. 2 failed attempts &I wondered then if they were going 2 hav sex at all cuz the clock was runnin out. A romance book w/no sex. Talk about no payout. &if that wasn’t bad enuf, Sean wants 2be w/her that, promises 2 give her 2 orgasms &then leaves 4work. Lily expects him 2call or come by, so wen there’s a dock at the condo she answers the door, only 2find her mom. They go out2 dinner, her mom apologizes 4bein a bad mom&wants a new start. &that’s wen the self-sabotage authors r so fond of comes in2 play, bcuz Stacy goes 2his office, says she’s glad she’s got him alone. So he taks her 2a public place b4 she can strip or sumthin in his office, &of course he chooses the same restaurant Lily’s at. Stacy sees her&goes up 2her table, sayin Sean insisted they come &it’s so romantic &he always picks the perfect place 4 them.
The finally have sex, on the beach of all places, &literally the author picks up w/them in the midst of it with no details beforehand. He goes down on his knees after she takes her dress off, then they’re just having sex &it’s those stupid, flowery descriptions I absolutely loath. Like he took everything she gave him &they plunged to a fathomless love. Make me gag. You wait 335 pages for this? What a total waste. Completely lukewarm, there’s barely any heat at all. I hate romance books like this. &they finally hash it out, except it’s wayy 2late 4them 2b having this discussion &the conversation of their whole past takes place in a few lines. They had so much to talk about &clear up that the author just bungled by making it so fast. Lily brings up the night of the bonfire, that she longed 4him &it’s the 1st night she wanted 2b held by him. He doesn’t even remember&says if he went off with Stacy he deserved 2hav his nose broken, &there wasn’t anything btwn them but wutever awkward fumblings happened that night. So ur calling havin sex w/another girl—wen u loved Lily—awkward fumblings? So he did hav sex w/her…wow, this story sucks worse than I thought it did. I was hopin he hadn’t rly slept w/Stacy &she’d hit him 4no reason. I thought it tragic that 2ppl that ry liked each other dint get 2gether bcuz they assumed the other dint like them..so 10 years pass w/them havin sex w/other ppl, but he thinks it’s good it worked out this way bcuz he knows he won’t love another woman as much as he does her. It would’ve been so much sweeter had they been virgins &slept w/each 4the 1st time. He did like her since 8th grade &she liked him since 11th. That’s a perfect setup 4them 2b 2gether ¬ be w/any1 else. I was so ready 4this story 2end after that. I was glad she dint mention him &other women tho, a blessing not 2hav 2 hear that crap.
They finally figure out that John nvr sent the pics off &all the samples came back clean, wen they know the reef is damaged bcuz they saw it themselves. Pete Farrucci put him up 2it as well as had the first scientist lie about the results so he could build his apartments. Lily goes diving to get new samples &gets stung by a stingray, drama ensues where she’s in the hospital, Sean is worried, they’re in the newspaper that Sean assaulted her &Lily is goin2 press charges, they’re all over the TV, &I was so over the story at that point. Sean doesn’t tell her about it, or that he went to NY 2get Dr. Lensesky to come &testify, &Idl that he kept those things from her. Pete is exposed at the reef meeting &at the fundraiser 4the mayoral election that night Lily gives a speech that was pretty lame. She makes a joke that he sometimes tells her what to do, which I didn’t realize he did, &that what she said to him was private ¬ about his career. She also says they have 2get married cuz their gmas said so. They dance &he says he accepts her proposal but he’s a lil annoyed she beat him to it. He takes out a ring &she says they shud go to the Bahamas, he says to work on her project, &she says another project which he’ll be enthusiastic about &whispers in his ear—don’t know what cuz the author either couldn’t come up w/anything or dint think it was imp, can’t stand that—&that their gmas want 2b ‘great’. Go from not being together, to finally sleeping w/each other &then to being engaged &their gmas about to plan a wedding &she’s goin 2get pregnant. How nice it would be if every romance novel didn’t end in marriage, engagement or pregnancy—or in this case, the promise of gettin pregnant. Any1 ever heard of dating or getting to know each other, instead of jumping into a rushed wedding &kids before they’ve even had time to spend alone with each other. So annoying.
The lack of sex scenes in here killed it. I didn’t realize I’d read her before but I’d already vowed to myself to add this author on my not-to-read list bcuz Idl authors that can’t write good sex scenes &I esp said so when I realized I had the same prob w/the other book. The writing focused too much on the scientific research &the process of gathering data &types of coral &everything. It was so boring &hard to understand. So much attention was given to the proper name of things &how ppl were doing things and what they were doing and it was so prim and proper, not relaxed at all. More romance, less side stuff. I kept hoping for time to fast-forward and for her to skip over things and get to the romance but the romance took a backseat to the reef study and his meetings and there were way too POVs from John and Pete. Idw to be in the bad guy’s POV at all, much less that much. All of the scenes in here lasted forever, they went on and on and on and I was hoping the author would just brush over it—like she did the romance—but she finished boring scenes out in agonizing detail. So much talk and not enough action. The use of the word “about” instead of “around” drove me insane. I hate when authors make their characters talk in a way that ppl don’t. “She put her arms about his neck.” “He put his arms about her waist.” That sounds so ridiculous. I also looked 4ward 2Lily asking how he knew all that about her career wen he stuck up4her 2 Pete, but they nvr talk about it at all. It wudve ben nice had he sed he followed her career. I also expected her 2tell him the only reason she acted that way in the beginning was bcuz she was disappointed thinking he dint care about the reef, &then he shudve told her he only accused her of lying about the results bcuz he was hurt she thought badly of him. Sean did come off as less than manly in the way he got so hurt about her opinion of him tho. It wudve ben nice had he ben a little stronger. She alwys wore baggy clothes&we dk wut she wrote in journals
Her nose is snot-filled &he’s like gross me out. He also thinks she’s snooty, &Idk y the author used the word contempt wen Lily glared down at him but the kids wudn’t use that word. He pulls her hard in the fox trot, hoping she’ll fall down. He compares tryin2 knock her down 2 felling a giant sequoia. &she has monster-sized feet. Crazy.
“Lily actually believed she’d invented sarcasm.”
R we2 believe that Sean, a kid, had that thought?
“Loathed, detested, adborred--Lily had looked that last 1up in the dictionary, needing a richer vocabulary 4the list of grievances that grew each time she saw him..”
The author had Lily look the last word up in the dictionary..guess she realized a kid wudn’t know that 1..wonder y she didn’t about the others.
Her mom says that Sean looks cute.
“(with Mrs. McDermott loyally adding that Lily looked quite nice, too, which her mother wud ignore as a polite but blatant untruth) and wasn’t this a good idea to insist their kids take dancing lessons, such an invaluable tool for later on in life.”
“Lily wudn’t b surprised if they’d exchanged squinty-eyed glares from their strollers.”
Sean uses the words cosmic, coordinated, deranged, ballistic, wafting, accelterated, empathy, wrenching, restraining and compares the dancing to a drunken cricket. They didn’t sound like kids at all. She chose to make them 6th graders, but wanted them 2hav an advanced vocabulary &great insight into the intter workings of their own relationship &their parents to them. &Lily isn’t cute, she’s a foot taller than him, she compares herself 2an ugly stork,&storks always stay ugly. Her own mom doesn’t like her. Lily sounded like a freak of nature. I didn’t like that at all!
Our 1st introduction 2 Lily &she’s scarfing down donuts—rly obsessed w/the donuts, the crullers, the saturated fat& sugar & there bein plenty of donuts 4 every1, Idk what the big deal is about donuts &sweets—& drawing a castle w/a wave coming toward it. She seemed childish to be doodling a castle, esp. during a meeting.
Their relationship was blown completely out of proportion. Lily sees his name on the list of committee members & stiffens w/a gasp. Karen, the photographer, asks wut’s wrong &she stares horrified, shuddering & squeezes her eyes closed. Karen asks if she’s ok, she still duznt answer, she opens her eyes &it takes a few secs 4 her eyes2 focus. Karen asks if she shud call the flight attendant & squeezes Lily’s arm tryin 2get her2 talk. Lily finally stirs&says she’s all right &her voice sounds like the weak croak of a dying frog. How dramatic.
Sean’s walking into the room reading the list of scientists &sees her name, when he had ben so relieved she wasn’t coming. She’s replacing another scientist. He trips over the threshold &almost careens into a chair. She obviously is a fan of the dramatics.
He thinks of wen she slammed the door in his face when they were in Rome &almost broke his nose 4the 2nd time. We were missin way 2much of their past. All we knew was they despised each other as 6th graders. That’s the last we heard &this was2 random. She looked even better than he remembered, a memory hot enuf 2make him lie awake at night, aching.
After college Kaye, Lily’s mom, asked him2 visit Lily in Rome bcuz she was worried about Italian men bein around her &wanted her2 hav a friendly face, so he agrees 2take her out. I liked how he had2 calm his racing heart b4 he knocks on her door. It was 3 yrs since they were in college &she hadn’t been home since. I hated that so much time had passed, 10 years is a long time &I hate wen authors hold things back about the past as a plot device, instead of just divulging everything in the beginning. She drops random fragments of their past&I want to know everything so I know where they stand. He cudn’t look at a blonde w/o comparing them 2 Lily &I liked that.
I can’t believe we dint find out that Evelyn, Sean’s assistant, had pink hair until pg. 38 &was an old lady w/raspberry colored hair until pg. 44 wen Lily met her. Y wasn’t that made clear from the start?
By the time she was 14 she was a 36C. That is 1big 14 yr old. But after this wen Sean’s at the bar he says she’s had them since she was 13..so which is it?
They were so stiff-sounding during the meeting, all this political jargon &crap. I did like that wen Pete Ferrucci questioned her ability 2 perform the study, Sean jumps 2her defense &says all these nice things about her career, that she’s acknowledged thruout the world &she’s ben all ovr the world&that most ppl r unaware she’s a native of Coral Beach &her knowledge of the waters is extensive. He goes on 2say an entire chapter of her bk is on the Florida Keys. “As u might alredy suspect, I cud easily continue listing Dr. Banyon’s many scientific accomplishments. Fascinating as they r, I’ll refrain. . .I know u’d like 2get home b4 midnight.” & “Suffice it 2say, any community wud b thrilled 2hav Dr. Banyon lead its study. &we shud count ourselves lucky that Dr. Banyon is willing 2 accommodate her busy schedule 2suit our own.” He says she was about 2start the 2nd phase a project in the Bahamas. She can’t believe he knows about her career &schedule.
She thinks his role as major had him defending her publicly &she knows how he feels about her in private. Karen, the photographer, is impressed by Sean &said he blew every1 away&that him &Lily basically shut Pete down. Lily says “I’m sure we have Ms. Roemer to thank for that polished recitation.” Evelyn smiles &says u mean did I prep him? She said “No, that’s not Sean’s style. He’s 2quick on his feet 2need his lines spoon-fed. 2tell u the truth, I myself am mystified how he managed 2pull that 1off. U c, Dr. Banyon, until half an hr ago, Sean didn’t even no u were on this advisory panel.”
I rly liked that!
Sean is moody at the bar w/Dave. He asks how far he goes back w/Lily &Sean says pre-diaper. She’s always hated him. Suddenly Dave puts it 2gether &says he’s got a thing 4her. Sean says yeah&I dint realize he liked her that much. Dave asks how long the unrequited feelings hav ben goin on&he says 8th grade, wen she took her sweater off. I wished it had ben something about her as a person, not her big boobs. That’s shallow &I wished it had been something sweet! Ugh, none of this is happening the way I wanted it to. I just cudnt get ovr that their hateful, mean relationship wud go2 this extreme where he wanted her. There needed 2b somethin2 bridge this, another memory in-btwn.
Sean tells Dave he’s liked Lily since 8th grade &Dave asked what’d she do? That dint make any sense 4him 2ask that, it’s not realistic at all&was an obvious lead-in 2wut Sean was sayin. If u found out sum1 liked sum1, u wudnt ask them wut the object of their feelings did2 make them like them…so, yeah. Ppl don’t hav2 physically do something 4u 2like them. That was so unnatural &a set by the author.
Sean leaves the bar &catches up wher, jumpin into her car as she’s waitin 2pull out. He has her drive to her grandma’s house to see her, not letting her grandma find out she was in town a day before she saw her. He asks if she needs directions &I was surprised that she flipped him off. I didn’t like that, or the way she drove. Cuttin in&out of traffic &speeding. ¬ing that Sean was “aggravatingly” calm. Damn him 4stayin calm while u try2 shake him up in a wild, dangerous car ride…Wen they got 2her gma’s driveway she yanks the steering wheel hard, hopin he’ll hit his elbow on the window…it’s 1 thing not2 like sum1, it’s another 2 drive recklessly while they’re in the car w/u, which is putting their life at risk, as well as every1 else’s on the road. I didn’t like her.
Lily’s disappointed 2think he only cares about the reef 4political gain, and I liked that he got mad that she believed that of him&they argued. He accused her of lying about the results just 2get back at her.
I thought it was convenient how Lily used 2b a ft taller than him wen they were young, but now he’s taller than her&she’s almost as tall as him.
His gma has him get Lily a drink &I liked how as he’s outside givin her&her gma privacy he’s taking in air&he says he needs 2pull himself 2gether, bcuz the Lily Effect was at work on his brain. &he’s questioning y he told her he’s coming on her dive, how he was goin2 keep his sanity &knows it’s bcuz he’s as hung up on her as ever. He’s hurt&mad that she accused him of being a crooked politician.
Stung, he’d retaliated in kind, implyin that Lily might stoop so low as2 manipulate the reef study.
Retaliated is the wrong word, I know it’s nitpicking, but it shud b just “responded” in kind. 4him2 retaliate in kind, she wud hav had2 retaliate 4sumthin he did&he dint do anything. She insulted him&he responded in kind, or he retaliated. He didn’t retaliate in kind.
At her gmas house she thinks that he stands out&he’d looked just as good in the bar, &devastating in her car. Her gma says it must b a relief 2him 2hav Lily on the reef project, &she’s embarrassed thinkin he won’t answer. He ends up sayin she’s the best&he’s thrilled 2hav her. She thinks he’s only sayin it cuz he likes her gma, his words were “perversely cruel, far more painful than any slight” bcuz his feelings 4her wud nvr change. &that’s wen I had the awful, sinking feeling that this whole “plot” wud b based on stupid misunderstandings &wrong assumptions. I was surprised that she seemed 2like him back so much &care how he felt about her. How did those kids go from hatin each other 2 likin each other so much?? It rly was as boring as 2ppl likin each other &both thinkin the other doesn’t like them. Wut fun. So much 4 tension &fighting &everything.
This author also displays a major pet peeve of mine—sumthin that shudn’t b allowed in books. She uses Italian words &I find it unacceptable &un4givable that an author wud use a word in a language that not all readers know. U can at least put a dictionary in the book so we know wut they mean. I wasn’t exactly sure wut a pensione meant, she also sed la bella americana, which I happened 2no meant the beautiful American. Fellatio, which I’m told by urban dictionary, wen used in means “the subservient act of orally stimulating the male sex organ w/, but not limited 2, the lips, mouth &tongue, during which suction pressure is applied 2the male organ.” Thank u 4that. The only1 she defined was sprezzatura, which was casual sophistication.
It took a crude turn wen Pete Ferrucci, the jerk, got his own POV. I hate bein in the POV of a character that isn’t the hero or heroine. Esp. wen they’re sayin things like “women get promoted ‘cause they’re banging the chairman of the department.” “Vertical drilling aginst the bathroom stall”&“pussy cud wait.” Vry nice, vry classy. &Pete is gettin John Granger—the guy on the project that came w/Lily &Karen—drunk &he’s badmouthing Lily. There was no mention whatsoever that they had bad blood—certainly not that he asked her2 handle his penis, touched her butt&she pushed him off the dock in2 the ocean& threatened 2hav lobsters eat his penis.. She even puffed his ego at the meeting 2shut Pete up. She had John talk about his career knowin he’d take a long time.
Idk y their gmas decided 2meddle with them & “stick 2the plan.” I hate meddlesome old matchmakers. They’re alredy gettin there on their own. We don’t need their gmas nosin in on it.
I wish some things hadn’t ben so obvious. It was clear after Sean sed he touched her breasts 1ce&then teases her about doing an experiment 2gether again, that was wen he touched her breasts. It was confirmed wen he has a dream about it. The zoology teacher paired them 2gether, Sean had2 cut the frog &Lily take notes. He’s shakin cuz she’s so close &he can smell her, so he lies &says her breath stinks 2get her 2move back. She leans closer &her breast touches his arm. &I knew from the moment he sed he’d walked in on her &the guy in Rome that it wasn’t her boyfriend, it was her roommates. No surprise there at all.
It was funny how on the boat Karen says Lily is changin in the bathroom bcuz she’s had trouble w/guys b4 &his head whips 2her, he thinks it’s about him, until she says it’s not you, it’s John. I was hoping for more anger & jealousy wen he found out about John touching her, but he barely sed anything.
I was just waiting 4it &of course a woman had2 come in2 the pic. Stacy from high school, who was apparently always w/Sean. Lily had a memory of a bonfire wher Sean was shirtless &Stacy was flirting &whispering things in his ear, &he throws his head back laughin &then looks at Lily &they stare at each other &then he goes off w/Stacy. Sum1 asked if he had gotten lucky w/her Monday &he grinned cockily &that’s wen Lily got mad &aimed the volleyball at him, thinkin she wudnt hit him but she ends up breakin his nose.
I cudnt beleve they hadn’t had sex yet&it was after 250 pages. They were in the pool kissin &got interrupted, then they’re at her gmas house &her mom interrupts them. 2 failed attempts &I wondered then if they were going 2 hav sex at all cuz the clock was runnin out. A romance book w/no sex. Talk about no payout. &if that wasn’t bad enuf, Sean wants 2be w/her that, promises 2 give her 2 orgasms &then leaves 4work. Lily expects him 2call or come by, so wen there’s a dock at the condo she answers the door, only 2find her mom. They go out2 dinner, her mom apologizes 4bein a bad mom&wants a new start. &that’s wen the self-sabotage authors r so fond of comes in2 play, bcuz Stacy goes 2his office, says she’s glad she’s got him alone. So he taks her 2a public place b4 she can strip or sumthin in his office, &of course he chooses the same restaurant Lily’s at. Stacy sees her&goes up 2her table, sayin Sean insisted they come &it’s so romantic &he always picks the perfect place 4 them.
The finally have sex, on the beach of all places, &literally the author picks up w/them in the midst of it with no details beforehand. He goes down on his knees after she takes her dress off, then they’re just having sex &it’s those stupid, flowery descriptions I absolutely loath. Like he took everything she gave him &they plunged to a fathomless love. Make me gag. You wait 335 pages for this? What a total waste. Completely lukewarm, there’s barely any heat at all. I hate romance books like this. &they finally hash it out, except it’s wayy 2late 4them 2b having this discussion &the conversation of their whole past takes place in a few lines. They had so much to talk about &clear up that the author just bungled by making it so fast. Lily brings up the night of the bonfire, that she longed 4him &it’s the 1st night she wanted 2b held by him. He doesn’t even remember&says if he went off with Stacy he deserved 2hav his nose broken, &there wasn’t anything btwn them but wutever awkward fumblings happened that night. So ur calling havin sex w/another girl—wen u loved Lily—awkward fumblings? So he did hav sex w/her…wow, this story sucks worse than I thought it did. I was hopin he hadn’t rly slept w/Stacy &she’d hit him 4no reason. I thought it tragic that 2ppl that ry liked each other dint get 2gether bcuz they assumed the other dint like them..so 10 years pass w/them havin sex w/other ppl, but he thinks it’s good it worked out this way bcuz he knows he won’t love another woman as much as he does her. It would’ve been so much sweeter had they been virgins &slept w/each 4the 1st time. He did like her since 8th grade &she liked him since 11th. That’s a perfect setup 4them 2b 2gether ¬ be w/any1 else. I was so ready 4this story 2end after that. I was glad she dint mention him &other women tho, a blessing not 2hav 2 hear that crap.
They finally figure out that John nvr sent the pics off &all the samples came back clean, wen they know the reef is damaged bcuz they saw it themselves. Pete Farrucci put him up 2it as well as had the first scientist lie about the results so he could build his apartments. Lily goes diving to get new samples &gets stung by a stingray, drama ensues where she’s in the hospital, Sean is worried, they’re in the newspaper that Sean assaulted her &Lily is goin2 press charges, they’re all over the TV, &I was so over the story at that point. Sean doesn’t tell her about it, or that he went to NY 2get Dr. Lensesky to come &testify, &Idl that he kept those things from her. Pete is exposed at the reef meeting &at the fundraiser 4the mayoral election that night Lily gives a speech that was pretty lame. She makes a joke that he sometimes tells her what to do, which I didn’t realize he did, &that what she said to him was private ¬ about his career. She also says they have 2get married cuz their gmas said so. They dance &he says he accepts her proposal but he’s a lil annoyed she beat him to it. He takes out a ring &she says they shud go to the Bahamas, he says to work on her project, &she says another project which he’ll be enthusiastic about &whispers in his ear—don’t know what cuz the author either couldn’t come up w/anything or dint think it was imp, can’t stand that—&that their gmas want 2b ‘great’. Go from not being together, to finally sleeping w/each other &then to being engaged &their gmas about to plan a wedding &she’s goin 2get pregnant. How nice it would be if every romance novel didn’t end in marriage, engagement or pregnancy—or in this case, the promise of gettin pregnant. Any1 ever heard of dating or getting to know each other, instead of jumping into a rushed wedding &kids before they’ve even had time to spend alone with each other. So annoying.
The lack of sex scenes in here killed it. I didn’t realize I’d read her before but I’d already vowed to myself to add this author on my not-to-read list bcuz Idl authors that can’t write good sex scenes &I esp said so when I realized I had the same prob w/the other book. The writing focused too much on the scientific research &the process of gathering data &types of coral &everything. It was so boring &hard to understand. So much attention was given to the proper name of things &how ppl were doing things and what they were doing and it was so prim and proper, not relaxed at all. More romance, less side stuff. I kept hoping for time to fast-forward and for her to skip over things and get to the romance but the romance took a backseat to the reef study and his meetings and there were way too POVs from John and Pete. Idw to be in the bad guy’s POV at all, much less that much. All of the scenes in here lasted forever, they went on and on and on and I was hoping the author would just brush over it—like she did the romance—but she finished boring scenes out in agonizing detail. So much talk and not enough action. The use of the word “about” instead of “around” drove me insane. I hate when authors make their characters talk in a way that ppl don’t. “She put her arms about his neck.” “He put his arms about her waist.” That sounds so ridiculous. I also looked 4ward 2Lily asking how he knew all that about her career wen he stuck up4her 2 Pete, but they nvr talk about it at all. It wudve ben nice had he sed he followed her career. I also expected her 2tell him the only reason she acted that way in the beginning was bcuz she was disappointed thinking he dint care about the reef, &then he shudve told her he only accused her of lying about the results bcuz he was hurt she thought badly of him. Sean did come off as less than manly in the way he got so hurt about her opinion of him tho. It wudve ben nice had he ben a little stronger. She alwys wore baggy clothes&we dk wut she wrote in journals
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 20, 2011
Not a bad book but she writes a lot of detail which stretches the book out. Find myself skipping to dialogue
June 2, 2020
Easy to skim.
Cotton candy to read before bed - because the world is too much.
Cotton candy to read before bed - because the world is too much.
library
July 30, 20210
July 22, 2012
I really enjoyed this series, kind of a love lost kind of thing. I loved the meddling grandmothers, and the banter between the main characters. I loved that Lily was a take charge go-getter and wasn't one to wait around for the man to save the day. Karen and Dave intrigue me, I hope they get their own story too. My only complaint was, in my version for my Nook, there were no breaks in paragraphs, meaning you will be in one scene, then no delineation and you would start a whole new scene, and sometimes it got a wee bit confusing. I loved the story though. Laura Moore is quickly running up my MUST READ list.
September 26, 2014
What do you do when you discover that the one person you thought you hated wasn't really that bad and that even though you thought he hated you, he didn't. You can go to college, move from your hometown and make a new life but down deep you are still that same person who you always were and now you are back home and it feels right.
Lily fled Coral Beach and Sean McDermott all in the same motion but now she is back to complete a study on the coral reef as a marine biologist. Things are not always as they seem and Lily learns this lesson the hard way.
This is an interesting book in that you get to learn all about coral reefs and what makes them live. Great story.
Lily fled Coral Beach and Sean McDermott all in the same motion but now she is back to complete a study on the coral reef as a marine biologist. Things are not always as they seem and Lily learns this lesson the hard way.
This is an interesting book in that you get to learn all about coral reefs and what makes them live. Great story.
August 7, 2014
Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she had to walk into mine! Great line at a great place in story! Flew through this book. I just found Laura Moore, went back and ordered all she has written!
January 29, 2010
i devoured this book when i read it. i love the banter and competition between the H and h.
April 16, 2012
Good easy book to read!
August 9, 2013
beautiful..their chemistry ws just...yum..oly too many..i think he/she may nt like me..though vit sean i cud see him being pulled twds lily...d pull ws evident..so many thgs cn b forgiven..
July 12, 2017
I just loved Lily & Sean.
Recommended!!!
Recommended!!!
December 15, 2015
A 3.5 but slow moving. Coral Beach, FL
Marine biology, mayor, masters swim @ natatorium, reef relief, political intrigue
Angsty, competitive romance a bit hard 2 hang with..
Marine biology, mayor, masters swim @ natatorium, reef relief, political intrigue
Angsty, competitive romance a bit hard 2 hang with..
July 31, 2012
One word, two syllables - Awe-some!! From the beginning to the end!!
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