Very good book. Upon the death of his father, Ethan has become the head of the family business. While going through some paperwork he discovered that the mother he thought was dead is still alive and that his father and other relatives had kept that a secret for twenty-five years. This news has upset his normally calm and well controlled life and when he meets an attractive woman he gives in to his attraction and sleeps with her, never expecting to see her again. When she shows up at the winery as the photographer his sister has hired he is not at all happy and is worried about what she will do.

I liked both Ethan and Isobel. Ethan has always been very responsible and controlled, taking after his father who pretty much shut down his emotions after the loss of his wife. Ethan was determined that no woman would ever have that kind of control of him. He has never been as drawn to a woman like he is to Isobel, and is glad that they'll only have that one night. When she appears at the winery he knows he is in trouble. He is still attracted to her and now he can't get her out of his mind. I liked his sense of responsibility and how hard he worked at making the winery the best it could be. It was obvious that he really liked what he did. His biggest problem was that he always wanted to be in control and Isobel threatened that sense of control. He was willing to have a fling with her but he couldn't see her fitting in to his life as he saw it. He fought his feelings for her so hard, to the point of looking at a friend as the perfect wife because of certain compatibilities rather than the love that is necessary for a good marriage. I loved the way it practically took his sister hitting him with a baseball bat for him to finally admit his feelings. I loved his rescue of Isobel and his demonstration of his love at the end.

Isobel has been traveling since she was a teenager. After the death of her mother her dad didn't stay in one place for long and that was what she got used to. It also gave her the ability to avoid commitments since she didn't want to suffer the way she saw her father suffer. She was surprised at how strongly she and Ethan connected but knew there was no future in it because they were so different. I loved seeing the way that she brightened his life and that she made him happy even though he didn't want to admit it. Because of her photography she also had a way of seeing past the surfaces of people. Although it caused problems at first I loved the way that she made sure Ethan understood that he was not helping his sister by keeping the truth about their mother from her. I also really liked her commitment to using her photography to bring attention to world problems. I admired her determination to return to Africa and finish what she had started before. I also liked the way that she finally confronted her own past and was able to open herself up to the possibility of a future with Ethan.

I also liked Ethan's sister Tamsyn. I will be very interested to see if she gets her own story. I see great possibilities in her search for her mother. ( )