With its Brigadoon
-like setting, all-wise father figure and earnest hero and heroine, Sinclair's peculiar romance barely dodges the charge of sappiness by giving its characters truly tragic events to come to terms with before they can heal their hearts. Dr. Steve Cameron, a pediatric oncologist, has suffered through the deaths of too many patients, and he accepts an offer of a weekend in a remote cabin to rejuvenate his spirit only to discover the place is a portal to a timeless village called Renaissance where the broken-souled are healed. His personal healer, Meghan, senses Steve will upend her world. Sure enough, true love strikes. But Steve must return to his child patients to heal completely, and Meghan knows that if she leaves Renaissance to follow, she'll lose her memories of the village—and Steve—forever, despite the village leader's exhortation to believe in "faith and trust." Sinclair (A Question of Love
) sketches out her characters thoroughly enough that their pain and love is tangible, but not so deeply that most readers will empathize. (Dec.)
