Dancing in the Dark

In a seamlessly plotted story, Moody (Losing Nicola) believably coveys the childhood trauma of Theodora Cairns, whose paranoid mother dragged her around the world in the first 11 years of her life and then disappeared for the next 10. Now an adult with a successful garden design business in the Cotswolds, Theo wants nothing unexpected, but when she learns the story her mother told her about her father is false, her view of herself collapses. Bestselling Irish author Fergus Costello, also troubled and doubting his writing ability, finds Theo fascinating, and they form an unexpected bond. The romance is drawn well, psychologically and physically. Each urges the other to face the separate pasts that haunt them. Through stream-of-consciousness narration, Moody forms complete characters of two wounded people looking to squash their nightmares and reach their dreams. Their quests bring freedom and reunion, sadness and understanding, and triumphant love. Moody has written another winner. (July)