Beautiful Disaster

Romance trumps suspense in Spinella's feverishly soapy debut. A phone call from a doctor friend at a Silver Spring, Md., hospital interrupts Mia Montgomery Wells in the middle of her pitch to a potential major investor in her eco-friendly office concept. Mia rushes to the hospital, where she finds her former biker boyfriend, Peyton Flynn McDermott, in a coma in the ICU, the victim of a serious road accident. Thirteen years earlier, Peyton fell in love with Mia when she was a design student at the University of Georgia, but later dumped her because he thought she would be better off without him. As she begins her bedside vigil, Mia flashes back to her turbulent relationship with Peyton, whom she knew to be a dangerous drifter and possibly a serial killer. While Mia realizes her revived passion for Peyton will have serious repercussions for her marriage, she believes fate has given them a second chance to sort out their earlier issues. Some readers may find Mia's actions less than credible. (Jan.)