Imagine

A vivid imagination and a love for fantasy are prerequisites for reading Barnett's (Bewitching) newest comedy romance. In 1896, 30-ish attorney Margaret Huntington Smith reluctantly goes on holiday to the South Seas. After the steamship boiler blows, Margaret, three orphaned children and a goat are rescued and brought abroad a lifeboat by Hank Wyatt, an escaped fugitive who was stowed away on Margaret's ship. Despite a raging storm, the castaways make it to a self-contained tropical island where they easily adapt. The only thing they have to do is learn how to get along with each other--not an easy task for Hank, a self-involved, hard-bitten lifer, wrongly accused of murder. He is a reluctant provider, yet he finds within himself a soft spot and becomes a father figure to the children. The goat is Hank's four-legged bane, and Margaret is his human nemesis; her talking drives him crazy. Margaret has her own problems with learning how to be domestic. She burns everything she cooks and occasionally misplaces a child. Soon the six shipwrecks are joined by Muddy, a genie, complete with classic old bottle. Muddy is a silly but delightful character who takes the children flying and serves as foil for a classic comic pas de deux with Hank. In fact, the antics overwhelm the romance, but it's doubtful readers will care. As a whole, the story is unusual: its plot manages to sidestep cliches and stereotypes and the short, fast dialogue give it a refreshingly clipped liveliness. (Sept.)