Claire would have preferred to skip her high school reunion, but her best friend Jennifer substitutes romance novels for the astronomy journals Clair packed. Insisting that it's time to shake Claire out of her pleasant rut of stars and solitude, she also sneaks a too-tight red dress into Claire's suitcase. Much against her better judgment, Claire finds herself returning to Port Townsend, Washington.
When she finds herself alone with Blake, the man she'd had a crush on during high school, fantasy hits high gear. Claire longs for a wildly improbable affair with the man she'd once watched wistfully from the high school halls, intending to take sensations and memories back to her mountain top retreat with the stars. Sharing her passion with Blake makes everything in her life feel, better, sharper, more real. She can't stay away from this man who's eyes fill with challenge and speculation.
Blake promises a week of passion and fantasy in exchange for Claire's assistance with a troubled young man. He tells Claire that they are safe -- that there is no danger of falling in love. Blake doesn't have time for a serious relationship. He is too busy working overtime, taking on too many jobs to pay his sister's university tuition. He is already stretched to the limit with the shipyard, his aid to troubled boys, and his family. Blake has a passion for hard work, fast boats, and rough kids. Any woman who enters his life must be strictly temporary.
Soon, however, he won't long be able to deny that he fell in love with Claire when his eyes found her across the crowded banquet room. The years had erased the painfully shy girl, leaving a vibrant, fascinating woman. He can't walk away from this woman with intense blue eyes and passion boiling just beneath the surface. But persuading her to stay may be impossible.
Clair dreams of running her own observatory and finding comets; she's already had her first discovery named after her. Claire also fears the lust that makes her loose herself with Blake. With him filling her life, she's afraid there will be no room for the world of stars, of comets, that she'll cease to be herself and won't know who she is. Nevertheless, Claire and Blake find something that leaves them both open and vulnerable -- not just passion but something far more shattering -- fulfillment.
SEEING STARS becomes a wonderful blend of mistakes and compromise, of dreams and promises. As both Claire and Blake struggle with priorities and self-identity, they learn lessons of love. SEEING STARS balances the heart, career and family with grace. Vanessa Grant has a real feel for modern challenges of career, distances, and the heart. SEEING STARS is Highly Recommended.
