BACK IN BABY'S ARMS
Tina Waiscott
St Martin's Paperbacks
January 2001
ISBN# 0-3129-7688-7
{Click
here to buy this book}
Wayne Schaeffer is a dare devil of the
worst kind, taking risks and performing stunts to get
a reaction from those around him,
especially
his wife, Maddie. But one day his daring stunts cost him his
life. Wayne dies in Maddie's arms with an apology for leaving
her and a promise to send her an angel to make things right.
Maddie is known locally as Baby because of
ill health during her youth. Her petit size doesn't lend credit
toward any inner strength she may possess and the childlike
treatment from those around her stunts any natural growth
that she would have made into womanhood. Since Wayne's death
Maddie has cocooned herself in the bosom of her family. She's
locked up the house she shared with Wayne and moved into her
parent's home where she's allowed to withdraw into herself
and abandon all of her responsibilities. Her mother is the
worst who's coddling causes resentment from Maddie's sister.
It's her young nephew Quigley, who prefers to be called Q,
who keeps her from total withdrawal from life around her.
During her year of grieving Maddie has also
been paying keen attention to conversations where mentions
of strangers in town are made. Maddie still has in her mind
that Wayne is sending her an angel and she's desperately searching
for it. Maddie has grown desperate to find this angel and
when a stranger has come into town to work for her uncle nothing
can stop Maddie from rushing down to meet him. She just knows
that he's the one. The only thing she needs to do is convince
him that he's an angel sent by her dead husband while at the
same time trying to keep him from thinking she's nuts.
Chase was found floating in the sea. Rescued
and brought back to America he's traveling from port to port
to obtain clues to his identity. He doesn't know how long
he floated in the sea, or how he got there, but while there
something happened to rob him of his memory. The watch on
his wrist is engraved to "Chase" and takes the name
on as his own since he can't even remember that much about
himself. When his travels bring him to Sugar Bay Florida he's
given a job to earn some desperately needed money. But nothing
in his wildest dreams could ever prepare him for what would
come next. An angel sent from a dead husband? Absurd!
Meeting Maddie for the first time should have
sent him packing down the road but as he gets to know her
he realizes that she's only a product of her environment.
From being called Baby to the coddling everyone in her life
has given her, including Wayne, she's been allowed to remain
a child. His stark and often blunt comments about her behavior
seem cruel but it's obvious to them both that Maddie is finally
growing up. And with maturity, Chase can't help but fall in
love with her. So strong she becomes that when Chases identity
is finally uncovered she goes with him to help him through
it.
"Back in Baby's Arms" is undoubtedly
the cutest book I've read to date. The characters that Wainscott
has created are believable for all intents and purposes and
quite likeable. Maddie and Chase work well together and emotions
between them run high. The plot of this story didn't leave any
gaps that had me questioning things in the end. Each page is
full of intrigue, action or something interesting that kept
me reading well into the early hours of the morning and searching
for time during the day to rush back to it. It was not hard
to immerse myself into the story and stay there quite happily.
While I've commented that this story is cute I would also comment
that Wainscott's ability to tell this type of story while interweaving
such passion and feeling between Maddie and Chase makes this
story also one of great depth. In an industry that tends to
shy away from amnesia stories, Wainscott tells hers with great
care. Her research into amnesia, as well as boating, shines
through brightly. Needless to say, this story sat well with
me and I would not hesitate to refer others to it that was looking
for such a well written story. High five, Lisa!
