Down to Earth (2010)

When Michaela decides to do a charity parachute jump, she's scared out of her mind. The only thing that keeps her from backing out is Matt, the handsome man who supervises the jump. She feels an immediate connection with him and even though she's in a committed relationship she is secretly happy when Matt slips her his number. During the jump there is a strange gust of wind that throws Michaela off course. When she lands she finds that it's night time, the airfield is deserted, and there seems to be no one around for miles. What happened to the sunny day and all her friends from work? Michaela just figures she was thrown farther off course than she expected and starts looking for help. After walking for what seems like miles, she finds a small pub and while using the pay phone inside, she notices a flyer for herself on the wall. It says she has been missing for six and a half years! But wasn't it just hours ago that she jumped out of the plane? Not knowing who else to call, she reaches into her jumpsuit and pulls out the phone number for Matt. He picks her up but is unable to believe it is her since six years have passed - six really difficult years for him as he was a suspect in her murder. This starts a series of events - the main one being Michaela trying to find out exactly what happened to her. Her home life is not the same, her friends no longer exist and her mother has gone crazy - literally - while searching for her missing daughter. With the help of Matt and some other friends who believe that she is not lying about what happened, will Michaela finally figure out what happened and where her missing six years went? The story intertwines fantasy elements with real life problems that we all face. It's a highly addicting and compelling story which you won't want to put down until the end. (AS)

Coming Home (2010)

After a sudden snow storm leaves a young woman stranded and unconscious on the side of a deserted road, the only thing she can recall is being picked up by a rescuer who she feels extremely connected to. Upon waking with no memory of herself, her accident or where she is, "Kate" as she comes to call herself, finds she is face-to-face with a little girl named Jadie who wants to know if she is her new mummy. Unbeknownst to Kate, this little girl has not uttered a word in two years, since her sister died and her mother ran off due to the grief. Now Kate has to figure out who she is and how she got to this house in the country, while also trying to figure out the little girl's father, Vincent. Why did she feel so connected to him when he rescued her, yet she hasn't felt anything towards him since she has woke up? To complicate matters more, the housekeeper Tara doesn't approve of Kate's visit and wants Kate to get her memories back so she can get on with her life. Tara's brother Colin, a hypnotherapist, decides to help Kate try to get back her memories. But when Kate starts recalling strange memories that make no sense at all and may not even be her own, she begins to wonder what it is that brought her to this house. She now doesn't think she's here by chance, while Jadie thinks Kate is an angel, sent to help the family in their time of need. While the story shows a lot of promise it fails to answer some key questions for me about Kate's real identity. But otherwise the story flows nicely and is quite suspenseful and interesting. It will make readers wonder what it really means when you experience deja vu and will also encourage the reader to believe in the magic of second chances. (AS)

Life As I Know It (2010)

aka Love Struck/Could It Be Magic?/Being Lauren (first published 2007)

Jessica Taylor has just met her dream man. It's too bad that just as she's getting a chance to know him, she is struck by lightning. Waking up in a hospital room, Jessica vaguely remembers what happened to her but can't understand why there is a strange man saying he is her husband standing near her bed. Soon, Jessica learns that she has woken up as Lauren Richardson, a married mother of four, who was also struck by lightning. In Jessica's real life, her only responsibility is her dog Frankie, which makes things difficult as people swarm around, asking her questions that she can't answer. Assuming at first that the doctors have simply mistaken her for someone else, Jessica later realises something strange is going on when the children are so relieved to see her alive. Deciding to go along with it, since she doesn't want to be admitted to the ward for crazy people, Jessica acts as if she is Lauren even though she knows nothing at all about her. The really odd thing is that whenever she goes to sleep as Lauren, she wakes up as Jessica and goes about her normal life as it was before the fateful lightning strike. As she realises that Lauren has died from her injuries and her own soul has somehow been split into two bodies, Jessica takes on Lauren's life with a newfound strength and passion. But past indiscretions that Lauren had made come back to haunt the family and threaten to tear them all apart. Written so smoothly as Jessica transitions from herself to Lauren and back again, this book is an absolute delight with a lot of heart and soul - and ultimately leads to a tragic ending that no one could have expected. (AS)

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