Dr. Jake Dalton is part of the ranching family of the Cold Creek Daltons. He and his two brothers, Wade and Seth, survived their childhood with their tough and dishonest father, Hank. They have all built lives they can be proud of and none more than Jake, who is now the dedicated and hardworking sole physician in Pine Gulch. Despite all these accomplishments, Jake is a lonely man who spends his days working long hours and takes little time for himself.Maggie Cruz is home. After a tour of duty in Afghanistan that ended in the loss of a limb, numerous surgeries and five months of rehabilitation at the Walter Reed Army Hospital, Maggie is ready for some tender loving care. Rancho de la Luna and her mother Viviana can provide that for her, and frankly she doesn't feel she has too many options at the moment. With her nursing career at an end and her self-confidence in tatters, is there a better place to hide than home? Maggie is not taking Jake into consideration.There is a history between Maggie and Jake. They grew up together and although both their fathers are dead, what happened between them still affects Maggie's view of Jake and his family. Her contempt for all things Dalton is evident from their first meeting early in the book and Jake seems to be her focus. Jake on the other hand can't stay away from Maggie -- he always had feelings for her and now she's back, in obvious pain and needs him. He's not about to stay away.Dancing in the Moonlight has that 'secret crush' trope that I love to read in this type of romance. Thayne does an excellent job of bringing these two characters together and developing their relationship. The fact that they've known each other their whole lives helps with the development and gives them the background history needed to make the romance a believable one.Maggie's struggle through her physical and emotional trauma was both believable and touching. Her cluelessness when it came to Jake's feelings was also understandable under the circumstances. She was carrying a lot of baggage and we share Maggie's growth by seeing her go through different phases: pain, insecurity, stubbornness, pride and self-awareness. Jake's persistence, patience and understanding were just what Maggie needed. He was a wonderful hero, if a tad too perfect at times. Neither an alpha nor a beta, Jake certainly knew what to say and when to say it. I liked him and wanted him to get his woman.There is a sense of community in the book as secondary characters are kept in the periphery, with Maggy's mother, Viviana, and her uncle, Guillermo, highlighted within the story. The focus is kept squarely on the couple as is customary in these romances.It has been a long time since I read a Silhouette I wanted to recommend -- Dancing in The Moonlight is that book. Needless to say I enjoyed it and will not only check Thayne's back list, but I'm also looking forward to her new release.Dancing in the Moonlight is part of Raeanne Thayne's Silhouette Special Edition Cowboys, Cold Creek series. This is Book #2 in the original trilogy featuring the Dalton brothers: Light The Stars (Book #1) and Dalton's Undoing (Book #3).
I've never read a book quite like this one before and I was very touched by the pain, love, and growth that both Jake Dalton and Magdalena "Maggie" Cruz went through. For 5 months First Lieutenant Maggie Cruz has been in the best Army hospital under going rehabilitation for her prosthetic leg she lost during an explosion. Now she's attempting to surprise her mom by coming home, but her plan was side swept when her tire blew out. Which is where Jake Dalton comes into the picture. On the way home from a long day at the office, being the only doctor in the area is a busy job!, he finds her car pulled over. He doesn't at first recognize the woman in need as Maggie, once he does he's knows in for a fight in order to help her. True to his thoughts, she fights tooth and nail before finally allowing him to change her tire. Back on her way, he follows her home. There, her mother breaks into tears at seeing her only child back home. Making it to her room upstairs, she calls it a night, but is plagued with continuous nightmares. It seems from that first bit of help onward, Jacob is always near, wanting to ease her pain and tries to caution her to take it easy. Her anger at his father and thus the Dalton family, for what she believes caused the death of her father keeps her from graciously accepting his help. Despite her attempts to force him away, Jake stays and keeps an eye of her. Something he realizes he's been doing for many years. It hits Jake before it does her that he's always had feelings for the one person who's always hated him. Yet, acts of kindness in the past gives him strength for hope. With the help and support of her mother and his, they throw her a welcome home party where the whole town show their support for her. Yet, she's constantly struggling for the life she's lost and the one she's been given. The pain of her restrictions and the lost of dear friends and the ugliness from the guy she was to marry before the accident keep her walls tight around her. But the feelings for Jake are real for her and the struggle to believe he loves her as she is, is another step she must accept. Until then, they have nothing. Luckily, this Lieutenant is brave and takes one last risk on Jake and watches as he catches her and all her fears vanish. Now, they look into the future together.
What do You think about Dancing In The Moonlight (2006)?
If you are into romance, or you just need a break from heavy reading, this book is for you. After all, how many silly little books are set with a view of the Tetons, especially from the back side. (Note, I live in view of the Tetons.)The male romantic interest, Dr. Dalton, is a sole practitioner in a small town about 45 minutes from IF, where he seems to spend a fair amount of time delivering babies and checking up on patients. He is the son of a major cattle rancher in this small town of about 2000. He has a heart of gold, which apparently was stolen at a young age by the female romantic interest, Maggie, who is a vet newly released from the hospital where she has been recovering from a leg amputation due to injuries in Afghanistan. She is driving home to escape her life after being rejected by her fiancé due to her injuries. She has a huge chip on her shoulder because of this and because of her injury in general. Besides that, she is in constant pain because she has been overdoing it on her new leg. She can’t be all bad, though, because she drives s Subaru. In addition, Maggie has a very deep antipathy toward Dalton and all of his family, because she believes that the patriarch of the family cheated her father out of vast sums of money, and that this lead to her father’s death. The elder Dalton is also long gone. So these two meet up on a dark, empty road on the way to their homes. Dalton is driving home to catch a few hours before returning to IF to check on a patient. Maggie is returning home in defeat. She doesn’t know she is a hero in her hometown. Her car has broken down. Dalton, a good neighbor, stops to help, and gives Maggie that help over her objections. Somehow this type of unwanted help continues over and over, while Dalton falls deeper in love, and while Maggie begins to realize that she may have feelings: Feelings she know she can’t act on because no man would want a woman with a stump instead of a leg, and because she hates everything Dalton. The end to this story is predictable. We don’t read these books because of the end, but rather, because of the journey. This one is pretty nice.
—Victoria Hess
This is a gut wrenching story. Army Lieutenant who looses part of her leg to a bomb in Afghanistan. Had her fiancee look at her with such pity and revulsion at Walter Reed hospital when he comes to see her the relationship is called quits. This story shows the strength one needs to get past the fears the war and the disabilities one might have to face but still have the courage to find love and happiness and most of all contentment and want to finish living there life to the fullest.Very good read.
—Janet
"You're in my blood, my skin, my bones. I go to bed wanting you, I wake up wanting you, I spend most of the damn day wanting you. But I'm not going to beg."He glazed at her for several moments more, then he sighed. "Aw hell. Yes, I am." (Sigh)I had downloaded RaeAnne Thayne's "Dancing in the moonlight" last January (almost to the day I finally read it!) from the Harlequin eBook store. I was trying out the site for the first time and it was free. But for whatever reason, I never got around to reading it. And thus it sat, neglected. Recently, (I'm digressing, but this will make sense in a second. Just bear with me.) I decided to give audiobooks another try (having tried a couple a few years back but just as quickly lost interest). I'm knitting my first afghan (1 strip down, 2 more to go!) and thought it would be a good time to retry audio (via my library). I'm currently on my third title ("The hero's guide to saving your kingdom" by Christopher Healy), but when I went to reopen the file, I accidentally clicked on "Dancing in the moonlight" instead. Almost from the first sentence I was hooked.I am very much a character-orientated reader (and writer). A book has to have a decent plot and good writing (or it gets thrown across the room), but characterization is essential. If I don't care for your characters, I'm not going to bother reading your book.I fell in love with Maggie and Jake - especially Maggie. She's trying so hard to readjust, but is stubbornly refusing any and all assistance (and emotional entanglements). But, while her character could have become stubborn to the point of annoying (or stupid), Thayne kept her human. I was afraid (as I paused at chapter 13 to run errands), that there was going to be the ubiquitous last misunderstanding scene (which I generally dislike). There wasn't, to my relief, and the ending tied everything up nicely ((view spoiler)[since it's a romance, it was fairly obvious where the author was going with Viviana and Guillermo early on (hide spoiler)]
—Gwnhwyfer
