A woman badly injured in a plane crash, and suffering from amnesia, is mistaken for a society girl; in the aftermath, "her" fiance discovers that the woman he no longer loved has become a different, far more attractive person. I've read variations on this plot a number of times before and had no objection at all to reading another, but I had trouble getting into this story. It's such a high-drama plotline and the writing is so… low-key. There's more tell than show, which creates a dispassionate effect. I felt it needed to be more over-the-top, and that's not just a reflection of my passion for drama: the plot is equal parts horrific and implausible, and writing it as a realistic story made it an uncomfortable read.However -- and I'm contradicting myself here -- I did like Will's reaction to the new Cynthia, which is based on her enthusiastic and appreciative personality more than on her being kind to nuns and orphans, in the usual style. And I did sympathize with Will's dilemma, as he tries to figure out whether he can trust the new Cynthia, after the old one had cheated on him. I guess mainly I liked Will! He's a quiet, kind, thoughtful guy. (I also liked his friend Alex, who's known as a ladykiller but seems goodnatured and expansive. I hope he keeps his original personality in his own book.) But then, the big reveal kind of spoiled Will for me. After no previous suspicions whatsoever, Will immediately concludes his lover is not Cynthia based on something potentially explainable. A missing tattoo. This after having had sex with her several times and never noticing anything different. Would someone generally know that a tattoo removal would leave signs? I didn't. And I didn't buy his reaction afterwards, which seemed thoroughly out of character. It went with the kind of amnesia story this wasn't to begin with. His psychological explanation for his actions did make sense, but it's hard to forgive a generally kind hero for behaving in a truly dastardly manner.The story is set in Manhattan and there's some enjoyable local color. Cynthia (really Adrienne) is a passionate clothes designer and there's a lot of detail about that too.Overall, I think this was quite decent for a debut, even though a lot of it didn't work for me. I'll be looking for Alex's book.
