TEST
When I signed up to review Able-bodied, I thought it was going to feature an injured soldier and a physical therapist. I was right about the soldier, but the physical therapist turned out to be a woman who can literally heal with her touch. (Think faith-healer without the religious overtones.) I’ll admit that my knee-jerk reaction to this “ability” was negative, but then I decided that since I’m willing to suspend my disbelief for psychics and vampires and ghosts, I figured I could do it for touch-healers too. I’m glad that I did, because fighting my disbelief would have prevented me from enjoying what turned out to be a pleasant read from an author I’ll likely try again.
Hannah Hartwell is a New Age holistic health practitioner who has the unique ability to feel and heal a person’s pain with her touch, although she primarily practices Reiki energy healing and uses her “gift” only when she feels it’s necessary. Hannah owned a holistic health practice in Boston, but she had to close up shop and flee after a corrupt police sergeant falsely arrested her on charges of selling sex. The charges were dropped for lack of evidence, but Hannah had already been crucified in the press and she continued to fear Sergeant Sullivan, aka Sully, so she decided to relocate her practice to Cliftondale, North Carolina. Little does she know, however, that when she fled she took along $25,000 in mob money that Sully had hidden in one of the display cases in her store — and he wants it back, along with a little retribution.
Ransom Bennett is Hannah’s new upstairs neighbor, and a member of the covert special forces group Delta Force, which is operating out of the military base near Cliftondale. Ransom is recovering from injuries sustained during an ambush in Afghanistan six weeks ago, the most serious of which is a head injury that left him with debilitating migraines. Ransom desperately wants to be back in action, but knows that if his superiors find out he isn’t “able-bodied,” he’ll be sidelined. His migraines are the worst at night, which is when he tries everything from prescription painkillers to booze to dull the pain.
Ransom and Hannah meet at 2:30 one morning when she comes upstairs to confront him about his late night thumping keeping her awake every night. When she discovers the pain Ransom is in, she uses her healing powers to eliminate his migraine. She then offers him a deal: if he helps her get her shop ready for its grand opening, she will perform daily “Reiki” treatments until he’s fully recovered. Although Ransom doesn’t really believe in the whole Reiki-energy-healing-thing, he does admit that Hannah’s touch took his pain away, so he agrees to her deal.
There is definite chemistry between Ransom and Hannah, and the touch-healing treatments that Hannah performs just up the sexual tension between them. But where it’s usually the heroine holding back and the hero pursuing, in this case it was Hannah pursuing a sexual relationship with Ransom. Ransom is hesitant and concerned about getting involved with Hannah because he doesn’t do relationships – primarily because his job requires a high level of secrecy and long periods of time out of the country. He watched his parents’ marriage implode over this very reason. But when Hannah tells him she’s only interested in no-strings-attached sex, he gives in to their attraction.
As Hannah and Ransom spend some time together, although it’s only over a couple of days, they each begin to realize the other is keeping secrets. Ransom is evasive about his job, stating only that he is a soldier in the Army. Hannah is evasive about where she’s from and why she moved to Cliftondale, and it’s also apparent that she is afraid of something. Of course Hannah doesn’t want anyone in Cliftondale to know about the scandal in Boston because she’s embarrassed and afraid she won’t be able to overcome the stigma associated with the arrest.
I liked both Ransom and Hannah as characters, even if I didn’t feel I got to know either of them terribly well. Ransom is definitely an alpha-male, but he only acts like a jerk in two instances, and in one of those instances it was completely understandable. And even though he’s skeptical of her beliefs, he’s never mean about it. He also gets his army buddies together to get Hannah’s shop ready well before the grand opening, which just made the practical side of me really appreciate him.
I also liked that Hannah didn’t feel stereotyped like so many New Age characters. Yes she believes in cleansing auras and so forth, but it never felt over-the-top. Her beliefs are simply a part of who she is. She is also fairly used to the skepticism and mockery that comes along with her choice of occupation, so instead of reacting in an immature and defensive manner, she uses intelligent and thoughtful responses to make Ransom reconsider his beliefs.
Of course you know that at some point Ransom is going to help Hannah with the Sully situation — it’s a given — but it was nice to read a (mildly) suspenseful climax that didn’t feel melodramatic or clichéd. And, thank God, the author didn’t turn Hannah into one of those dumb heroines who does the opposite of whatever the hero asks during a dangerous situation.
Unfortunately, I did have a few quibbles with the story that detracted from my overall enjoyment and lowered the grade. First, and most important: between all the secrets, evasiveness and the Sully situation — and the fact that the entire book takes place over only a few days — it didn’t feel like Hannah and Ransom truly knew each other well enough to be declaring “I love you” and “I’ll always wait for you” at the end. Second, there is the issue of Ransom’s job and Hannah’s feelings towards it: it’s never really discussed. Ransom has some baggage because of his parents, but it doesn’t feel resolved. And the reader never really learns how Hannah feels about Ransom’s job and the fact that he may be gone for months at a time with no contact. Frankly, it felt like the plot-thread was left hanging here. Lastly: just how old is Ransom? Since his age is never discussed, he could be anywhere from his twenties to his forties. Now, I’ll admit this is a minor quibble, and I don’t have to be told specifically what age a character is, but a general idea is usually nice—especially when the heroine’s age is repeatedly mentioned.
In the end, I feel that this could have been an even better book if the pages devoted to the suspense subplot had instead been devoted to the characters really getting to know each other. Yet despite the problems I had, overall I enjoyed Able-Bodied. The good outweighed the bad, and it turned out to be a pleasurable way to pass the time. Plus, there’s just something undeniably sexy about the touch of a woman healing a man’s pain.
Grade: B-
Book Type: Series Romance
Sensuality: Hot
Review Date: 27/02/09
Publication Date: 2009
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Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.