Coming Together: A novel of love and intrique in Rio

Joyce Norman and Joy Collins
Chalet Publishers (2009)
ISBN 9780984083626
Reviewed by Beverly Pechin for Reader Views (11/09)

 

What could be more alluring than the call of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil after coming off a divorce and what seems like enough of the bad side of life to last you forever? Feeling a chance to escape and get a little work done, documentary film maker Daisy Gardner sees the offer to go to Rio for “work” as a sign from above that it’s time to get away.  Asked to do a “Part II Series” to an original documentary called “Coming Together,” the man who hires her wants to share his passion for the country he has fallen so in love with; Daisy is quick to share his intense caring about every aspect of this beautiful place.

What she thinks is a simple job ahead ends up becoming a lot more than “just work” when she meets her, somewhat pompous cameraman Luis. Feeling he’s completely unapproachable and a bit on the arrogant side, she still can’t seem to control the attraction she has to him. Luis feels much like Daisy does, that she’s not exactly the “approachable” type, yet the attraction is not only there but suddenly intense enough it cannot be ignored.  Add to the story a touch of instant love when she meets Clay, a slum-born infant whose path in life is anything but bright, and you have a storyline that encompasses passion, desire and even a little intrigue.

When Daisy takes the job in Rio, the last thing she’s expecting or even looking for is a man to complicate her life but it doesn’t take long before she finds Luis has the same attraction she has and the two become engulfed in an intriguing situation that involves the Brazilian orphanages, of which she has found and fallen in love with the children in their care. As she becomes a part of a their plight, she takes her mission to Washington, D.C. to bring help to these hopeless children left to a life of dismay with little room for dreams. Her caring, though, is quickly met with resistance as suddenly orphanages are being raided by Federal Brazilian police and she has no idea why.

“Coming Together” by Joyce Norman and Joy Collins is a wonderful web of romance, intrigue, child-like innocence and motherly adoration create a story bound to hold your attention and your heart. As your find yourself engrossed in the various storylines throughout the main story itself you too will find a “vacation in Rio,” even if through the talented writing of these two authors, is just what you've been needing for your own “escape” in life!

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