Title: Out of the Blue
Author: Katherine Deauxville
Genre: Contemporary
Published in Februrary 2002 byDorchester/LoveSpell
IBSN: 0-505-52469-4
To wake up to a strange voice cursing is one thing...To realize that voice is coming from yourself, well that is quite another! Maryellen Caswell didn’t know what she was in for when she awoke this particular morning, and what happens during the next few hours will determine the course of her life. Being an account executive in an advertising agency is stress-filled enough, and although she has known those who have had problems, she has never been one, till now. The only conclusion she can possibly come to is that she’s having a serious nervous breakdown. The only problem she has (besides thinking she’s crazy for now) is how Ur Targon will complicate her life. Things can get worse, but sensing this could be, and knowing and living the reality of worse is not what Maryellen expected. No one can see him but her, and spurred on by her sister’s worry, and the offer of a good therapist, she starts to believe in her mental instability.
She is frustrated, frightened, and upset in the extreme to finally realize her body is being 'occupied' by an incredible golden being, not to mention this being is male. He speaks to her at the most inappropriate times, appears in her chair, and just has to be a part of her delusion. His claim of being in need of a suitable body only adds to her belief that she is in the process of a terrible mental collapse. In a panic she turns to her sister for help. Taking the promised reference is a step she feels she needs to take when the voice will not go away, or leave her alone. When her sister offers to set up an appointment with one of the leading psychiatrists in the city to help her through this "breakdown," Maryellen reluctantly agrees.
Being transferred to Earth to do his job is bad enough, but into the body of a woman...that has to be sabotage! Who would do such a vile thing and why are the questions yet to be answered. In his present state, Ur Targon realizes that something has gone terribly wrong. Finding himself on Styrex Three, the most nowhere one could be is bad enough. He hates this little backwater world with a passion, and had the seniority and the clout to avoid it when he can. But now, when being here is not his idea, nor a part of any plan he is working on presently, he realizes he is in big trouble. Worse is being trapped in an already occupied body, and having control only when he is allowed can’t help him get his mission accomplished, or his work done. But having that body be a female is absolutely the worst thing he has ever experienced.
First priority: Find a suitable body, this sharing is not going to work if he is to survive and find the culprits who perpetrated this mess. He is, after all, a member of the most elite police force, tracking and destroying those who threaten the peace of the galactic governments and their treasonous and subversive plots. It is not a job that cultivates friends, and he knows that he has many enemies. He feels that his enemy may be close, wanting to be around to see and laugh at his handiwork and the predicament Ur Targon finds himself in, but that is pushed aside for the moment. First things first, and the clock is ticking. His situation is more desperate than he can let on to his human host. Being a practical person, he determines to work his way out of this mess -- until he realizes that the woman whose body he is forced to inhabit could be the woman of his dreams.
In Out of the Blue, Katherine Deauxville brings us to the humerous side of love in the trenches as he helps and guides her lovers through the ups and downs of their problem. As for her heroine, if her life isn't complicated enough, the taxi Maryellen is riding in is involved in an accident with a police car, and the driver blames Maryellen's argument with an invisible friend. Of course the report ends up in FBI offices as an "odd or unusual occurrence" possibly involving illegal aliens. These reports duly filed, all of which are to be reported and if necessary, to be followed up, catches the eye of a certain agent, adding yet another dimension to the couple’s problems. All this starts an adventure from the very strange psychiatrist and his nutty "therapy group" to the swank heights of luxury; from an up and coming FBI agent, Wolf Madder, and Candy Ruggerio, the woman who loves him, to their ultimate destinies. The trail leads Maryellen and Ur Targon through unexpected twists and turns, into danger and close escapes, capture and rescue. They also find unexpected friends and allies in Wolf and Candy, and unexpected relationships too.
It is a funny, insightful book in which the humor does not detract from the plotline. It serves to point out the vagaries of our existence and yet also the joys. The trials and tribulations are often reflected on with humor, and Out of the Blue does an exemplary job of pointing them out. The plot twists and turns with some unexpected surprises, and a sense of humor that is both dry and wry at times also provides an outright chuckle. The humor does not spoil the romance, the effect of the book, nor does it take away from the actions of those involved. It adds appeal to the characters, and a sense of realism. It lends a creditability of character, firmly squashing the notion this is just another of those tepid “outer space” books, and pointing out the human foibles and charm that many in this day and age overlook. I found it a very entertaining read. It ranks high on the list, as once again with Out of the Blue, Katherine Deauxville takes us to unexpected places in unexpected ways.
Yours in good reading,
Rose!
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