Canadian author Sabine Keevil (Guitars & Cadillacs) has done it again -- she revisits the world of SoundMaster with originality, humour and a large share of romantic spirit. In Long Way Home, the latest installment in the SoundMaster Series, she tells the story of Victoria Masters and Calder Duncan McKnight, two people who are trying to escape the unhappiness and restriction of their respective lives. After a chance meeting in a Nashville park, they embark on a journey together that leads them through triumph, heartbreak and indecision to true love.

It's a fairy tale with a happy ending (don't worry -- I won't tell you what it is), but it is not without its twists and turns along the way. Victoria is heiress to Masters International, which owns SoundMaster; Calder is the Dark Knight, the enigmatic lead singer of Knight Rider, SoundMaster's most successful and most troublesome rock band. Sent to Nashville by her overbearing father to end SoundMaster's relationship with Knight Rider, Victoria quickly realizes that she needs to find a new direction in her life. Her first step is to take some time off and sit on a park bench enjoying it -- and she finds herself quickly falling for a handsome stranger who sits beside her. Neither of them wants to reveal who they really are, so Vicky Masterson and Cal Duncan are born. Taking jobs at a small music store, they set about creating new lives for themselves -- until the past catches up with them and threatens everything.

One of Keevil's strengths as a writer is her ability to create realistic characters, even in the midst of a story about the world of big money show business. She is unpretentious and honest and her characters are likeable from the beginning. As I was reading Long Way Home, which only took me two nights, I found I could easily identify with what the characters were going through -- and I must admit to some quiet cheering when the story reached its climax. Even in two nights, the characters became beloved -- a sure sign of a good story.

I can't wait to read This Time, the next installment in the SoundMaster Series, due out soon.

- Rambles
written by Rachel Jagt
published 29 March 2003