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Product Description
Judith Michael's trademark storytelling verve combined with fascinating settings and characters who live on the page have won this husband-and-wife team an audience of millions. Their tenth novel, A Certain Smile, is a bittersweet story of a perfect but impossible love, set against the teeming, complex energy and hidden dangers of contemporary China.
Miranda Graham, a clothing designer and the widowed mother of two teenagers, travels to China to work with the factories that will produce her designs. Sheltered, uncertain of herself, Miranda has always stayed close to her parents and her home. At first overwhelmed by the chaotic foreignness of China, she soon discovers what she never expected or would have believed possible: a passionate, all-consuming love. Yuan Li, son of a Chinese mother and an American soldier, had his family turned upside down by the Cultural Revolution. Now, in the new China, he owns a large and successful construction company. What begins as a friendship based on curiosity and attraction soon blooms into a love affair passionate enough to topple the cultural wall that divides them. They spend every available moment together, until the realities of China--an intrusive government, corrupt businessmen, and Li's wildly ambitious son--test their love in the complex crucible of politics, nationality, and family loyalties.
Judith Michael has written an expansive, unforgettable story that explores two hearts shrouded by their own history suddenly blossoming. And they show us how true love can change a person forever, opening the way to passion, fulfillment, hope--and a certain smile.
Amazon.com Review
Though Miranda Graham is a savvy, successful fashion designer, she's never set foot outside the U.S. As a widow and a mom, she has cleaved to the familiarity of her Boulder, Colorado, home. So when business sends her to China, Miranda reels from profound culture shock. Luckily, kind Yuan Li takes the frightened visitor under his wing and offers to be her tour guide.
As Miranda adapts to chopsticks and crowded streets, she finds Li has appealing qualities beyond his perfect English and natural hospitality. A Renaissance man as well as a businessman, Li opens Miranda's heart to the countless treasures of China. With newfound courage, Miranda finds herself falling into deep, passionate love with this man whom she hardly knows. The looming deadline for her return and the threatening disapproval of a fading communist state force these lovers to make the most of their glorious time together. Bestselling author Judith Michael has situated this familiar midlife coming of age tale in a truly unique location. Colorful descriptions of Chinese culture and atmosphere will certainly infect some readers with the travel bug. But while Miranda's character is well-developed and likable, Li's borders on stereotypical, and at times the threats to their relationship seem artificial. However, in the context of a "perfect love, imperfect world" story, these faults are entirely forgivable, and the overall story line is very entertaining.--Nancy R.E. O'Brien
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