Midway Between You and Me

by Rogenna Brewer

"This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A."-T.p. verso.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0373710704
• ISBN13: 9780373710706
• Release Date: July 2002
• Publisher: Harlequin
• Length: 296 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.2" x 6.6"

Customer Reviews

Passionate, emotional! Loved it!

This was the first romance novel i ever read and it just drew me into the genre! It reminded me of that east meets west, Miss Saigon, theme but with a happy ending. Good storyline. And i just love the military guys! Always respectful, honest, hardworking, generous, loyal, protective, all-around good guys. This was a love story worth reading about! Also, read the other Rogenna Brewer books. Her first two books are part of Bowie Prince's family. They are just as passionate and thrilling as this one.

Wonderful Characters, Beautifully Written Story

Professor Tam Nguyen, daughter of a North Vietnamese local and a Navy SEAL, is the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Game Warden on Midway where she meets SEABEE lieutenant Bowie Prince. There's instant attraction, but Tam will not let herself become involved with a serviceman as did her mother. Bowie, however, is as taken with Tam and is determined to get to know her better. When he ships out, she assumes she's seen the last of the man who has the power to capture her heart. Not so! The two meet in Hawaii, and information Tam got from Bowie starts her on a quest to discover who her father was and perhaps put an end to a 30-year search by her mother who cannot forget the "husband" who fathered her daughter.This story involves flashbacks to 1972 Vietnam, skillfully done; changes of venue that allow the reader to learn more about the conversion of the Midway Islands to a peacetime sanctuary, and the horror of human bondage in the opium smuggling trade, all told without losing the romance. But most of all it's a love story, beautifully told; a story that satisfies on a deep level. And yes, Tam finds her father! Don't miss this latest Men in Uniform offering from the talented Rogenna Brewer.

Hurray!!!! Finally an Asian Heroine

This has to be one of the best finds of the year. The story is fresh and her use of flashbacks was deftly done, adding much to the story. The plot has an on-the-edge-of-your-seat sense of suspense but she doesn't plant any red herrings and certainly offers up a chance for the reader to figure it out but even when they do the story only gets better. Her hero rivals any of those found in a Suzanne Brockman book, but he has his own sense of honor and dedication. That he isn't a SEAL but a SEABEE makes him all the more loveable to the reader and those who have read her first one will enjoy revisting some friends. That Ms Brewer chose to set almost the entire book outside the US added much to the appeal. Nor did she sell out to the current trend in military terroism stories. The Vietnam element was an especially fresh touch and one I would like to see more of in military romances. She incorporates a number of well planned twists and turns which drive the reader on. Though the ending is quite predictable, it is after all romance, she provides the reader with a romantic story to the very last page.The only draw back, mind you not something the author had anything to do with, is the cover. The cover art was so far off base it was a joke ... the hero has both enlisted ranking (chevrons on the shoulders) and LT bars on his shirt. OPPS!!!! Harlequin and Silhouette have had growing trouble getting some of their military covers right: no enlisted men in the Navy don't wear khaki (except Chiefs, though this man is clearly a second class petty officer) nor do officers wear khaki socks. It is frustrating to see an author create such an unique story only to have a publisher take so little care with its presentation. Not very professional nor does it support their cry it is the cost of cover art that is driving up the cover prices. Seems they surely aren't getting their money's worth. Here's hoping Ms Brewer's next book is able to break out of the catagory realm into single title where her talent for creating uniquely compelling books with characters/plots deserving of professional presentation. But that criticism aside, the story is bound to find its way to many a keeper shelf, I know for me it is right there along side Ms Brewer's SEAL IT WITH A KISS and SIGN, SEAL, DELIVER. Ms Brewer is a rising star to watch in this growing field of military romances. Few do it better!!!

Fascinating and interesting contemporary romance

Amerasian Professor Tam Nguyen is the US Fish and Wildlife Game Warden on the Pacific's Midway Islands. She meets Navy Lieutenant Bowie Prince when he and his unit step down on the islands after a highly classified yet successful incident in Laos. Though he is grungy looking she is attracted to him, but Tam declines to breakfast with him. Bowie attends his debriefing before continuing on to Hawaii.Tam's mom still loves the American SEAL she met in her native Viet Nam in 1972. Though she has a picture of her American dad, Tam never met him and assumes he chose not to come back or he died. Because of something Bowie said about insignia, Tam takes out the picture, but notices that one of the other men looks like Bowie. His obvious relative can identify her father, but does she want too learn the truth that she believes will hurt her mother? Then there is Bowie who she finds too handsome, but Tam refuses to become involved with a sailor like her mom did.MIDWAY BETWEEN YOU AND ME is an interesting contemporary romance that provides an engaging look at the Amerasian population plus those Vietnamese who left for the United States in the late 1980s as part of the Orderly Departure Program. The flashbacks to 1972 provide powerful understanding into the complexity of a relationship between an American military and a local while the prime plot focuses on Tam and Bowie. Both themes converge into a strong "in uniform" novel that entertains yet furnishes the audience with an insightful tale.Harriet Klausner

Sensitive issues beautifully handled -- Very highly recommen

Somewhere between sunset and sunrise, a young soldier gives his heart to a very young Vietnamese woman. Events beyond their control tear them apart, but not before she becomes pregnant. The soldier gives her a picture, a vital piece of paper with his name, rank, and social security number, and his heart. Her memory will haunt him for the next thirty years. The daughter of that union, Professor Tam Nguyen worries her mother will only find heart breaking answers in her search for her "husband." Tam has her own misgivings about finding the man who fathered her, but she needs answers that can provide necessary closure. Then the passage of another soldier through the Midway Islands, where she works for the Department of Fish and Wildlife, suggests answers to the past. Unfortunately, Tam has long since lost her taste for a man in uniform, and the man who unknowingly holds the key to the past boldly sports a Navy SEALS uniform. Nevertheless, Lieutenant Bowie Prince is determined that she gets to know the man behind the uniform. So when the reclamation project allows him to be stationed at Midway, Bowie makes plans to alter her opinion of men in uniform.Author Rogenna Brewer seamlessly blends fact and fiction in this marvelous compilation of cultures, history, the past and present in MIDWAY BETWEEN YOU AND ME. As a student of Vietnam War literature in college, I've read a wide variety of literature dealing with the after effects of the War, and was both surprised and pleased to encounter these powerful themes in series romance. Brewer's first hand knowledge of the Midway Islands brings the beauty and potential for danger vividly alive in this exotic backdrop. Likewise, Brewer's knowledge of culture and the struggles of a woman torn between those cultures lend her heroine both vulnerability and strength in equal measures. Further, Bowie's internal conflict as he struggles between loyalties to a man his father served with and the needs of a woman he is growing to love prove to be a powerfully effective motivation. As Brewer recognizes, the answers to the heart lie somewhere "MIDWAY BETWEEN YOU AND ME."