cover image Till the End of Time

Till the End of Time

Judith Gould. Dutton Books, $22.95 (288pp) ISBN 978-0-525-93929-0

The heroine of Gould's (Second Love) bittersweet ninth novel flees Manhattan's ex-wives' clubs to lick the wounds of divorce in pastoral simplicity. For Leonie Corinth, a brassy, independent type who ""attracts attention whether she asks for it or not,"" the peace and quiet of the Hudson River Valley seems ideal. Her man-bashing interior monologue stops on a dime, however, when she meets Sam Nicholson, the architect she's hired to help redesign her house. The obstacle to their love--that Peter's married to a wheelchair-bound heiress whose accident he helped to cause--leaves an unexpected Sam wracked with guilt. He is nonetheless unable to resist Leonie. But will the wife's slow revenge make life intolerable for the lovers? The virtues of this novel--at heart a formulaic romance--are its lively pace, its nimble plot turns and its ability to tug, oh, so gently, at the heartstrings. (Dec.)