Say “Ahhh. . . .” is written well, with characters the reader will come to like, but it features a premise this reviewer nearly always finds hard to swallow – amnesia. Whether feigned or real, this is a very difficult premise to pull off. Some readers love amnesia stories – I usually don’t. Not because I doubt the validity of amnesia, but the manner in which it is introduced in a romance is often far-fetched. For instance, in Arnette Lamb’s True Heart, rather than reveal the horrors she has lived through, the heroine feigns amnesia to her betrothed and family – this called for too much suspension of disbelief on my part. In Donna Sterling’s Say “Ahhh. . . .”, the heroine has amnesia but doesn’t reveal it to anyone because she’s afraid that someone unknown to her will find her if she goes to the police. Since her amnesia, she’s been plagued by the fear that someone is out to do her harm. I don’t know about you, but if I feared for my life, the first place I would go would be to the police.

That said, the lead characters in this book are certainly likable. Our heroine has named herself Sarah Flowers, her last name derived from a bouquet in her hospital room after the accident which caused her amnesia. The accident occurred in Denver, although she doesn’t know why she was there. After her recuperation, she moves to a small town in the mountains outside Denver. She is working as the nanny for two sons of a spoiled and vain widow-who-lunches. The widow is working her too hard. After dizzy spells, fatigue, and lack of sleep, she goes to the doctor, expecting a kindly old man. Instead she meets young Dr. Connor Wade.

Connor Wade had grown up in the area, but was an outsider because his parents were hippies who lived on a commune, and didn’t believe in medicine or public schooling. He broke with them, earned a scholarship to Harvard, and has recently returned to his home town, much to the delight of the local ladies. Yes – he’s a hunk, an athletic, sensitive one who finds himself drawn to the mysterious Sarah Flowers even though she’s lied on her information form.

She is drawn to him as well, but begs him to stay away from her. But fate keeps throwing them together and after being fired by the widow, who is jealous of Sarah’s burgeoning relationship with Connor, he takes her back to his house. Sarah finally reveals her secret to him, and things heat up between the two. Next, in what is undoubtedly the strangest come-on line I’ve ever read in a romance, he offers to give her an pelvic exam to see if she’s ever had a baby. While this would give her a clue as to whether she’s married, and the author didn’t mean for it to come across as a come-on line, in fact, that is what it is.

The love scenes between Connor and Sarah are sensual and tender, and it is clear to each that they love the other, although neither will say so out loud. Had they done so, of course, the “should I reveal my true feelings?” dialogue raging within each character that drive the latter part of the story would not have been necessary. In addition to their feelings about the other, Sarah discovers her identity, which may have a profound impact on her relationship with Connor. How the author reveals this in the final few chapters is fairly well done, although Connor and Sarah’s physical reaction at the very end of the story seemed cliched and predictable, albeit romantic.

If you love amnesia stories, this may well work for you. If, on the other hand, you have an aversion to these types of stories, or to characters who seem too good to be true, I suggest you pass this one by.