When I’m in the mood for a sizzling romance supplemented with nail-biting suspense, I know I can count on K.A. Tucker to deliver in spades. Her novels are edgy without being over the top; her heroes are swoon-worthy with just enough bad boy in them to keep things interesting and her heroines are spunky, loyal, and self-reliant. So I wondered what would result when Ms. Tucker decided to write something sweet, without even the smallest hint of mystery. To be honest, I wasn’t sure I’d be a fan, but I’m pleased to report that while Until It Fades is unlike anything else the author has written, I enjoyed it just as much as her darker works.

Twenty-four-year-old Catherine Wright has had her fill of fame. Well, in her case, it might be infamy, but, call it what you will, she’s through with it. When she was a senior in high school, she was sure she and her art teacher were destined to spend the rest of their lives together. He would risk everything to be with her, and while friends and family might initially have their doubts, everyone would soon see they were the perfect couple. Of course, things didn’t go the way Catherine thought they would, and she soon finds herself something of a social pariah. She moves out of her parents’ home, drops out of high school, and does her best to avoid everyone she knows.

Seven years later, Catherine is no longer the source of town gossip, but she still keeps a pretty low profile. She works as a waitress in a truck stop in order to pay the rent and care for her five-year-old daughter Brenna. Her relationship with her family, while still strained, is no longer hostile and for the most part, Catherine is content with her life. Sure, she’d like to fall in love with a kind, handsome, dependable man, but she’s not sure she really believes in love these days.

Late one evening, as Catherine is heading home after a pretty terrible blind date, she witnesses a car accident. The driver is clearly dead, but she manages to pull the passenger from the wreck. I didn’t quite buy into Catherine’s act of superhuman strength, but decided just to go with it, and I’m glad I did.

After the police arrive, Catherine realizes the man she managed to save is none other than Brett Madden, a super famous hockey player and one of the stars of his team. Frantic to shield herself and her daughter from the media, Catherine orders the police to keep her identity a secret. As you might imagine, this serves only to whip countless reporters into a frenzy as they attempt to uncover the identity of hockey star’s mystery savior.

A week later, the media attention has not died down and Catherine knows she can’t spend the rest of her life hiding in her apartment. She needs to get back to work, and Brenna needs to go back to school. She finally agrees to meet Brett, hoping the meeting will be quick and relatively painless, but one thing leads to another, and it soon becomes obvious that Catherine and Brett are attracted to one another. Clearly, Catherine isn’t going to be able to sweep all of this under the rug and go on with her ordinary life.

Catherine and Brett have a wonderfully slow-building relationship, an unlike in many contemporary romances written today, they don’t fall into bed shortly after meeting. Instead, they become friends first, and slowly realize they want more. Brett is pretty much the perfect hero; rich but responsible, handsome but not overly conceited, and his devotion to Catherine and Brenna made me smile. Some readers might be bothered by his tendency to swoop in to set Catherine’s life to rights, but I found those inclinations quite charming. He isn’t incredibly high-handed which helps a lot.

At first, I was ready to dislike the supporting characters because of how Catherine was sure they’d treat her, but, as I read, it became clear that our heroine had more love and support than she thought she did and I ended up adoring them. She had quite a few people on her side, and Ms. Tucker does a great job bringing Catherine’s supporters to life. I enjoyed watching Catherine come to the realization that people were ready and willing to look past the mistakes of her teenaged years.

Until It Fades is sure to appeal to lovers of modern-day fairy-tales. It’s not overly realistic, but that’s part of its charm. It allows the reader to be transported to a world where anything is possible, where an extraordinary man and an ordinary woman can find true love in each other’s arms and doesn’t delve too deeply into the things that might keep them apart. We know those things exist, but Ms. Tucker doesn’t shove them in our faces. Instead, she creates a couple almost any romance reader can root for, even if most of us know the story isn’t something that is likely to happen in real life.

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