Ever wanted to travel abroad? Maybe to a country that is totally different from your own? Perhaps even immerse yourself into that culture for a few brief hours. Kei Swanson gives you that chance with her new contemporary romance, A Drummer's Beat to Mend. This exotic romance focuses on the lead male character, Tetsuro Takamitsu and his drum tour through the United States.

Tetsuro was excited about touring the States, even though he knew he would miss Japan. The opportunity for his Japanese drumming troupe to tour stateside would allow him to help Americans understand the community of drum troupes better. Being a perfectionist, he decided to unload and check his own drums, unaware that sultry Kifume was just waiting for such a moment. He unlashed a heavy crate just as Kifume declared she was pregnant. Caught off balance, the crate trapped his hand against the wall. Mind numbing pain assaulted him as he was lifted into the ambulance. His one thought was he had to stay awake to talk to the doctor.

Doctor McKenna Stafford was bored with her life. She was tired of pretending she wasn't envious of her happily married friends, or better yet, the pregnant ones. The relationship with Robert, a fellow doctor, wasn't going anywhere and she was unsure if she wanted it to go anywhere. All her ramblings ended with an emergency page to the hospital. A man with a crushed hand had been brought in and needed her orthopedic surgeon expertise. A look in his dark brown eyes layered with pain, made McKenna realize that Robert would never do.

In A Drummer's Beat to Mend, we are brought into the world of Japanese music, culture, and language. Ms. Swanson liberally sprinkles the book with Japanese words and phrases. The heroine, McKenna, is a strong, successful woman who knows her own mind. The hero is a cosmopolitan musician who is as familiar with ancient Japanese rituals as he is with American baseball. What a combination. Throw in a clinging groupie who claims pregnancy, a standup doctor boyfriend, and the possibility that Tetsuro might not drum again and you have major conflict.

This interesting ride into the world of Far East manners and sensibilities is complicated by mechanical errors and stilted language. However, the language may have been used on purpose to indicate poor English skills. Often the lavish use of Japanese words is not always explained, which leaves me, a non-Japanese speaker, slightly adrift to the details of the story. Overall: a good story, a novel storyline, and definitely worth the time it will take to devour.

Reviewed by Morgan Wyatt
© January 2004