"Detective Marleen Avoni wants no part of another DEA liaison assignment with the Feds. She wants and needs her planned vacation at Sanibel Island, Florida and nothing is going to stop her. Her boss, Captain Frank Marks eventually agrees and she begins her much needed vacation.
She soon arrives on the Island after attending a wedding reception only to find that her former lover, Connor Brenningan and his daughter, Joani are also there. Joani has manipulated the situation in an effort to play matchmaker, as she realizes what the adults do not, that they still love each other and should be together.
Joani isn't the only one attempting to manipulate the situation. Also on the island are DEA agents operating undercover who are very familiar to Maureen. She soon learns that Connor is a subject of surveillance as well as investigation. There is concern within the DEA that Connor while working on a series of articles on the Columbian Drug Cartel may have accepted payment to withhold information and may have had a role in the death of a source valuable to the DEA. Adding to the mystery, a contract on his life is rumored.
As a reporter, Connor has ticked off quite a few people over the years and the DEA investigators don't know who ordered the hit or why or even if it is for real. They don't trust Connor and because of his past relationship with Marleen, want her to be the perfect undercover person and keep an eye on him. Marleen can either help investigate Connor or be removed far away from the action and kept out of the investigation until everything is resolved one way or another. Marleen agrees to help, having no real choice, and the investigation begins. Against a backdrop of occasional violence, the seduction begins as well as Connor and Marleen dance around each other trying to deny the passion that naturally arises between them.
While I do not have a lot of experience reading and reviewing romance novels, this author remains a pleasure to read. As in an earlier novel of this series I read, this work, while primarily a romance read, also encapsulates a strong mystery component, interesting characters, and tight writing. While the romance is a major element, it does not deter or detract from the mystery and in fact, enhances it. These characters come alive for the reader and not a word is wasted in the telling of the tale.
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Kevin R. Tipple, Resident Scholar
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