The Lure of Love.
When beautiful Jennifer Rogers set off for a well earned
European vacation, she arrived in Paris to find her brother Jeremy in the
hospital and desperately in need of her help. So Jenny bid a temporary good-bye
to sightseeing and flew to Madeira to explain Jeremy's predicament to his boss,
Dr. Reed Whitney. It should have been a simple errand, taking up no more than a
day of her vacation. But Jenny hadn't bargained on a man like Reed. Handsome,
stubborn Reed insisted that if Jeremy couldn't assist him, Jenny would have to
take her brother's place.
So what could Jenny do? She had to help Jeremy, and,
besides, Reed could be quite charming and persuasive. But when Jenny boarded
the plane to join Reed on his expedition to Malta and Egypt, she didn't realize
she was embarking on a rendezvous with unexpected terror and breathless
romance.
Oldie but goodie. I read all of Glenna Finley's books many
years ago, and when I found this one, I was excited to revisit the past. Though
the story is dated, I thought it held up pretty well considering the time it
was written in. The suspense is pretty mild when compared to current offerings
but still held my interest.
Jennifer was on vacation when she stopped in Paris to
visit her twin brother. He was in the hospital recovering from appendicitis and
worried about a job he was supposed to begin. He talked Jennifer into
personally delivering his apology to Dr. Whitney, so she flew off to Madeira to
deliver the news. She did not expect to be shanghaied into taking her brother's
place.
The first meeting between Jennifer and Reed did not go
well. Determined to cram as much sightseeing as possible into her day, Jennifer
seriously underestimated the effects of travel on her body and decision-making
skills. This is why she reacted so strongly to what she took as romantic
overtures by a fellow tourist at one of the sites she visited. In spite of her
somewhat rude attitude, the gentleman in question came to her assistance when
she didn't have local currency. Imagine her dismay when she discovered her rescuer
was her brother's boss. Reed did not win any points with his hard-nosed
attitude about Jeremy's absence, or his comments about what he saw as
Jennifer's shortcomings. His attitude grated on Jennifer's nerves, causing her
to allow her pride to goad her into pushing her physical limitations. The day
was capped off by Reed insisting that Jennifer take her brother's place.
The development of the relationship between Jennifer and
Reed was quite a rollercoaster. There was no doubt about the sparks that flew
between them, but pride threw a few obstacles in their way. Reed had a habit of
making comments that irritated Jennifer, and she reacted by doing something
that would annoy him. It didn't help that a fellow member of their group made
comments about Reed's reputation that had Jennifer pushing him away. On the
other hand, there were times when they got along very well. The picnic scene on
Malta was pretty sweet and showed a different side to Reed. He also proved to
be very protective and caring when Jennifer was injured during their picnic. That
protectiveness intensified as they spent more time together. There were also a
couple of incidents of blatant jealousy on Reed's part that seemed to go right
over Jennifer's head. I ached a little for Jennifer as she realized she was
falling for Reed, but believed that there was no future in it. I loved the
ending as Reed arrived just in time to save Jennifer. I loved the bit where he
admitted his "feeble excuses for needing a secretary" had been a ploy
to keep her with him. Her response was equally enlightening. Reed's wedding
present to Jennifer made me laugh.
The suspense of the story was pretty mild. It began when
Jennifer arrived in Malta and unknowingly witnessed something she shouldn't
have. There are hints of potential trouble as Jennifer listened to her cab
driver's political views. The tension increased as Jennifer suffered an
accident that may not have been an accident at all, and she and Reed discover
that their cab driver was brutally attacked. Their trip to Egypt raised my
suspicions about a member of their group as Jennifer ended up in danger once
again. I liked the exchange of ideas between her and Reed regarding what they
suspected. It seemed a bit naïve that they thought it was safe for Jennifer to
go off sightseeing on her own, which made her vulnerable. The final
confrontation was fairly intense. Jennifer did an excellent job of keeping her
head and helped in her own rescue.
No comments:
Post a Comment