Book 56: Reckless

NUMBER: 56
TITLE: Reckless
AUTHOR: Shannon Drake
STARTED: July 11, 2006
FINISHED: July 13, 2006
PAGES: 379
GENRE: Romance

FIRST SENTENCE: "Dear Lord!"

SUMMARY: [From barnesandnoble.com] When Kat Adair plunges into the waves to rescue a drowning man, it is just the beginning of an odyssey that will sweep the fisherman's daughter on an adventure of danger and desire. Convinced she is in love with the man she saved, Egyptologist David Turnberry, she plots a bout of "amnesia" that enables her to linger among the highborn, hoping to win David's heart away from his betrothed! The only problem is Hunter MacDonald, rugged archaeologist, bold adventurer, a man who is wise to her little charade -- and determined to protect his best friend.

Undaunted, Kat stows away on the ship carrying David and Hunter's expedition party to the land of the Pharaoh. Scandal ensues, and Hunter vows the only way to protect his friend and keep this confounding woman out of trouble is to make her his wife. Inevitably, in the sultry heat of the desert, passions ignite. But as the secrets of the ancient tombs are revealed, terrible danger unfolds. Is it a legendary curse, or pure human evil? Plunged into terror, Kat must trust the one man willing to risk everything to save her from doom.

REASON FOR READING: I've enjoyed her previous novels. I think it's the egyptian flair.

THOUGHTS: This was not Drake's best work. The romance felt rushed, but I'm glad she made the leads seem as if they would not get together at the very beginning. At first, I was questioning who Kat would end up with. It's nice to have a romance novel throw me for a loop once in a while.

Aside from that, the chemisty and plot were both iffy. Once again, a romance novel author has succombed to the trend of too many characters and too many plot threads in too few pages. I just wish an author would defy the publishing house and write a book that was actually longer than 350 pages. I know their supposed to follow a formal, but that just kills great books from the start.

I will, however, applaud the way Drake marries her characters off and the ensuing consummation scene. I found them quite well done.

MISCELLANEOUS: This is how a cover should look.

KEEP/SHARE/CRINGE(?):Beth gets to read it, and then I'm PBSing it.
RATING: 5/10 [I didn't particularly like it or dislike it; mixed review]

CR: My Freshman Year byRebekah Nathan
RN: Believe by Victoria Alexander