The third book in Adair's Wright brothers series (Hide and Seek,
etc.) contains all the ingredients that made her previous books so popular—a brooding alpha male on a mission, a damsel in distress, over-the-top villains and enough sex and suspense to make a Bond flick seem tame. Unlike the heroines of Adair's previous books, however, Tally Cruise is smart, resilient and gutsy. When the boat she is on explodes, Tally is rescued by Michael Wright, an ex-Navy SEAL posing as a sailing bum who is on a personal mission to destroy Tally's father, Trevor Church, the man responsible for ruining his Navy career and killing his best friend. Tally, meanwhile, hopes to be reunited with Trevor, whom she scarcely knows. Excited by her near death experience and Michael's intense sex appeal, Tally quickly falls into bed with him, but she comes to her senses the next morning and lays down a no-sex rule for the time they will spend together on Paradise Island, her father's hot and humid hideaway. While Michael plots his revenge, Tally single-handedly fends off several attackers in scenes that are as funny as they are suspenseful. Though Adair has a tendency to overdramatize—lines like "Good girl, come into my lair
" fall especially flat—she leavens her story with humor, fast-paced action and a heroine who knows not to take life too seriously. (Sept.)
Forecast:The first book in Adair's series,
Kiss and Tell, garnered a number of accolades, and her latest is poised to do the same. Adair's books have a cinematic quality to them, and if movie execs pick up on this, her sales could soar.
