"Fast Paced Contemporary Romp"

It has been a while since I read a book that sent me off on a glomming trip to my local bookstore. But, Karen Kendall's I'VE GOT YOU, BABE has me hurrying out to find the two other books she has written.

Professor Vanessa Tower is an uptight, extremely conservative Art History Professor at Seymour College. Vanessa is working on a book about American Artist Thomas Dunmoor, she is hoping this book will bring her cherished tenure at Seymour. Dunmoor's widow Eugenie is being treated at a local hospital for cancer and she asks a favor of Vanessa. Eugenie wants Vanessa to lure her wayward grandson Christopher to her bedside to hear about a provision in Eugenie's will.

Vanessa drives her PT Cruiser up a mountain and finds a wild man named Crash--don't even think about calling him Christopher--who is unwilling to see his grandmother. Vanessa tells him that his grandmother has cancer and reluctantly Crash accompanies her back down the mountain.

Crash is a daredevil who teaches sky diving and has indulged in all kinds of extreme sports all over the world. Somehow though none of the daring activities have quite healed the pain from the rupture of his relationship with his grandparents 12 years before.

Crash is a charmer, it was so much fun reading about a man who in spite of a painful event in his past just plain enjoys life. Crash is great looking, inventive in bed and also funny. Vanessa wants to avoid him like the plague, but due to an agreement with Eugenie she is stuck with him as her pupil for one semester.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this pair fall in love. On the surface they are completely different, but in actuality they just chose to deal with abandonment and pain in different ways. As Crash and Vanessa bond and begin to really talk to each other, the relationship grows beyond the physical to true love. Their happy ending is believable, but this was one book I hated to see end. The bright spot is that there is a great set up for Vanessa's friend Shelly and a lawyer named Gifford Smiley III to have their own love story. Shelly and Giff look to be as attractive a pair as Vanessa and Crash, so I will be looking forward to the next installment. hopefully, Vanessa and Crash will figure prominently in the next book too.

The secondary relationships in I'VE GOT YOU, BABE are well drawn and Vanessa and Shelly's friendship is lots of fun-- especially the conversation where Shelly advises Vanessa to get a vibrator. I also want to mention that the love scenes are HOT and extremely creative, I don't think I will ever look at a teacher's pointer in quite the same way after reading this story. The humor is also well done and the dialogue between Crash and Vanessa just sparkles. I am happy to have discovered Ms. Kendall and am looking forward to catching up with her backlist.

Reviewed by Linda Hurst
Posted June 23, 2003

Summary

Vanessa Tower has never done anything reckless in her life-- then again, she's never met anyone like Christopher "Crash" Dunmoor. The man spends his days jumping out of airplanes, canoeing down raging rivers, doing anything for a thrill--and prim, proper Vanessa doesn't need *that* sort of excitement. But the sexy adventurer can ignite sparks in her with just a smile, something Vanessa finds most troubling . . . and impossible to ignore.

A confirmed loner with no ties and painful secrets, Crash knows wild is the only way to live. Yet this straitlaced lady he's gotten involved with is turning out to be a bigger turn-on than adrenaline! It's crazy to think he could ever have anything in common with this gorgeous bookworm. So why is his heart telling him that holding her, touching her, and tasting her would be the most tantalizing adventure of all?