"Could not put it down!"

Hope Winston has had some bad experiences with authority figures, namely police. When a friend she is helping begs her to approach the police, Hope does so only for fear that if she does not, her friend's livelihood will be destroyed.

Enter the police, namely Franco Riviera, Captain in the elite police corps in Bari, Italy. Used to easy conquests where women are concerned, he is very much surprised at the attitude of Hope, the new American English teacher/Director at the English Language Center. However, with so many unexplained incidents occurring at the home of Hope and her friend, Kay, and of course, his intense physical attraction to Hope, Franco decides to check the situation out for himself. When the unexplained incidents turn sinister and Hope is almost shot, Franco basically moves in and takes over.

I can only imagine having a man so much in lust with you that he goes primal when in your presence, or when another man looks at you. While the sex scenes are very basic and hetero, the intensity portrayed by the writer more than makes up for the lack of diversity. Franco is very much a man's man and Hope is a beautiful woman with a mind of her own who does not know how to cope with so much testosterone. The story line is very entertaining, with suspense, a criminal element, and a great love story. Ms. Rice is a very talented writer. You won't be able to stop reading until you finish the book.

Rated NC-17 by the publisher.

Reviewed by Tressa Harvey
Courtesy Sensual Romance
Posted June 2, 2003

Summary

Hope Winston is in Italy running a school for her best friend, Kay Summers. But helping Kay has put her life in danger. Hope doesn't want protection and she doesn't want help. She doesn't want anyone, particularly not devastatingly sexy Capitano Franco Rivers, head of the elite anti-mafia squad. Hope hates cops. So how did she end up sleeping with one?

Hope Winston is the most delectable woman Franco Rivera has ever seen. There's only one problem. Hope keeps sticking her pretty little nose in trouble. She needs a keeper. And Franco Rivera is just the man to keep her...
In his bed.

Sexual Content: NC-17. Genre: contemporary.