"A wonderful romance with depth and complex characters."

Having spent ten years living on the streets herself, Micki Carmichael is determined to help her young friend escape from the drugs, prostitution, and general degradation of the existence of teen runaways. Danielle Stone's wealthy parents don't seem to care about anything except social standing, and ignore their daughter's problems by labeling them "a phase". So Micki tackles Sebastian, Danielle's much older brother, a very wealthy and world-traveling venture capitalist. Bas feels guilty for not having been aware of his sister's problems and commits to getting her the best care and recovery help available. He also is determined to do something to reward Micki for basically saving Danielle's life. Micki won't accept money, but given the instant and sizzling attraction between her and Bas, she isn't averse to taking a little luxury vacation with him and exploring their sexual fantasies.

Between Paris and New Orleans, Micki and Bas discover that although they come from vastly different backgrounds and have completely dissimilar lives, they have a lot of the same underlying values -- and some of the same problems. They need to work through issues about trust and commitment and self-esteem. But while they are struggling to do that, someone else is trying to disrupt Bas's life with bomb threats -- one of which becomes reality. Bas has no idea who is doing this or why, but is determined that he and Victor, his best friend/bodyguard/aide-de-camp, will prevent any of the unpleasantness from impacting Micki. Not only can they not do that, but soon Victor also becomes a target. Is someone trying to get at Bas through the people most important to him?

Bas and Micki are very complex personalities. He may be from wealth and privilege and she the fatherless child of a teenage drug addict, but they both come from emotionally dysfunctional families and have been shaped by that. Micki's experiences have made her a determined person with incredible strength of will. If you prefer character-driven romances, this story is for you.

It is always fun to meet up again with characters from previous books, and this story brings in several. Reina and her erotic jewelry, from DOUBLE THE PLEASURE, has always been a favorite of mine!

I had two quibbles with this book. The suspense subplot was not integrated at all well into the storyline; it felt to me like it was tacked on after the romance was written. It isn't developed enough to be an interesting or valid part of the story, it needed more buildup and space in the plot. And second, there were a number of minor plot consistency and word usage errors that should have been caught in editing and proofing. They don't interfere with the main story, but are enough to be annoying.

Overall, a wonderful romance with depth and excellent characterization. Due to the plot weaknesses, not one of the author's best books in my opinion, but still well worth your time.

Reviewed by Raelene Gorlinsky
Courtesy Sensual Romance
Posted August 8, 2003

Summary

She needs to escape into fantasy. He needs to learn to lose control. Little do they dream that a book of sensual invitations will give them both exactly what they need...

After years on the streets as a runaway, Micki Carmichael suddenly has more than she ever wanted. She's saved her best friend's life, reconnected with her twin sister and is now the proud owner of Sexcapades a book of naughty, sexy invitations for lovers. Better still, she also has gorgeous multimillionaire Sebastian Stone all to herself for seven days. He's offering to make all her dreams come true—and from the look in his eyes, it's the X-rated ones he's talking about...