"Something different but absolutely great"

B.L.I.S.S. learns that L.O.V.E.R. plans to kill the world's richest person: Owen Sitall, owner of much of the free world and a good chunk of the semi-free crowd too. The earth's deadliest assassin, Zed of the League of Violent Economic Revolutionaries, will take action before Owen attends the World Economic Summit in Paris in thirteen days. Knowing the repercussions on the global economy, B.L.I.S.S. assigns new recruit Camryn O'Brien, better known as Agent 36-DD, to protect Owen. Agent 36-DD was chosen because she knows Monopoly is as American as apple pie; Owen, a perpetual loser with board games outside of the boardroom, has installed that particular game island-wide at his home base.

Almost as soon as Camryn and her B.L.I.S.S. teammates reach Owen's island to play Monopoly, she sees Jace Sentori. He is mysterious and SEXY, which stands for hunk. Camryn is not sure whether she should ignore her over-beating heart because he may be Zed in disguise as Jace obviously has a secret and an agenda for visiting Owen's Boardwalk.

Take Get Smart and place the show in the twenty-first century, but have Agent 99 as the star and the reader has the basic concept of FROM BOARDWALK WITH LOVE, the first B.L.I.S.S. tale. Camryn is a delightfully smart "Jane Bond" while the audience will have to read the novel to learn if Jace goes to jail or passes go and obtains a Monopoly on Camryn's heart. This Bond in Oz tale never takes itself seriously as Nina Bangs skewers the macho espionage hunk leaving no prisoners (except for a renegade agent or two).

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted December 31, 2002

Summary

The world's richest man, Owen Sitall, was a flop at a certain game. As a child he'd only beaten the dolts his father paid to lose; as an adult he built an enormous board so he could win on his own. And he'd left nothing to chance. His island was a playground for the beautiful and rich, stocked with community chests. But he and his bodyguard Peter Bilt didn't know that L.O.V.E.R. -- the League of Violent Economic Revolutionaries--had come to play in his hotels...and their plans to bankrupt him had already passed Go.

Camryn, novice agent #36-DD of B.L.I.S.S -- the international organization that fought crime anywhere from St. Croix to St. James Place--found her assignment clear: Protect the fanatical Sitall from financial ruin. But she'd have a big shoe to fill. And though she got to ride in the little race car (a pink Cadillac), she had a feeling that being a spy didn't just mean free parking. Before this was over, she'd be rolling the dice with her heart.

Look for all the B.L.I.S.S. Titles:

FROM BOARDWALK WITH LOVE by Nina Bangs
DR. YES by Lisa Cach
THE LOVING DAYLIGHTS by Lynsay Sands