CAUTION: Spoilers ahead.
I’m pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. What was seemingly just another case of Stockholm Syndrome and, or Lima Syndrome turned out to be so much more. If you go into this thinking that it would be just a book about poaching in Africa, then you’ll be sorely wrong. And it’s also another reason why this was such a surprise. The mystery surrounding why Clare’s captors was determined to grab the African wild dogs in her care (other than the obvious) was definitely anything but predictable.
The book is a chock-ful of educational nuggets. I love reading an enjoyable story while taking a few pieces of knowledge in it as well. In this case, it was interesting to read about animal tracking in the wilderness of Africa. The author was also very proficient in drawing a clear landscape of the continent itself.
Clare Delaney was a gritty character who didn’t shy away from any hairy situations – whether dealing with rancid, rank, stinky dogs or with rancid, rank, stinky men, she showed great chutzpah on either instances.
Simon deVries was the perfect double agent. He played the part well whether he was a man in a suit or a man in co-hoots with some degenerate characters. There’s not a lot of books out there starring a British Secret Service hero so Simon deVries’ stock was on the rise not only because his character was a novelty but he speaks with the sexiest accent known to man. Though I’d like to point out that the Alpha-to-the-max reference made by the author was slightly misleading, as he was far from the over-bearing alphas I’ve read before. He was protective, sure but he was definitely not pushy.
This book is not just an average romance book that you find in a grocery store – tackling a very different story arch that I have not read about before. The author offered mystery, albeit a very light one with a romance that was every bit as sweet as it was sexy.
