Review: Sizzle and suspense
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 23, 2014
While I enjoy the odd romance, I must admit to not being an avid reader of the genre, and especially not of contemporary Romance. Ms Seaton’s book, Dangerous Desires, is, however, an interesting combination of romance and suspense, and this in combination with two likeable protagonists has me quickly hooked.Gracie is searching for her sister, Regan. The last she heard of her, she was working on a boat, Midas, but since then Regan hasn’t called her, or replied to her e-mails or texts. Which is why Gracie is in Airlie Beach, Australia, considering various options to access the boat and find out what may have happened to her sister. Due to Regan’s somewhat colourful past, Gracie is reluctant to ask the police for help, and the boat in question is a private luxury yacht teeming with the rich and beautiful, night after night of endless hedonistic partying.Jake Alexander is a former cop. An injury has forced him to retire, and now he works as a private investigator of sorts. His latest assignment is to do surveillance on Midas, taking photos of everyone on board. Jake suspects the insurance company he is working for is merely a front, especially as he recognises many of the people on the boat as members of the shadier parts of society.When Gracie asks some of the crew about Regan, she is brusquely told there’s no one aboard with that name. This only increases her worries, and so Gracie decides to spend a night spying on Midas, hoping to catch a glimpse of her sister – which is how she ends up on the deck neighbouring boat, a deserted, dark vessel belonging to Jake Alexander.Jake is none too thrilled to have this strange woman potentially bungling up his surveillance job. He is even less thrilled when he hears she intends to get aboard the Midas, convinced as he is that there is something very shady going on.  Even more irritating, at least initially, Jake is irresistibly attracted to pretty Gracie, his protective streak growing exponentially with every hour he spends with her.Gracie is as attracted, but is not about to have this overbearing man stop her from finding her sister – not even when he shows her photo after photo of her sister in the arms of the suspected drug lord, Cabal. She doesn’t like it one bit when Jake calls her an innocent, and sets out to prove that she is fully capable of taking care of herself.When writing romance, it is my perception that generally the book benefits from having both the female and the male POV represented. Ms Seaton switches between Jake and Gracie effortlessly, allowing the reader to get under the skin of both of them. The background stories could have been more fully developed (how did Jake end up dirty rich, one wonders) but on the other hand, the information provided is sufficient to make Gracie’s and Jake’s actions understandable. At times, Gracie is a bit too nave, but as this is also one of her more endearing qualities, the reader forgives her for it.The story is well-paced, the prose flows easily, and Ms Seaton skilfully weaves together the romantic aspects of the story with a somewhat more sinister subplot. Ms Seaton also provides one misunderstanding after the other between Jake and Gracie, highlighting just how difficult these two people find it to trust another person – as well as creating quite some tension between them.My one little gripe would be that the book repeatedly refers to Columbian ships/men, when in fact it should be Colombian. Likewise, there are a number of places where the quotation marks have disappeared, but in general the context is sufficient to avoid confusion.The book contains a number of explicit sex scenes – excellently written. Couple this with two very attractive people, a good story and a satisfying ending, and you have quite the sizzling romance – perfect reading when in need of entertainment.