Review: Great Independent Publishing Debut
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 12, 2011
Bella Isla - CaribbeanBusinessman Slade Calvert is minding his own business in a bar when Ellie Winters sits down and starts talking up a storm, all but propositioning him. Little does he know Ellie is on the run. She's a governess, and her agency has sent her to work for a local crime lord, unbeknown to her. One night Ellie accidentally overhears her boss's plans to launch a revolution, she's discovered and subsequently imprisoned, but manages to escape.The Revolution happens before either can get off the island, and now they are running together. Slade thinks it's his fault Ellie is in the middle of this, because of his government contracts, and Ellie believes they are after her, because of what she knows, but she's afraid to trust Slade enough to tell him the truth.Ellie had me laughing from the get-go, because there were no governors on her thoughts. She talks incessantly when nervous, and the author did a great job of showing the progression as Ellie became comfortable around Slade and she settled down. Ellie remains upbeat and instills some dry humor under some pretty rough circumstances, especially for a girly-girl city dweller.Excerpt: "Under the circumstances, I'm fine. Of course, it can't be more than ten o'clock in the morning and I've already been strip-searched, held prisoner, shot at, and in a plane crash. Not to mention falling from a tree and nearly being crushed to death. I would have felt a little better if I'd had time this morning to put on some makeup and eaten a good breakfast. Otherwise, what could be wrong?" A humorous twinkle sparkled in his eyes as he lifted a hand and brushed her hair from her cheek.Deadly Race is a charming, sweet, and sometimes humorous, romantic-suspense. At just over 45,000 words, it reads a lot like Margaret's Christian Romance/Suspense novels, but with a decidedly secular flare. There's lots of sexual tension in addition to her trademark warm-and-fuzzy throughout this book.  While I applaud Margaret for continuing to write "clean" Romantic/Suspense, I felt there was just too much mental "foreplay" without us seeing a physical culmination of some sort on the pages of this story, and there were several opportunities to have done so.When all is said and done Deadly Race is a worthwhile read, especially for Margaret Daley fans and those looking for some adventure without sex being splashed across the pages. I look forward to seeing more indie-publishings from her in the future.