Without further ado...

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Here it is, folks! The Marati Legacy by Dana James! We all know Dana from The Eagle and The Sun fame. She does it again with this exciting novel!

Well, we start out in Madagascar, a very exotic location if I must say. Had Captian Picard had the technology, he would have taken the ol' Enterprise to this lovely island for some R & R, instead of some of those crappy planets they visited.

Anywho, back the the review.

Dr. Melanie Driscoll is a scuba diving expert. A few pages into the book we learn that she had a very nice job at some up-scale institute, testing scuba equipment. She has left the job for an extended holiday (vacation to us westerners) at the urging of her boss. We learn that there was an accident at the institute involving her co-worker Paul, and he dies. Now, this is where it gets a little annoying. They give you little bits here and there about a fight they had, but they don't let on yet about the nature of the fight. Just that the next morning, Paul kacks while diving and she'll be forever haunted by it.

So she's set to work on a boat with her twin brother, Derek, who's been working already for a while on this particular vessel. Just as her brother was going to tell her a particular piece of vital information about her job, in swagers Luke Avery, acting like a neanderthal because he was led to believe that Derek's twin is actually his brother. Not so, and the beefy Luke is testy about it because they don't have any other women working on his boat. This just sets the tone for the first few chapters, but as we delve deeper into the story, Mel and Luke start feeling hot and heavy for each other. By the way, Luke and Mel have to share a cabin, although he has a separate little cot to sleep on. Convenient. So, they are going to start working on this shipwreck. Now, I loves me some shipwreck novels, (I don't know why, so don't ask) so this particular story kept me interested from the get-go. Of course, there's all kinds of dangers. Apparently the wreck is close to the edge of a drop-off, AND there are sharks (which I found to be very exciting!), so you get your fill of excitement.

Okay, now this is where it gets a little confusing.

Derek, Mel and Luke decide to go into town for a drink at the local tavern to celebrate the finding of the shipwreck. At the bar, they notice a very exotic and beautiful young woman who is sitting with two large thug-type men. She starts crying and of course, Derek wants to know who she is and what's wrong with her. So he follows her after she rushes out of the bar and leaves Mel and Luke to get to know each other better. Turns out, the thugs say they have this contract that she supposedly signed that says she agrees to star in their very disgusting porn flick. Of course, the signature was forged, but she has no connections in Madagascar and is not sure what to do. So Selena (the exotic beauty) is going to hide out on the boat and Luke has his panties all in a bunch because she might mess up his covert operation.

This makes Mel a little concerned about just what type of work they are doing on this expedition. Luke fesses up that there is supposedly a chest worth mucho moolah in this sunken ship and he's trying to find it. (Or maybe he told her that earlier, but at this point, who cares really?) Anyway, there's a couple of attempts by Luke to get jiggy wit it in Mel's bed. But she's too scared to let him and SHE JUST CAN'T TELL HIM WHAT HAPPENED between her and Paul.

So there was this storm that came and moved the wreck closer to the edge of the underwater cliff and now it's going to get very dangerous because it's teetering there. Derek and Luke are going to go down into the wreck because Luke says that it's too dangerous for Melanie and he doesn't want to lose her. So they go down and after a while, Luke comes up and says that Derek's stuck down there and he's bleeding. Enter the sharks. Luke and Mel have this heated argument about how he can handle it alone and for her to Stay! Of course, she's not going to do that, so she goes down and helps Luke get Derek free and after a couple of close calls with the sharks, they also get the chest and bring it up to the boat. Luke is furious with Mel because she risked her life and he takes her to the bedroom and my lord, he just can't help himself! Melanie's life in danger makes him so excited! But again, Mel stops Luke and finally it comes out that Paul had raped her and now she's freaked out about love--making. Luke assures her that he loves her and says he'll wait for her to become comfortable, and it wasn't her fault and all that stuff.

So, everything is hunky dory now and they're in love and all that crap. But then she overhears Luke talking to Selena about tricking those two and she automatically assumes they're talking about her and Derek, but it's the two thugs. (You know that the makings of a fine Harlequin novel should include at least one misunderstanding.) Mel flees the boat in the middle of the night and in the morning, she sees the boat leaving the harbor and so she thinks that Luke has left her for good. Not so, because he then shows up at her room at the hotel and fesses up that he's a secret agent for the British government and that he wants to marry her and everything is all happy again!

The final few paragraphs fill us in that they have gotten married and have (at last!) consummated the relationship. She's overcome her fears and demons!!! Yay! And Luke finally gets to eat his cake. Double yay!

My favorite passage from this book is taken from the early part of the book, and I'm going to Bold type the best word evar!

"He was only an arm's length away. She was acutely aware of him, his man-smell, warm and musky."

Now, how many times have you thought of someone's man-smell? And what the heck does it smell like? Aftershave? B.O.? Ponder this thought and then find yourself a copy of The Marati Legacy. You will not be sorry you did!

If I had a top 5 book list like Becca, I would certainly put The Marati Legacy at the top. Thanks, Dana, for an awesome read!

~ Kris