4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Typical of early Robyn Donald, March 25, 2004
This review is from: The Darker Side Of Paradise (Harlequin Presents, No. 1376) (Paperback)
I have been a Robyn Donald reader (of her early works in any case) since the late 1980s. This means that I have been able to read many of her novels set in or around the lovely South Pacific island of Falaisi. [At some point, I will have to make up a listing of all her books that even mention this place!]. This book is not a Desert Island Keeper for me (a term I picked up at the website All About Romance), but it is a book that I like to re-read every few years.
The storyline is as follows - Candace Hume, whose background we learn little about in the beginning, has come to a lovely South Pacific island where she really cannot afford the lifestyle. She has worked and saved for three years to reach her goal. At the start of the book, her attention is fixed on billionaire Saul Jerrard, which is a red herring. It is really Saul Jerrard's much younger sister Stephanie who has captured her attention and whom she has come to see. Why? I will not spoil the book for you, but the storyline involves Candace's own troubled personal and family history, worries about kidnapping and international terrorists, and a certain ruthless billionaire completely determined to protect his kid sister.
The attraction of Robyn Donald's best works has always been the sense of time and place that she evokes. It is a pleasure to read her descriptions of the flora and fauna, and at her best, she can make the reader feel transported to a tropical paradise. There is of course a darker side to every paradise, including this one - anything from raging hormones, dark emotions, the way in which power can used and misused.
A mild spoiler - relatively early into the book, Candace makes a decision that some readers might call stupid. Without it, there would really be no book (or a very different one).
Despite this decision, I liked the heroine and felt for her pain and confusion. Can she really step away from Stephanie, as demanded by Saul? Is she willing to risk having a short love affair or a brief acquaintance with Stephanie for a possible lifetime of pain and regret? In the book, Candace who has avoided taking risks, becomes the consummate risk-taker, sometimes paying for it, sometimes winning through. While I understood the hero's point of view, I also felt that he got off rather easily at the end. If you don't like masterful and ruthless heroes, you might want to avoid this book.
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