Customer Reviews

The Haviland Touch

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is yet another amazing book by Kay Hooper. This book follows Drew Haviland, an antiquities buyer who helps Spencer, a woman he once fell in love with, find the legendary Hapsburg Cross before her father dies. I loved how she briefly brought back Tyler and Kane from the previous book "Enemy Mine". Just like her other books, it has romance, suspense, and action. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who reads books by Kay Hooper or is even remotely considering this book.

Spencer Wyatt's burning need in life is to fulfill her father's dream of finding the Hapzberg cross before he dies, thus redeeming him from being labeled a fool. As she sells off her family treasures, Spencer attracts the attention of Drew Haviland, the man she once loved and rejected. Neither has been able to forget the other, and Drew can help Spencer's dream come to pass, but will he? Will she let him share in the achievement? He believes terrible things about her, but nonetheless, can not allow the woman who captivates him to go off on an Indiana Jones adventure alone. So, though it's dangerous on multiple levels, Drew and Spencer team up to find the greatest treasure of all.

Adventure and romance combine into a thrilling story that will appeal to a broad spectrum of readers. Ms. Hooper tells just enough, never getting too graphic, so even the most gently minded readers can enjoy this tale. At times, the angst gets heavy, but that's a minor quibble.

Amanda Killgore

It's a fun read, though it does show some elements that appear in her later "Bishop" series, only here they're more of an echo that the strong psychic element in the others.

Drew Haviland is an antiquities collector who is approached to buy a necklace. He recognises it immediately as that of Spencer Wyatt, a woman who rejected him and married another man, only to divorce that man almost as quickly, he wonders why she's selling up. His opinion of her is coloured by their past and he's convinced of her duplicity. When he digs a bit deeper he finds more mystery than certainty and when she decides to go hunting for the legendary Hapsburg Cross - a lifelong quest of her father - he feels compelled to help her.

In some places it's pretty predictable but it does show how far Kay has come in her writing and it also has shadows of some of the themes she uses to great effect later. I did enjoy it as a light read.

Ok, first of all, I generally LOVE Kay Hooper books. This one was an exception. I think part of it was when it was written.

Drew was once engaged to Spencer, but she eloped with another man and left her father to tell him what was going on. Now, twelve years later, he is still furious and thinks she is a gold-digging, self-serving you know what. Spencer's father is dying and she wants to find an artifact before he does - so she risks everything to try. Drew thinks she is too stupid to find it and/or that it is too dangerous for her to go depending on his mood that day and so he follows her and insists on going.

I liked the basic story, and it was well written. I also liked Spencer. She is a pretty strong woman, but she has insecurities, which make her real. She also can look back at her life and see her mistakes. She owns up to her past, and how she acted and why. However, I have to admit that in the past she acted stupid. Drew, on the other hand, wasn't as likable a character to me. He appeared in Enemy Mine and I didn't like him there either (he risked people's lives for his amusement). I HATED him in the beginning of the story. He does come around though, and stops acting like a jerk. (In the beginning all that matters is him and his feelings and Spencer is a woman, and therefore too stupid to do anything but spend money.) However, he does change his ways a bit by the end.

All in all, I would recommend skipping this book - or at least check it out from the library.

I'd better keep reading KH's paranormal books, they are overly better than this one. The problem with this book was that Drew knew everything and everybody in the world. How could he? The love story is fairly good, but the thrilling part is heavy and sometimes boring. So I can say the love story drew and won the thrilling part.