Customer Reviews

Total Package (Silhouette Desire No. 1642)(Heart Breakers)

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Sidney Blakely is a well-known globetrotting photographer. Having been raised by her ex-Marine father, she scorns anything that might hint of weakness or traditional feminine roles. On a photo shoot in Hawaii, while trying to recover from the disastrous ending of her one and only romantic relationship, Sid meets Danya Stepanov, whose huge, warm, traditional family is the antithesis of just about everything she is familiar with.

So far, so good. Sid and Danya are almost immediately attracted to each other, but while Danya decides they were meant for each other (and proceeds to inform his family that that's the case), Sid is considerably more wary. In spite of herself, though, she is slowly drawn toward Danya and his family's welcoming warmth.

And here, unfortunately, is where it gets weird. When Sidney, confused and insecure, finally does up and leave, Danya, who had up to this point been determined to aim for nothing less than marriage and a lifetime with her, suddenly changes his tune and starts talking about "taking what he can get."

But it gets stranger still. When Sidney's father and sisters show up in town to check on her, Danya persuades all three to temporarily move in with the Stepanov family and experience the joys of the settled life. This works for long enough to get Sidney's attention, but despite the interest of a couple of spare Stepanov cousins, her sisters are soon gone again. Her father sticks around, but the whole episode is strange.

Then Danya undergoes yet another personality shift, and suddenly decides he's had it with Sidney; he spends most of the last part of the book being terribly angry and hurt, despite the fact that their bizarre situation (with her flitting in and out) is a good deal of his making.

Then somehow they solve everything, in one of romance fiction's wimpiest endings, of the sort that my freshman composition teacher in college thoroughly despised.

Final word: what started off as a great story ran out of steam in the middle and ended with a whimper.

We return to Amoteh, a town in southwest Washington State. Danya is the last single Stepanov man. They are a family famous for the furniture they build with pride, as well as, for the luxurious Amoteh Resort.

Danya's wife died nine years ago. He is now thirty-two years old. He has a business with one of his brothers as a builder and remodeler. Danya has not found a woman he could love since his wife died, but hoped to some day. Then he spies a lady unlike any other. She is at the grave site of Chief Kamakani, stripping off her clothes as she talks to deceased.

Sidney "Sid" Blakely is a professional photographer (freelance) who has recently been jilted by a long time boyfriend. Sid and her sisters (Stretch and Junior) have been raised by their military father (Bulldog). The Blakely women detest anything overly feminine, such as dresses, cosmetics, anyone holding a door open for them, etc. Sid usually takes photos of things that put her in danger, such as an erupting volcano. However, to avoid her ex-boyfriend, she is at the Amoteh Resort with a group of ladies. Sid has been commissioned to photograph great shots of the ladies to be made into a calendar. (SO not her normal type of job!) To escape the models who are trying to give her a make over, Sid decides to camp out near Chief Kamakani's grave site.

When Sid thinks Danya is about to suicide by jumping off a cliff, she begins talking him out of it. Danya begins using the misunderstanding as an excuse to spend time with her. The Stepanov men know quickly upon meeting a woman whether she is perfect for him or not. Danya is no exception. But Sid is not like other women. Thus Danya's courting must be done without Sid realizing what is happening.

***** A wonderful conclusion for the Stepanov family story. I found it very interesting to watch Sid do so many masculine things while Danya attempt to out maneuver her (and her macho family). I find myself regretting that this is the last of the "Heartbreaker miniseries". I can only hope that Cait London will begin a new romance series some day soon. *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

In Amoteh, Washington, brooding Danya Stepanov, whose family owns and runs the nearby resort, walks along the cliffs still mourning the loss of his wife Jeannie to a DUI nine years ago. While wandering around he notices a woman by the gravesite of Kamakani asking the chief why her partner, friend, and sometime lover Ben dumped her to marry a bimbo. When she notices Danya, she fears he is suicidal and plans to leap. She informs him her name is Sidney Blakely, a photographer doing the models shoot and she will be his buddy. Danya is shocked because he is attracted to this spirited female, but fails to inform her that he is not a jumper.

Danya persuades Sidney to move into his cottage so that she can escape the horde of females that she is working with and of course she agrees to stay in his home as platonic friends. As his family wonders what is going on, he tells them that she is the one. Meanwhile she continues to moan the loss of Ben, but admits only to herself that Danya is a caring hunk and would she not mind a lifetime or two with him except that she has a wanderlust soul.

TOTAL PACKAGE, the fourth Heartbreaker tale, is a fun contemporary romance starring two likeable protagonists and a horde of support players (mostly his family, but to a lesser degree the models too). The story line's tension comes from Danya knowing he must be patient with his beloved who needs to recover from what she perceives as her love and he feels was her convenience. Fans of warm contemporary drama will enjoy this fine romance.

Harriet Klausner