Kat Martin, Deep Blue

Kat Martin, Deep Blue - In Manhattan, Midday News reporter Hope Sinclair finds her apartment trashed, but nothing stolen and she is no longer covering the Buddy Newton Hartley House story as the newspaper owner has assigned her temporarily to another of his publications, Adventurer Magazine, to cover a treasure hunt story in the Caribbean. Led by Operations Chief Connor Reese, they seek the Spanish gold and silver-bearing ship the Nuestra Senora de Rosa which sunk along with three other ships in 1605 due to a late hurricane.

Hope comes on board the Conquest upsetting Connor who was not expecting a woman or a journalist. Conn fears publicity will make the quest more dangerous with amateurs showing up. Hope frets over her attraction to the belligerent Conn, who feels the same way, as neither trusts the other gender. As they become acquainted with the courage and caring of the other, Hope and Conn make love. As the search continues and the danger mounts at Hartley House where Buddy is dead and at sea, Conn and Hope fall in love, but neither is ready to compromise.

The third Sinclair sister romance (see DESERT HEAT and MIDNIGHT SUN) is a strong suspense thriller starring a wonderful lead couple and fine support cast especially the crew and the Professor. The storyline takes the audience under the sea with an interesting look at underwater salvage, especially the Caribbean locale. Surprisingly, the New York subplot enhances the prime Caribbean storyline; a tribute to Kat Martin's writing skills. Hope's stubbornness makes her a terrific reporter although she drives readers and Conn crazy with her fear of relationships. Still, this is a deep, descriptive contemporary.

Harriet Klausner