Samantha Connolly I Will Survive

I Will Survive

Samantha Connolly

Harlequin Flipside, Jan 2004, $4.50, 217 pp.

ISBN: 0373441827

Renowned survivalist Nick Garrett hosts the popular weekly TV series "Survive This" in which he shows his fans how to live off the land. Nick announces that his show will sponsor a special in which three individuals will be selected to survive a stint on a tropical island.

Librarian Jessie Banks is a big fan of Nick's show and though she knows that she has no prayer of being chosen by her hero, she fills out the application anyway. She is shocked when Nick names her as one of the three contestants.

The first confrontation between Nick and Jessie makes great TV, but terrible embarrassment for the librarian. Things turn worse with only her bag and humor to keep Jessie afloat as she finds the real Nick even more desirous than the TV Nick. Surprisingly, Nick finds the small town book lover as the most exciting of the three stranded women. Though they fall in love, misunderstandings make anything between Nick and Jessie off island seem unlikely.

I WILL SURVIVE is an entertaining contemporary romantic take of the Survivor TV series. Fans will appreciate the heroine for her courage and her growing confidence to compete for the grand prize, which in Jessie's mind is Nick especially at nite. Nick is a solid individual and the other contestants and TV crew are developed just enough to add depth. Though one of the rivals is too nasty to compete with Jessie for Nick, the tale belongs to the lead female who will gain her love forever or lose the contest even if she ends up with the glory of the first place money.

Harriet Klausner