Janelle Denison, MaryJanice Davidson & Nina Bangs Surf’s Up

Surf's Up

Janelle Denison, MaryJanice Davidson & Nina Bangs

Berkley, Jul 2006. $14.00

ISBN: 042521012X

"Hot and Bothered" by "Janelle Denison. In San Diego, jewelry designer Claire Reissing needs to move beyond her cheating former spouse Alan who lives on the other side of the continent. While swimming, Claire finds herself in trouble of drowning. Goldie, the dog of her next door neighbor Shea O'Brien, alerts him that there is trouble and he rescues her. They are attracted to one another until she blames him for stealing a jewel. Will she trust her heart or her head?

"Paradise Bossed" by MaryJanice Davidson. In Little Cayman Island, Nikki enjoys diving, but fails to return. The authorities search for her failing to find her body, but assume she is dead. Her depressed friends Cathy and Jack hire Tom the medium to learn what happened to her. When Tom meets Nikki's ghost he believes he met his soulmate, but she is already on the other side.

"Hot Summer Bites" by Nina Bangs. At the Castle of Dark Dreams Sparkle Stardust assigns Deimos to insure that visiting investigative reporter Kristin Hughes finds her sexual fantasies fulfilled by vampiric hunk Taurin Veris. He objects as this is his day off, but has no choice as the union doesn't cover supervisors or supernaturals. Taurin takes Kristin on a special tour that leads to the centers of their hearts and souls, but she must choose love or living.

Two of the contributions are fantasies and the third a "crime caper", but regardless each well written entry is fun to read with couples having issues to overcome; although death seems a bit stronger of a wall to surmount than theft. Fans of each of the authors will enjoy their latest tales.

Harriet Klausner