Pinkie Paranya, Treasure of the Amazon

Treasure of the Amazon

Pinkie Paranya

Five Stars, Apr 2006, $25.95

ISBN: 1594144303

In Elliot, Virginia, her wheelchair bound father, a history professor at Virginia College, worries about the Brazilian branch of the family that moved from the United States during the American Civil War after allegedly stealing money to bankroll their journey. He wants to ensure that the Brazilian matriarch, the Madrinha Sara is okay, as he has not heard from her in quite awhile. He asks his daughter, learning-disabilities schoolteacher Marisa, to head to South America to learn what happened, and to collect the treasure promised by the matriarch.

In Brasilia, Marisa struggles to find a pilot willing to fly her into the remote Mato Grosso region. Reluctantly Scott Dunbar agrees to take Marisa, though he warns her that the people in the area shoot first rather than ask why you are there. He assumes her relatives are either dead or assimilated. As they journey together to discover what happened to her kin and to find the treasure, Scott and Marisa fall in love, but he is a risk-taker while she is a homebody, or is she after this jungle trek?

The lead couple relationship and the Brazilian setting will remind readers of Romancing the Stone. Romantic suspense fans will especially appreciate the descriptive locales; first in Brasilia and then in Mato Grosso, that makes for a superb somewhat exotic and dangerous background rarely seen in thrillers. The historical perspective that ties Brazil to the American Civil War adds authenticity, as it is based on a true migration. Readers will enjoy this fine amateur sleuth Brazilian romance.