Pub Date: 2007, reprinted 2012 with the new cover
Publisher: Kensington
FTC: Review copy courtesy of the publisher
This is a reprint of the first in the Sky High series by Jill Shalvis which originally came out in 2007. And while you can get echoes of her now distinctive (and hilarious) voice in it, it does not come close to her more recent works in either characterization or charm.
Part of the problem is that this is an attempt to be both a romantic suspense book and a contemporary romance. Something it doesn't quite accomplish with any real skill. In a series of madcap episodes, the hero and heroine hop in planes and fly hither and yon trying to find hidden money at the heroine's deceased husband's unfinished resort properties.
I found the whole plot a little weird, really. Nothing made sense to me, the motivations and actions of the characters didn't match with who they were supposed to be, and other than an attraction, there didn't seem to be a lot of basis for a relationship between our hero and heroine.
As always, I liked the secondary characters, and the potential is there for the rest of the series (which I have not yet read). This one just didn't gel for me, but given how excellent Jill's recent books have been, she may have set the bar too high.
My Grade: D
The Blurb:
Noah Fisher has worked for months to make Sky High the most prestigious charter airline in California. He's long overdue for a break - something involving ski slopes, cold beers, and hot ski bunny babes. The itinerary doesn't include being hijacked by Bailey Sinclair, gorgeous widow of one of Sky High's wealthiest (ex-) clients. But here they are, and being crammed in a cockpit with the scared, stubborn, unbelievably sexy former model he's been fantasizing about invokes Superman tendencies that could get Noah in serious trouble. Bailey is desperate to find the stash of money hidden by her conniving, thieving late husband - before the bad guys he owed find her. It's a long shot, but nothing compared to the gamble she's taking by being so close to Noah. Every minute in his company has Bailey thinking about doing crazy, reckless things like touching, grabbing, kissing...and oh wow, being kissed right back.
