May 3, 2004
The latest romantic intrigue from Skye (Hot Pursuit
, etc.) is as full of contrived cliffhangers as the pulp fiction that inspired its striking cover. San Francisco assistant DA Cara O'Connor and presidential hopeful Tate Winslow are planning their wedding when Cara is threatened with harm and the exposure of an abortion she had in a Mexican clinic decades earlier. An underworld smuggler she convicted seems to be the source, but who's actually delivering the dead rat and sinister notes? Using the pull afforded by their status, the couple arranges protection from FBI agent Summer Mulcahey, who stands in as nanny to Cara's two children, and Navy SEAL Gabe Morgan, who poses as gardener on her estate. Summer and Gabe patrol the property, make a dramatic visit to the clinic and fall into bed and love. But despite their constant use of agency technology, they fail to solve the mystery or even keep themselves safe. Indeed, Cara's psychic daughter is the one who finally exposes the rather clueless and unlikely culprits. Although Skye has done her homework on FBI/Navy SEAL jargon and surveillance devices, even beach readers may find the wildly implausible investigation difficult to swallow, and few will likely care about the fate of a privileged couple misusing vast public resources in the face of a patently silly personal threat. Agent, Meg Ruley
.
June 1, 2004
Skye is back with another sizzling adventure romance. San Francisco assistant district attorney Cara O'Connor, soon to wed Tate Winslow, America's most popular senator, has been receiving threats. Enter undercover FBI agent Summer Mulcahey who, posing as the new nanny, is to protect Cara and her sometimes problematic daughters, Audra and Sophy. Since this is Skye, there is, of course, a sexy Navy SEAL, Gabe Morgan, working incognito as Cara's gardener to protect both her and her girls at the behest of the senator. As the threats get uglier, secrets are uncovered that will thrust them all into peril and possibly put an end to Tate's presidential aspirations, but Summer and Gabe, teamed up with the delicious Izzy (his fifth appearance in a Skye novel), go to a ritzy Mexican clinic to discover who is behind the threats. Skye creates delightful and memorable protagonists, and surrounds them with other nicely drawn characters.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)
June 4, 2007
It's The Six Million Dollar Man
meets The Love Boat
in this fifth addition to Skye's energetic Code Name series (following Code Name: Blondie
). Fresh from a northern Afghanistan war zone and worse for the wear, microchip-enhanced navy SEAL Trace O'Halloran has a new assignment guarding valuable human tissue samples aboard a luxury cruise ship en route to Mexico. Trace, who'd rather be in a northern Afghanistan war zone, grimaces his way through boarding and the first uncomfortable meal before meeting pastry chef Gina Ryan, a rising industry star who gets her kicks creating and plating a thousand crème brûlées a night. Unfortunately, Ryan's nascent celebrity has netted her an enemy in Blaine Richardson, the Cruella DeVille of beverage service. When a villain from Trace's past resurfaces, things go from bad to deadly. While the romance between Trace and Gina feels inevitable and uninspired, and the plot line barely plausible, it makes a fun, antic read. Series fans will find what they came for, but newcomers will want to save themselves some confusion by starting at the beginning.