by Alexa Bourne
Series: A Beyond Fairytales Adventure
Genre: Suspense, Contemporary Scottish Romance
Release Date: January 23, 2015
Grace McKay spends most of her time alone trying to convince the world she’s strong enough and smart enough to become one of the best treasure hunters. According to the media, though, all she’s managed to prove is she’s a frigid, narrow-minded woman who doesn’t have a chance to succeed in her current hunt.
Simon Andrews is tired of being a glorified secretary for his family’s treasure hunting business. As the youngest brother, he’s never had the chance to prove himself in the field, where his true interests lie.
When Grace’s uncle hires Simon on a whim to assist her with the search for an ancient family heirloom, he comes up against a woman determined to accomplish her goal without his—or anyone’s—help. But Simon, although captivated by her passion for her quest and her beauty, will not relinquish his chance to prove both to the client and his brothers that he has the family gift for finding valuables where others have failed.
Grace, frigid? Simon is sure the media met the wrong woman. He’s in danger of bursting into flames every time they are alone together. As they get closer to finding the heirloom, though, their growing passion for one another may distract them from the very real danger that threatens their lives and their possible future together. Whatever that might mean.
After sipping her tea, she picked up another piece of pastry. Midway to her mouth, she stopped. A tall, thin man, glasses clinging to the end of his nose, strode through the doorway and scanned the room. A loose-fitting, faded T-shirt covered his chest, and khaki shorts hung on his hips. Kind of thin and bony for her liking, although the soft shade of ginger hair with a hint of blond in it grabbed her attention. It reminded her of her favorite movie star. Both hands were inside his pockets.
With a crooked grin, he walked straight up to her table. “Grace McKay?”
“Yes. Can I help you?”
He held out his long fingers. “I’m Simon Andrews.” He waited as if his name was supposed to mean something.
She didn’t shake his hand. “What can I do for you, Mr. Andrews?”
He lowered his arm. “Your uncle said you’d be helping me on my expedition here.” From his New England accent, he could only be American.
Uncle Thomas sent him? Of all the crappy things he’d done, this had to be the worst. Did he not believe in her enough to allow her to handle the job? She stood, gathering her papers. “My uncle was wrong. I don’t need any help with my expedition. Good-bye.” She shifted around him and started for the lobby. Studying her paperwork in her own room would suit her better.
“Ms. McKay, wait.” He grabbed her arm.
She froze. Every muscle tensed.
“I realize you want to help in the search, but your uncle hired me to—”
She tugged herself free. “I know what he hired you for, but I’m telling you, you’re fired.” As she stalked across the pub, many pairs of eyes stared at her, some wide in question, some narrowed. Who cared? She hadn't done anything wrong.
“That’s not your call, sweetheart,” he said.
She jerked to a stop just inside the door and spun around, gritting her teeth. Andrews stood waiting, as cocky as could be, with his hands on his hips.
“First, I am not your sweetheart. Second, I don’t need a partner.”
So what do you get when you mix a woman who is trying to prove she can get the job done with a man who is trying to prove himself to his family by going out in the field? You get some tension, some harsh words, and then some sparks as Simon and Grace learn to rely and lean on each other while chasing down Grace’s family treasure that was lost centuries ago.
This was a quick, fun read that followed Grace and Simon as they searched for the treasure. Since the book was short, there wasn’t time for a lot of character development, but I feel the author did a real nice job with Grace – it was easy to relate to her feelings of having to prove herself and the pressure she put on herself to get the job done. And her reaction to Simon when he arrived showed all that pent up frustration she held inside from not feeling that her uncle was giving her his full support at finding the treasure. It was also fun watching her show her softer side as she and Simon began to give in to the attraction for one another.
Simon was a bit of a nerd – and boy does that picture on the cover look exactly like I pictured him! He’s tired of feeling like the glorified secretary and has had a hard time getting his brothers to take him seriously. I do wish there was just a little more on the relationship between Simon and his brothers. There seemed to be so much more going on between them then just the brothers not thinking Simon could handle field work, that a bit more backstory would have helped understand some of that dynamic.
The suspense and little bits of action that were thrown in kept the story moving, and it was fun to see Grace and Simon start to see each other as more than what their initial impression of each other was. I especially loved watching Simon go a bit alpha on Grace – it’s always fun when that “nerdy” guy turns out to have a bit of a naughty side!
A fun read – and I would definitely give other stories from this author and/or in this series a try!
Alexa Bourne is a teacher by day and a romance writer by nights, weekends, and all school holidays. She also teaches online classes for writers throughout the year. She writes romantic suspense and contemporary romance and is thrilled to have the chance to share her stories with readers everywhere.
When she’s not concocting sinister plots and steamy love scenes or traveling and exploring new cultures, Alexa spends her time reading, watching brainless TV, and thinking about exercising. Okay, she also spends way too much time interacting with readers and writers on social media sites. But don’t tell her editors! Find out more about her and her books on her website, www.alexabourne.com.
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