Burn by Linda Howard

pic and description from Amazon.com

Rating: 3.5

Description: It’s true what they say: Money changes everything. And in Linda Howard’s red-hot novel Burn, the changes come fast, furious, and filled with the kind of sexy suspense, heart-stopping romance, beautiful people, and risky business guaranteed to give you the most bang for your buck.

Money certainly changes Jenner Redwine’s life when she wins a lottery jackpot. But it also costs her plenty: Her father rips her off and disappears, her fortune-hunting boyfriend soon becomes her ex, and friends-turned-freeloaders give her the cold shoulder when she stops paying for everything.

Flush with new money, Jenner can’t imagine ever finding a place in the world of the wealthy. Seven years later, though, she’s rubbing elbows with the rich, despite the fact she still feels like a party crasher. Luckily she finds an ally–and a guide to the rarefied realm of privilege–in shy, kind-hearted heiress Sydney Hazlett, who quickly becomes Jenner’s confidante and surrogate sister.

When Sydney invites Jenner on a charity cruise aboard a luxury liner, Jenner reluctantly agrees. But while she’s expecting–and dreading–two weeks of masquerade balls, art auctions, and preening glitterati, what she gets is more like a Hitchcock movie than a Love Boat episode. Taken hostage by a menacing stranger, Jenner must cooperate in a mysterious cloak-and-dagger scheme–or else. With nowhere to run, and with Sydney’s life as well as her own at risk, Jenner is drawn into a game of dizzying intrigue and harrowing danger. But as her panic gives way to exhilaration, and fear of her captor turns to fascination, Jenner rediscovers feelings she hasn’t had in years–and realizes she’s found a life worth living. If she survives.

Review: In Linda Howard’s latest book, I felt a bit jipped. Those who’ve read Ms. Howard know you get a darn good, intense story that just bursts with the main couple. Not so with this latest, although the humor was dead on. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it, it was a nice read. But, I’m glad I got from the library.

Jenner wins the lotto, gets screwed over by friends and her dad, and moves away. She gets talked into the cruise by her only friend. This happens in the first maybe 100 of pages and felt way drawn out. She gets kidnapped on the boat, and must listen to the kidnappers and do what they say so her friend doesn’t get hurt. After she’s kidnapped, she is appalled that she found her kidnapper, Cael, hot as hell. It’s after she tries to annoy the heck out of him that she realizes he’s one of the good guys and starts giving into her fantasies about him. Of course he must do his job and save the people and his team on the boat. The ending is not satisfying, and felt a bit rushed.

So yeah, I feel a bit jipped with Ms. Howard’s latest book. Ice comes out in November, and I really hope this one is written more to her style. The last two books have been more of an edgy chick lit, but I liked Death Angel much more.