Book 4 in Cherry Adair's Cutter
Cay series, Stormchaser
Stormchaser gallops through a story of treachery and love
on the Mediterranean sea. Jonah Cutter hires Dr. Calista
West to be his marine archeologist for a salvage site he
thinks is likely to be the lost city of Atlantis. This is
Jonah's virgin project working with his newly-discovered
half-brothers, and he's excited to prove himself, as anyone
would be in such a situation. Jonah's father was serial
philanderer who had his legitimate family and then had a
second, bigamous wife: Jonah's mother. Jonah discovered
his fantastic half-brothers, the Cutters, when his parents
died. Jonah desperately wants to not seduce Callie so as to
not be a douchebag like his cheating father (yay for
Jonah's theoretical honor, although I think he cuts that
honor pretty finely).
Callie cheats her way onboard Jonas' salvage ship in
order to sabotage his quest, planning on helping her
brother-in-law get his revenge against the Cutter boys.
Callie had a really crappy childhood which made her develop
extreme loyalty to her brother-in-law. She tells herself
she'll do anything illegal for her brother-in-law short of
murder, which does not really recommend her to me.
Widowed Callie is pretending to still be married to keep
Jonah at arm's length so she can stay emotionally distanced
and betray Jonah more easily. But both Callie and Jonah
both have a bad case of insta-lust. From the second they
touch, they are both overwhelmed with the ferocity of their
desire for each other. Insta-lust is one of my least
favorite tropes, so I struggled with this book.
I think my biggest beef with most romantic suspense
books is the liberties taken with real life. Having read
nonfiction books about marine salvage, I feel that this
book definitely takes artistic license with what a salvage
project is like. There are also other incorrect details
like scuba diving errors. That sort of thing will pull me
out of my willing suspension of disbelief pretty fast. I
can be okay with believably crazed killers chasing the
heroine, but for goodness sake, give the setting some
verisimilitude. If you're good with ignoring little
niggles like that, there is plenty of action in STORMCHASER
to keep your heart rate elevated, though.
The first books in the Cutter
Cay series all got
high ratings from me. From what I recall of those first
three books in the series (it's been a while-book 3 was
published all the way back in 2012!), the original books in
the series were straight-up romantic suspense. In book 4,
STORMCHASER, Adair has introduced the supernatural. I
don't think the series benefits from it, and I hope that
book 5 goes back to reality. Despite the many issues I
have with the book, however, the adventure is gripping
enough that this book still earns three out of five stars
from me. If you like tension-ratcheted action and romance
in a beautiful setting, STORMCHASER may be just the book for
you.
No one charters the depths of passion on the high seas
like New York Times bestselling author Cherry
Adair
DESIRE RUNS DEEP
Somewhere off the coast of Greece, a king’s ransom in gold,
emeralds, and silver coins lies waiting at the bottom of the
sea. Finding this ancient treasure would be a dream come
true for marine archeologist Calista West. But that’s not
why she’s here. She didn’t climb aboard Jonah Cutter’s
magnificent yacht seeking fortune or fame. She’s come for
revenge—against the sexiest, most seductive, modern-day
pirate she’s ever encountered…
Like his famous half brothers, Jonah is a master of
salvaging ships—and driving women mad with his movie-star
looks and raw animal magnetism. Tall, dark, and devastating,
he manages to make Callie forget her mission. Every moment
they share under the hot Mediterranean sun is an
erotically-charged adventure neither can resist. But when
Callie discovers what he’s really after—the lost city of
Atlantis—is it too late to change the course of her heart…or
go all in with the lover of her dreams?