Amalie Vaughn was known as "The Flying Princess," and was
the star of the small circus she and her family worked for.
When a serial killer with a penchant for trapeze artists
picks Amalie as his next victim, she cleverly outwits him,
but at a substantial cost. Though not charged with any
crime, suspicion does fall on Amalie, and whether she was
truly the intended victim. Times are hard in the 1930's,
and the small circus can't withstand the scandal and
closes, leaving Amalie having to search for a new way to
make a living. She buys the Hidden Beach Inn, hoping to
transform it into a successful bed and breakfast in the town
of Burning Cove. She didn't realize that a noted Hollywood
psychic recently died there and that many think the place is
cursed. When her only guest, an inventor, is murdered during
a presentation in a most bizarre manner, the rumors about
Hidden Beach really escalate.
Matthias Jones is an engineer by trade. He also has the
unique talent of being a human lie detector, which he uses
in consulting jobs. Currently, he is in Burning Cove, on a
secret mission to track down a notorious turncoat spy, and a
valuable cipher machine. The trail has led to Dr. Pickwell,
the very inventor who has just been murdered. Matthias heads
to the Hidden Beach Inn, requesting to search the late
doctor's room, only to encounter a suspicious Amalie, who
doesn't see any reason to let this stranger into her dead
guest's room.
Though Amalie and Matthias get off to a mutually suspicious
and somewhat rocky start, they soon form a partnership due
to some threatening events that occur. It seems that
Amalie's would-be-murderer had an accomplice, one who's
determined to finish the job his partner failed to execute.
The action ramps up even further when Amalie and Matthias
have attempts made on their lives by the thwarted spy who is
determined to obtain the valuable cipher machine at any cost.
The adrenaline runs high, and soon, so does passion, as
Matthias and Amalie's relationship turns personal and very
steamy. There are certain things I expect from a book by
Amanda Quick -- a hero and heroine who are intelligent and
respect each other, and more than one mystery happening.
TIGHTROPE delivers this, as well as a strong romance.
Matthias has a vulnerability because of his ability to
detect lies, and finds that most people are afraid of, or
put off by this ability. They tend to discard him once they
get close enough to realize what he can do. He senses only
honesty and acceptance from Amalie, and their relationship
soon evolves from the physical to solid trust and genuine
love. TIGHTROPE is one of those books that flows along at a
great pace and held me captivated all the way through, and I
greatly enjoyed this latest installment in the BURNING
COVE series.
An unconventional woman and a man shrouded in mystery
walk a tightrope of desire as they race against a killer to
find a top secret invention before it's too
late.
Former trapeze artist Amalie Vaughn moved
to Burning Cove to reinvent herself, but things are not
going well. After spending her entire inheritance on a
mansion with the intention of turning it into a
bed-and-breakfast, she learns too late that the villa is
said to be cursed. When the first guest, Dr. Norman
Pickwell, is murdered by his robot invention during a
sold-out demonstration, rumors circulate that the curse is
real.
In the chaotic aftermath of the spectacle,
Amalie watches as a stranger from the audience disappears
behind the curtain. When Matthias Jones reappears, he is
slipping a gun into a concealed holster. It looks like the
gossip that is swirling around him is true—Matthias
evidently does have connections to the criminal
underworld.
Matthias is on the trail of a
groundbreaking prototype cipher machine. He suspects that
Pickwell stole the device and planned to sell it. But now
Pickwell is dead and the machine has vanished. When
Matthias's investigation leads him to Amalie's front door,
the attraction between them is intense, but she knows it is
also dangerous. Amalie and Matthias must decide if they can
trust each other and the passion that binds them, because
time is running out.
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