Third in the Daring
Heights series is once more for
rugged outdoors folks, this time with a kayaking expedition
to start. Mighty whales and heavy weather are only part of
the picture. Marin Reyes, the tour guide, is taking
plankton samples for biology studies -- and doing some
research of her own.
Readers of the series to date will recall Jake Ingles and
Joshua Chandler, so now we meet the third guy from their
computer science class at Harvard. Sam Pradzynski is
fascinated by Marin and delighted by a one-to-one kayaking
tour. He can afford it, and he's fit from his rock climbing
trips. But he realizes that the Latin American beauty is
not only skilled at martial arts, she's hiding some
activities. The company she keeps on islands is shady, the
information she seeks likely to get her killed. In fact,
Marin is intent on breaking into the compound of a slave
trader, who stole her two siblings years ago. Sam runs his
own security firm, but she doesn't want any help.
As someone who does not know the Canadian coasts and
islands mentioned, I had to Google the locations. Sidney is
not far from Vancouver, which is separated from Seattle and
the Olympic Peninsula by the stretches of water so
scenically described. (Also north of Forks, home of
TWILIGHT, which accounts for some of the weather.) Apart
from that I could almost hike and paddle around there
myself, given the detail in this story. To start with, the
two characters have individual tents, of course, but once
they end up sharing a tent you know which way the romance
is headed.
This is an adult romance with a great deal of mutual
respect and mutual support. I did think it was coincidental
that Sam's firm is into finding the lost, rather than
database architecture or something. But it's a novel. By
the end, it's a thriller. Author Madelon Smid lives by a
lake in Saskatchewan, so presumably gets plenty of kayaking
practice, and she brings both people and places to life
with great realism and character. If you have not
read CLIMBING HIGH and HIGH GROUND, you have a treat in
store. While HIGH SEAS can be read as a standalone, it
perfectly complements the earlier adventures.
Computer genius, Sam Pradzynski seeks missing people and property. Emotionally drained, he books a relaxing kayak trip and becomes caught up in the suspicious activities of his beautiful guide. Fascinated by a woman who believes protecting him is her job, he follows her lead, but questions her tactics. For eight years, marine biologist, Marin Reyes has searched for her young siblings. When she steals vital documents from the island compound of the war lord who abducted them, Sam and Marin are forced into a dangerous game of hide and seek. Trapped between her growing affection for Sam and her desperate need to save her siblings, Marin loses his trust. But love lifts the truth from loss, forcing Sam to re-evaluate, and seek the greatest treasure of all, the woman who holds his heart.
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