High tide
(Large Type)

Longtime fans of Deveraux will rejoice that she is once again writing about the beloved Montgomery family, this time adding a twist and making the book a romantic suspense. Most people would jump at a chance to go to Florida during the winter on a business trip but not Fiona. Her boss must threaten to take away the doll that she created in order to make her go on a fishing trip to win the rights to produce the toys that will be associated with a new children's show. The show's developer, Roy Hudson, has requested that she and Ace Montgomery, owner of a bird preserve in the Everglades, go fishing with him. Already miserable about her trip to Florida, Fiona now has to contend with the lecherous Roy, who constantly notes her resemblance to Ava Gardner, and Ace, the Adonis that all Montgomery men are in a Deveraux book, with whom she constantly argues. Trapped in a dream that she is being smothered, Fiona wakes up to find a knife in her hand and Roy on top of her, quite dead. She goes into shock, and the next thing she knows, she and Ace are accused of murder, because Roy left everything to them. Now they must work together to find out what connection they have to Roy and to each other. As expected, our two heroes work out their differences while the reader enjoys every minute. --Patty Engelmann

"One night I went to bed and when I woke up, there was a dead man on top of me... " is only one of the problems faced by Fiona Burkenhalter, embattled heroine of Deveraux's latest novel. Fiona is a hotshot at Davidson Toys in New York, and she's the obsessed creator of Kimberly, a popular Barbie-like doll. She is furious and pouty when her boss forces her to leave her beloved Kimberly for three days to negotiate a deal with a client in the Florida Everglades. In the Fort Lauderdale airport, petulant Fiona sees a man being attacked by a giant alligator and springs into action, hurling a pink bowling ball case at the beast. The alligator, however, is a mechanical contraption, and it explodes. Fiona is arrested for her heroics, and the man who just saw her destroy his $15,000 investment has to be forcibly restrained from choking her to death. Upon her release Fiona embarks on her dreaded meeting with her client and his guide, a man named Ace Montgomery, hero of many previous Deveraux adventures. Ace turns out to be the same man whose alligator Fiona incinerated, so their antipathy begets the inevitable flying sparks that camouflage mutual attraction. When Fiona's client ends up stabbed to death in her bed , Ace acts fast: he drugs Fiona and drags her off to a hotel to hide and decide what their story is going to be. By morning their photographs are splashed across the front pages, fugitives wanted for the murder. Ace and Fiona go on the lam, bickering, wearing disguises and learning about each other as they try to outrun the police and unravel the mystery. Fast-paced, suspenseful and shot through with goofy humor, Deveraux's latest (The Blessing) adventure romance should please fans who like a low danger quotient, slap-happy dialogue and a corny but sassy love story. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Sent to the Everglades (of all places) to promote a new doll, Fiona Montgomery falls for the handsome river guideÄand then gets charged with murder. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

The latest from megaseller Deveraux (Rembrance, 1994) hits on a cleanly written meet-cute opening sure to hook her readers for the distance. Six-foot-tall doll-designer Fiona, whose Kimberly is the biggest seller since Barbie, meets ruggedly handsome Florida swamp guide Ace in the baggage claim area of the Fort Lauderdale airport, where Ace has his arm lodged up the mouth of an expensive animatronic alligator he's just picked up and wants to test. Thinking she's seeing a man being eaten alive by a wiggling alligator, Fiona creams the big lizard with a bowling ball, blowing it into costly pieces. After a night in jail, she goes off into the swamp with Ace but then finds herself involved in a murder. Dashing about undercover in the Everglades, Ace must clear up Kimberley's apparent guilt and catch the real killer. Of course, our heroine falls for Ace's swamp patter after some sex-tease scenes sketched with Deveraux's usual hard-breathing expertise. Should float to the top like a bar of soap in a hot tub.

Longtime fans of Deveraux will rejoice that she is once again writing about the beloved Montgomery family, this time adding a twist and making the book a romantic suspense. Most people would jump at a chance to go to Florida during the winter on a business trip but not Fiona. Her boss must threaten to take away the doll that she created in order to make her go on a fishing trip to win the rights to produce the toys that will be associated with a new children's show. The show's developer, Roy Hudson, has requested that she and Ace Montgomery, owner of a bird preserve in the Everglades, go fishing with him. Already miserable about her trip to Florida, Fiona now has to contend with the lecherous Roy, who constantly notes her resemblance to Ava Gardner, and Ace, the Adonis that all Montgomery men are in a Deveraux book, with whom she constantly argues. Trapped in a dream that she is being smothered, Fiona wakes up to find a knife in her hand and Roy on top of her, quite dead. She goes into shock, and the next thing she knows, she and Ace are accused of murder, because Roy left everything to them. Now they must work together to find out what connection they have to Roy and to each other. As expected, our two heroes work out their differences while the reader enjoys every minute. ((Reviewed October 15, 1999)) Copyright 2000 Booklist Reviews

Sent to the Everglades (of all places) to promote a new doll, Fiona Montgomery falls for the handsome river guideAand then gets charged with murder. Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

"One night I went to bed and when I woke up, there was a dead man on top of me... " is only one of the problems faced by Fiona Burkenhalter, embattled heroine of Deveraux's latest novel. Fiona is a hotshot at Davidson Toys in New York, and she's the obsessed creator of Kimberly, a popular Barbie-like doll. She is furious and pouty when her boss forces her to leave her beloved Kimberly for three days to negotiate a deal with a client in the Florida Everglades. In the Fort Lauderdale airport, petulant Fiona sees a man being attacked by a giant alligator and springs into action, hurling a pink bowling ball case at the beast. The alligator, however, is a mechanical contraption, and it explodes. Fiona is arrested for her heroics, and the man who just saw her destroy his $15,000 investment has to be forcibly restrained from choking her to death. Upon her release Fiona embarks on her dreaded meeting with her client and his guide, a man named Ace Montgomery, hero of many previous Deveraux adventures. Ace turns out to be the same man whose alligator Fiona incinerated, so their antipathy begets the inevitable flying sparks that camouflage mutual attraction. When Fiona's client ends up stabbed to death in her bed , Ace acts fast: he drugs Fiona and drags her off to a hotel to hide and decide what their story is going to be. By morning their photographs are splashed across the front pages, fugitives wanted for the murder. Ace and Fiona go on the lam, bickering, wearing disguises and learning about each other as they try to outrun the police and unravel the mystery. Fast-paced, suspenseful and shot through with goofy humor, Deveraux's latest (The Blessing) adventure romance should please fans who like a low danger quotient, slap-happy dialogue and a corny but sassy love story. (Nov.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.