Title: Scent of Danger Author: Andrea Kane
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: December 26, 2006
Publisher: Pocket Books
ASIN: B000FC0TUE
When Dylan Newport, a high-powered attorney for the company that manufacturers C'est Moi—the revolutionary fragrance that makes women irresistible to men—finds his boss, Carson Brooks, shot and nearly dead, he sets out to fulfill what may be the billionaire CEO's last wish: to find out whether a business deal he made twenty-eight years ago to start his company also resulted in his fathering a child.
Dylan's search leads him to Sabrina Radcliffe, a brilliant management consultant who is shocked to learn her father's identity. Yet when she meets Carson face-to-face, there's an instant connection. His appointing her interim CEO is the opportunity of a lifetime, until she becomes the target of his enemies. As suspects—and victims—begin to pile up, Sabrina turns to Dylan and finds that their own perfect chemistry is kindling into soul-deep desire. But first they must confront an elusive adversary intent on destroying everything—and everyone—they cherish.
My rating:
Carson Brooks, brilliant CEO of Ruisseau, a perfume company, is shot in his own Office, and has only his surrogate son, and company lawyer, Dylan Newport to thank for still being alive, since the two are the only ones in the building. But the bullet has done a lot more damage, and Carson's kidneys are failing. One of the options, and probably the only one, if his kidneys don't start working properly on their own, is a transplant, which could prove difficult.
Before getting shot, Carson has put Dylan on a secret mission, one that becomes a prerogative as the man awaits his fate. Twenty-eight years ago, Carson was paid twenty thousand dollars for his sperm, money that he put into creating his company. Lately, after hitting fifty, he's started to wonder whether there was a fruit his seed helped create, and wants to know the truth. Especially now, that his days may be numbered. Dylan, on the other hand, wants to know if Carson is a dad out of purely selfish reasons—an offspring could be a perfect donor.
Enter Sabrina Radcliffe. The intelligent, brilliant young woman knows how she came to be, but now, suddenly, she has a name and face to put in the place of the question mark as to who the sperm donor was. But as she decides to get to know her father, and become involved in his life and company, and as love suddenly and unexpectedly blossoms, there is someone determined to finish what was started with that shot at Ruisseau...No matter what it takes.
This one was even better than six years ago when I first read it. And yes, once again, it has left me speechless.
I loved every single word of it, the plot, the story, the characters, the tension, the mystery, the intrigue, the drama, the romance...Everything.
This wasn't as suspense-oriented as Andrea Kane's previous books, since mostly all the action happened in the first chapter, with Carson being shot. That was also the most quickly paced part of the book; the shot, the race to the hospital, the race to stabilize Carson and find the possible kidney donor...
The pacing quickly slowed after it, only picking up sporadically, when danger rose to the fore once again.
Yet, as it always happens in Andrea Kane's romantic suspense novels, the slower pace didn't deter from the overall enjoyment of the story. And it certainly didn't dull it down.
In fact, it helped immensely with the world-building, and the character- and story development. Because the focus wasn't on the suspense and/or mystery, the reader could enjoy the characters, the relationship and interactions between them.
The romance was a bit more prominent in this one, and although it could've been categorized as rushed (everything happening in the matter of two weeks), I'm going with Sabrina's explanation; everything happened so suddenly, and so quickly, the emotions were so heightened, it seemed a lot more time has passed. The romance and its plausibility, was also helped by the two amazing characters involved in it. Sabrina and Dylan were rather perfect for each other, equals, mature, self-confident, and secure with who, what and where they were.
And they had a wonderful matchmaker to back them up if something backfired. 😉 Carson Brooks was the star of this book, no doubt about it. He stole every scene he was in, even if the characters merely discussed him. I loved the guy to bits; his stubbornness, his bluntness, his humor, his love of life and his two children, his matchmaking skills, and his utter determination nothing would stand in his way, not even his defective kidneys.
...
This was an intense, emotional, and gripping story with a wonderful cast of characters, a well-developed plot with a subtle suspense element serving as the driving force of the entire story (it's what brought the three leads together), the mystery was intriguing, the investigation lead by two bullheaded detectives intense with multiple plausible suspects and loads of contradictory clues, the final motive for the shooting was a huge surprise, but also plausible (although I felt it was rather easily solved), the romantic tension was thick, the hotness factor high...
I absolutely loved it!
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