Billionaires Prefer Blondes

September 25, 2006
Fans of contemporary romantic capers will eat up the third tale of retired cat burglar Samantha Jellicoe and her British billionaire boyfriend, Rick Addison (following Don't Look Down
), who continue to steam up the windows of Rick's posh, Upper East Side New York City townhouse, where Sam has recently begun living. Between sexcapades, the odd couple find themselves in a sticky situation. While Rick wins a prized Hogarth painting at a Sotheby's auction, Samantha spies her father, Martin, "the grand master Jedi of cat burglars"—who's meant to have been dead for three years—lurking in the shadows. Not quite coincidentally, the Hogarth disappears from Rick's townhouse shortly thereafter. When Sam finally catches up with Martin, he has a proposition for her: a piece of the biggest heist he's ever pulled. The only problem is that Martin's working for Interpol, the heist is a setup, and the crew's muscle, Veittsreig, won't take no for an answer. Protective, straight-arrow Rick, unable to keep her out of trouble, decides to tag along for the crime, getting an intimate look at Sam's impressive extralegal skills. Much heavy-breathing sex and suspense follows, making this a winning continuation of a funny, frisky series.

Starred review from October 1, 2006
In the charming romp " Flirting with Danger" (2005), Enoch introduced art-thief Samantha Jellicoe and Rick Addison, her British multibillionaire lover, who also starred in " Don't "Look Down (2005). Now the plucky, "almost reformed" Samantha is back for a third caper, as is the still-long-suffering Rick. Even though she has decided to retire from her life as a thief, Samantha gets almost uncontrollable urges to break into posh places and take expensive things. Missing the adrenaline rush of criminal activity, she hangs onto her legitimate life with her fingernails. But now, Samantha has a much larger problem than her self-control--her supposedly dead father (and fellow thief) has shown up very much alive at a Sotheby's auction. Enoch hasn't lost any of her impetus. The plot is fast and fun, and her characters are superb. Like" The Thin Man"(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)