Windswept

April 21, 2014
The island paradise of Aruba, where Emily Harrington arrives on vacation from wintry Manhattan, stars in Ryan’s clunky romantic suspense novel. Emily is looking forward to being joined by her fiancé, Michael, currently detained in London, but it’s quickly obvious that do-gooder Emily is a poor match for him, an ambitious up-and-coming lawyer. On the island, much of the excitement comes from hard-drinking travel writer Roger Stirhew, who makes enemies faster than the staff can whip up signature cocktails. When Roger is killed, there’s no shortage of suspects, including his wife, resort owner Martin Maitland, society columnist Marietta St. John, and restaurateur Jon Peterson. Emily, who finds the body, may have glimpsed the killer and must therefore spend a lot of time with the relentless but charming Insp. Thomas Moller. Ryan (A Bucket of Ashes) relies heavily on her picturesque setting, making for a whodunit that’s longer on description than on suspense.

May 15, 2014
Murder mars a young New Yorker's Caribbean getaway.Emily Harrington has so looked forward to a prenuptial vacation with her fiance, Michael. But when a tricky business deal lures him to London, Emily decides that even on her own, sunny Aruba beats snowy Manhattan hands down. So she starts off for Island Bluffs by herself, hoping Michael will catch up in a day or two. Her first day is a knockout. Island Bluffs owners Martin and Anne Maitland take her under their wing, and soon, she finds herself seated at dinner with the Maitlands; socialite Marietta St. John; her companion, Nora; powerful restaurant critic Roger Stirhew; and his lovely young wife, Jessica. The next day, the Maitlands' daughter Sarah takes Emily to see her craft co-op in Oranjestad and then to lunch at her fiance's upscale bistro. In the afternoon, handsome, unattached Nick Marino takes her windsurfing. Aruba is perfect-if only Michael would shake loose of his business obligations so she could show it to him! As the week wears on, however, Emily begins to fret, not only about Michael's continuing absence, but about Roger the self-centered food critic's increasing boorishness. He picks fights with his wife, badgers his hosts and threatens other guests, until at long last, someone shoots him in the head. Since Emily's the one who finds his body, she has to endure endless interviews with the ultrapersistent Inspector Thomas Moller, who's determined to find Roger's killer before he or she can strike again.You know there's trouble in paradise when the heroine's fiance doesn't even have a last name. Romance lovers will be intrigued; mystery buffs may want to steer clear.

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June 1, 2014

A romantic getaway to Aruba turns into anything but for Emily Harrington and her fellow guests at a posh resort. Emily discovers a corpse near her beachside cottage; the victim is Roger Stirhew, a travel critic whose vitriolic prose and in-person antics make him the most hated man on the island. The local authorities correctly assume someone within the resort community killed Roger. Emily's somewhat blithe attitude toward her own safety (she may have seen the killer in the distance) has her straying into danger more than once, culminating in a dramatic finale. VERDICT Ryan's old-fashioned escapist read, while set at a leisurely pace, packs enough oomph to hold a reader's rapt attention. Her appealing resort patter is perfect for the contemporary closed-room drama. Pairs nicely with Carolyn Hart titles.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2014
Emily Harrington is planning to meet her fianc' in Aruba for a long-overdue relationship fix and an escape from the harsh New York winter. Instead, she finds herself involved with many eccentric resort guests and ends up as a potential witness to murder. It's clear almost from her first moments at the tropical paradise that fellow guest Roger, a restaurant critic, has lots of enemies at the resort. Still, Emily is shocked to find Roger's dead body, but she's hardly surprised that someone wanted to kill him. Emily also realizes, after talking with an intense detective, that she may have spotted the killer. Subsequent attempts on her life reinforce the idea that she holds the key to the case. Although somewhat slow paced (the murder doesn't occur until well into the plot), the story uses its island setting effectively, and Emily proves to be a captivating heroine as she gains strength and learns how to handle the danger and conflict in her life.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)