Tropical Getaway

January 1, 2003
Chef Ava Santori's world falls apart after she finds out her estranged younger brother, Marco, has been lost at sea. When the ambulance-chasing attorney who's setting up a class action suit against the cruise line hints that gross negligence caused the "accident," Ava decides to go to St. Barts and do a little investigating herself. Dane Erikson, owner of the cruise line and target of the lawsuit, is devastated by the loss of his crew, especially his friend Marco. Ava sets out determined to hate Dane, but the longer she's with him, the more unlikely it seems that he had anything to do with her brother's death. Eventually the two of them join forces to find out exactly what happened to the doomed ship. As their admiration, and, eventually, love, grow, so does the magnitude of the perils they face. Romance, danger, and adventure on the high seas in just the right combination makes St. Claire's debut a very impressive one. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)