~ finding the right voice ~
Having delivered two entertaining historical Wind Dancer novels, Johansen ( Storm Winds ) concludes her trilogy with a disappointing contemporary romance that collapses under the weight of its pretensions. A storm has destroyed half of the famous rosebushes on Caitlin Vasaro's estate in the South of France and endangered her plans to launch a new perfume when Alex Karazov rolls up in his Lamborghini with a proposition Caitlin can't refuse. He'll bankroll the perfume startup for a percentage of the profits and control of the campaign. Blinded by her growing affection for her savior, Caitlin is slow to realize that Alex (late of the KGB and CIA)stet ital has his own agenda: he wants her family heirloom, the Wind Dancer--a gold statue of Pegasus now in the possession of American politician Jonathan Andreas--as bait for his arch enemy, former CIA agent Brian Ledford. Besides having had Alex's best friend murdered, Ledford has been stealing artworks and staging terrorist acts to destabilize Europe and aid its newest aspiring Napoleon.