INSTANT ATTRACTION

Author: Jill Shalvis ISBN: 9780758231239 2/2009 CONTEMPORARRY Publisher: KENSINGTON BRAVA

Get Wild…And Then Get Wilder… Accountant Katie Kramer is a quintessential good girl—working hard, recycling diligently, all the while trying to ignore the feeling that she doesn’t fit in anywhere. That’s all she wants. Well, that—and amazing sex, and the kind of daredevil escapade she can look back on when she’s crunching numbers in a dusty cubicle. Which explains why she just took a job in Wishful, California, working for Wilder Adventures and Expeditions. Waking up to find a magnificently built stranger towering over her bed—that part defies explanation… After wandering the planet for months following a life-changing accident, Cameron Wilder has come back to the only home he knows. Under other circumstances, he might be thrilled to find a gorgeous woman sleeping in his cabin, but now, while he’ll risk his body taking clients on adrenaline-drenched excursions, his heart is off limits. Still, Katie’s killer smile triggers something deep in his gut…among other places. Showing her how exhilarating it can be to stop balancing her life as if it was a checkbook is the biggest rush he’s ever felt—and an adventure Katie’s wishing would never end...

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

INSTANT ATTRACTION is the first book in the Wilder series. This novel is a straight-up contemporary romance of typical variety. Katie, the heroine, is on the run from her dull Los Angeles accounting life. She has post-traumatic stress from a bridge accident and wants to live “balls out” as a result. World champion snowboarder Cam was badly injured a year ago, the day he found out his girlfriend was cheating on him. He lost his career and girl and has been roaming the world ever since. He comes home to his family business in the Sierras the same day Katie takes a temp job there.

The best feature of the book is the setting. Shalvis makes it seem very real and I truly enjoyed the book as a travelogue. It made me want to get out and ride a snowmobile and ski.

Otherwise, it is pretty standard stuff. I think it suffers from minimal sub-plotting and a less than terrifically strong conflict between the main characters. If you love category romances with the addition of a great setting, you’d probably enjoy it a lot. Book two in the series is available now.

Heather Hiestand