Ames’ review of High Passion by Vivian Arend.
LIFELINE: an elite search-and-rescue squad based out of Banff, Alberta. Specializing in high-risk rescue missions, this team goes wherever the job takes them…
Alisha Bailey left a life of privilege for the dangerous but thrilling world of search and rescue. Denying the lure of attraction to her teammate is another sacrifice she’s made to prove to everyone—including her family— that she’s more than a pretty face or a business commodity.
Since their training days, Devon Leblanc has used the competitive fire between them to hide his fascination with the petite beauty. When a natural disaster forces their rivalry aside, heated passion finally flares between them. Sexual pleasure slowly gives way to a new appreciation for each other’s skills—on the field and in the bedroom.
But when unexplained accidents begin happening to the Lifeline team, their newfound unity may be their only hope for survival…
I read and enjoyed High Risk last year, so it was a no brainer to pick up the second book in this series. Alisha and Devon are characters that were introduced in High Risk and you get a sense of the competitiveness between them, but it’s not necessary to read High Risk to enjoy High Passion. However, I have to recommend High Risk. It was enjoyable.
Alisha and Devon are both members of Lifeline, a search and rescue team based out of Banff, Alberta. (Major props to the Canadian setting!) These two were also classmates during SAR training and they definitely had a one-up thing going on. Devon was attracted from the get-go, but Alisha promptly turned him down, his playboy antics turning her off. She basically told him to grow up. And he’s been doing that ever since. Proving that he is a reliable team member and someone to count on.
Things turn interesting when on their latest rescue mission, Alisha has a bit of a panic attack. The circumstances are ones they haven’t come across before and her reaction was surprising, to both her and Devon. Devon agrees to hide it from the team (if he reports it Alisha could at worst be kicked off the team) on the condition that he works with Alisha to discover why she panicked. He wants to help her but he also wants to make sure she is safe to go out on another rescue mission. Alisha begrudgingly agrees, not wanting to put anyone at risk.
Working together to make sure she doesn’t have the same reaction, Alisha is forced to see that Devon is no longer that arrogant playboy, but someone she has learned to rely on over the last couple of years. And that’s enough for her to stop denying their attraction and do something about it. Unfortunately, their new friends with bennies thing coincides with the return of someone from Alisha’s past, a past that she’s tried hard to keep hidden from the team.
I enjoyed High Passion. I love the search and rescue aspect of it. It’s a high adrenaline job and it creates a nice dynamic for the characters. There’s a camaraderie that’s fun to read about. And Alisha and Devon had the kind of relationship where they teased and competed but it was all a front to hide their attraction. A not completely successful front. I like how Alisha’s panic opened the door for their relationship to change. At the heart of it, High Passion is a friends to lovers plot. And I like those. But both have a bit of baggage. Alisha’s has to do with her family and most especially her father. He thinks her being in Banff and doing SAR is just something she has to get out of her system before she can settle down and be the good little daughter he expects. That last thing Alisha wants out of life is to be the spoiled, little rich girl. But someone really wants her to come home, and will put the people around her at risk to do so.
Devon’s baggage is also family related. It’s not as threatening as Alisha’s, but it does affect the way he approaches relationships and sees himself. I like how these two coming together helped them both get over their family issues.
The conflict was external and I liked how it built up slowly as the romance progressed. It wasn’t in your face until all of a sudden it was and you realize how much of a threat it is. I thought that was well done and I’m glad it didn’t take over the romance.
All in all, High Passion has good characters, a fine romance and a convincingly suspenseful plot. Another solid read from Vivian Arend.
4 out of 5
This book is available from Berkley. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
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