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Night of the Condor
Night Of The Condor by Sara Craven released on Oct 23, 1987 is available now for purchase.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
About the author
Sara Craven
494 books270 followersAnne Bushell was born on October 1938 in South Devon, England, just before World War II and grew up in a house crammed with books. She was always a voracious reader, some of her all-time favorites books are: "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen, "Middlemarch" by George Eliot, "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë, "Gone With the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell and "The Code of the Woosters" by P. G. Wodehouse.
She worked as journalist at the Paignton Observer, but after her marriage, she moved to the north of England, where she worked as teacher. After she returned to journalism, she joined the Middlesbrough Writers' Group, where she met other romance writer Mildred Grieveson (Anne Mather). She started to wrote romance, and she had her first novel "Garden of Dreams" accepted by Mills & Boon in 1975, she published her work under the pseudonym of Sara Craven. In 2010 she became chairman of the Southern Writers' Conference, and the next year was elected the twenty-six Chairman (2011–2013) of the Romantic Novelists' Association.
Divorced twice, Annie lives in Somerset, South West England, and shares her home with a West Highland white terrier called Bertie Wooster. In her house, she had several thousand books, and an amazing video collection. When she's not writing, she enjoys watching very old films, listening to music, going to the theatre, and eating in good restaurants. She also likes to travel in Europe, to inspire her romances, especially in France, Greece and Italy where many of her novels are set. Since the birth of her twin grandchildren, she is also a regular visitor to New York City, where the little tots live. In 1997, she was the overall winner of the BBC's Mastermind, winning the last final presented by Magnus Magnusson.
She worked as journalist at the Paignton Observer, but after her marriage, she moved to the north of England, where she worked as teacher. After she returned to journalism, she joined the Middlesbrough Writers' Group, where she met other romance writer Mildred Grieveson (Anne Mather). She started to wrote romance, and she had her first novel "Garden of Dreams" accepted by Mills & Boon in 1975, she published her work under the pseudonym of Sara Craven. In 2010 she became chairman of the Southern Writers' Conference, and the next year was elected the twenty-six Chairman (2011–2013) of the Romantic Novelists' Association.
Divorced twice, Annie lives in Somerset, South West England, and shares her home with a West Highland white terrier called Bertie Wooster. In her house, she had several thousand books, and an amazing video collection. When she's not writing, she enjoys watching very old films, listening to music, going to the theatre, and eating in good restaurants. She also likes to travel in Europe, to inspire her romances, especially in France, Greece and Italy where many of her novels are set. Since the birth of her twin grandchildren, she is also a regular visitor to New York City, where the little tots live. In 1997, she was the overall winner of the BBC's Mastermind, winning the last final presented by Magnus Magnusson.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 10, 2022
Boring, but the hero wasn’t too bad compared to other Cravens; her men seem to specialize in creepitude & douchebaggery, but either she was taking a break or her taste had mellowed by the late ‘80s. In short: Rourke was rude & (often) condescending, but he wasn’t a rapist or abuser.
…Alas, the whole thing never rises above mediocre. The plot was silly, but so far as vintage HP standards it wasn’t unbelievable. It was just…okay. *shrug* The MCs were…stock. The sexual tension was…formula.** The travelogue was…eh. The villainy was stupid & the side characters were cardboard standups from the Harlequin casting closet. The overall effect was bland oatmeal.
[Sidenote: One thing that really annoyed me was how everyone & their brother/mother/guinea pig knew that the OM was involved in drugs (because 1980s Peru), yet nobody thought she deserved to know this Critical Information despite her making such a herculean effort to reach him, & despite everyone respecting her for trying to not be a spoiled idiot, & despite nobody liking the OM even before he started shifting bricks of white powder. WHY?! Why did nobody tell her the truth & warn her of the danger? There’s no legit reason for their silence except as a feeble prop to maintain Leigh’s ignorance & prolong page count.]
The best part was the description of the festival & various condor sightings while trekking about the mountains. I’d hoped for legit discussion of Incan archaeology or depth of cultural contrast, but there’s little local color beyond the condors & token Scenes of Poverty(tm), both of which are kicked around by the OM’s predictable whinging & greed.
This is my third Craven & I’m starting to think she’s just not for me. 😶
**They spend most of the book hiking & bickering. Leigh was a bit of a bimbo, though she made an effort to grow her worldview. Even so, there’s no reason Rourke should’ve fallen in love except for his peen being drawn to delicate socialite flowers; apparently his ex-fiancée was also a spoiled, rich brat, so whatever. Everyone has a type, I guess. 😇
…Alas, the whole thing never rises above mediocre. The plot was silly, but so far as vintage HP standards it wasn’t unbelievable. It was just…okay. *shrug* The MCs were…stock. The sexual tension was…formula.** The travelogue was…eh. The villainy was stupid & the side characters were cardboard standups from the Harlequin casting closet. The overall effect was bland oatmeal.
[Sidenote: One thing that really annoyed me was how everyone & their brother/mother/guinea pig knew that the OM was involved in drugs (because 1980s Peru), yet nobody thought she deserved to know this Critical Information despite her making such a herculean effort to reach him, & despite everyone respecting her for trying to not be a spoiled idiot, & despite nobody liking the OM even before he started shifting bricks of white powder. WHY?! Why did nobody tell her the truth & warn her of the danger? There’s no legit reason for their silence except as a feeble prop to maintain Leigh’s ignorance & prolong page count.]
The best part was the description of the festival & various condor sightings while trekking about the mountains. I’d hoped for legit discussion of Incan archaeology or depth of cultural contrast, but there’s little local color beyond the condors & token Scenes of Poverty(tm), both of which are kicked around by the OM’s predictable whinging & greed.
This is my third Craven & I’m starting to think she’s just not for me. 😶
**They spend most of the book hiking & bickering. Leigh was a bit of a bimbo, though she made an effort to grow her worldview. Even so, there’s no reason Rourke should’ve fallen in love except for his peen being drawn to delicate socialite flowers; apparently his ex-fiancée was also a spoiled, rich brat, so whatever. Everyone has a type, I guess. 😇
August 7, 2016
Re Night of the Condor - SC is dragging us up the Peruvian Andes with an h who just won't quit and hikes up 13,500 feet of Andean mountainside to prove it.
The story starts with the 22 yr old h, who has more of dad's money than God, taking herself off to Peru to find her unhappy fiance. He had been sent there to work for a year as a test of his love by the h's dad. Plus dad wasn't too fond of the young man and he figured absence would cause the heart to forget, but I guess he forgot whose genetics his daughter had, cause she isn't taking the enforced separation any longer. The letters from her fiance sound more miserable with each epistle and she is going to rescue him, no matter if she has to take on cranky archaeologists, raging rivers, altitude sickness and Incan gods to do it.
She winds up in Lima and starts seeking ways to get to the remote native village where there is an ongoing archaeology dig and an attempt to help the native population. She finds out that there is a man at the hotel to see her, assuming it is her fiance, she tells the disapproving front desk to send him on up to her room. She gussies herself up and is awaiting a joyous reunion, but when she flings open the door, it isn't her fiance standing there. Instead it is a man who could be comparable to an Incan god with the most arresting eyes imaginable. He is the director of the archaeology/native aid project and he is NOT happy to see her. He tells her that her fiance has run off with a mule, and while the mule is sorely missed, the fiance was pretty useless and totally not wanted.
The h doesn't care, it is her fiance and she wants him, preferably delivered clean and shaven and smelling like Drakkar and it should have happened yesterday. Mr. Incan God archaeologist is not impressed. Dad's money isn't an influence with him, even though dad is paying for the project and Mr. Incan God is willing to bet that dad isn't too happy about the h's little sojourn either. The h loses her temper and kicks him out. Then she sets to scheming. She tries every thing she can think of to get to the remote archy dig, but it is a no go. So she decides to use her bodacious flirty charm to get Mr. Incan God to take her with him.
She goes to his office and waits around, but he had other plans for the morning, so the h leaves a note inviting him to dinner. Then we get some Inca and Peruvian tourism and we find out the the h DOES NOT APPROVE of Pizzaro ( the guy that killed the last Incan king after stealing a ton of gold from him,) so we know that the h is culturally aware now too and not just another pretty English party girl. Mr. Incan God shows up as planned and the h is dressed to impress and doles out the charm like a geisha. Except the Mr. Incan God doesn't offer her a place on his mule up the mountains, he sweeps her up off to her bed instead. The h is somewhat flabbergasted to say the least, she isn't sleeping with ANYBODY - not even to save her fiance. The H leaves after a few salacious and kinda mean comments and so the h is back to scheming, after she gets most of her clothes back on.
Her plan is simple, she will join an organized excursion to Machu Picchu and then from there she will either hire a jeep or find a mule and camping stuff and set off for the dig site. Her plan goes fairly well on the Machu Picchu part, and then she starts running into a bit of trouble. She gets conned on the poor mule she buys, she has to camp out all alone and she doesn't really have hiking boots that work. She doesn't keep her gear in her tent, so when she wakes up in the morning all her stuff has been stolen. She winds up looking for the next village and she only has her handbag, she had to leave her tent and her sleeping bag behind.
Then she runs into Mr. Incan God and she has a horrible headache too, he is harnessing up a mule at a native house and she thinks it is hers that he has stolen. She runs up full of accusations and in the tradition of good HP h's everywhere, she passes out after delivering a scathing diatribe. This h actually has a reason to pass out tho, her headache and illness is from altitude sickness. She did not acclimatize in Cuzco and now she is suffering for it. The H and the people he is staying with nurse her over the next three days - SC throws in the traditional native treatment of using Coca leaf tea for altitude sickness and here is where her research comes through, she actually gets it right and has the H explain that yes you can make cocaine out of it, but in unprocessed leaf form, it is a mild stimulant and tonic for various ailments and it is non addictive and won't get you high.
The H also tells her she has to go back to civilization, but the h swears that Mr. Incan God or not, she will trail along in his footsteps if he won't take her with him. The H reluctantly agrees and they start their trek. Mr. Incan God is Mr. Crankypants all the way, even tho the h manage to impress him by not freaking out when she was admiring the cute little guinea pigs the couple they were staying with kept and wondering how they could afford to keep pets and the H asked her what she thought was in the stew. (Word to the travelers here, if you go to Peru or Machu Picchu don't eat the cuy, get the vegetarian option - srsly- meat is not readily available in cow form and most of the natives rely on vegetative proteins so they are really good at cooking vegetarian style and most dishes are quite tasty with no guinea pigs being harmed.)
The H and h are trekking along, the h is valiantly keeping up even tho this whole experience is completely outside her realm of prior existence and then she starts getting feet blisters. She doesn't have any way to treat them, so she just keeps moving and trying not think about it. Then she finds out she has to share a tent with the H when he crawls in after her and she isn't too delighted. However sleeping outside isn't a good idear with all the insects and even worse when it starts to storm. The h is afraid of thunderstorms, so the H hold her hand to be nice while she drifts off to sleep. In the morning she wakes up wrapped up in the H's arms, he sleepily calls out the name "Isabella" and that makes the h sit right up and slap the H awake too.
He starts a little seduction attempt and when the h protests, he asks her why shouldn't he get some compensation for his trouble. The h flatly delivers the line that she isn't "Isabella" and the H backs off, in a really cranky mood. The h is satisfied she finally got some payback, tho to be fair she had been flirting her little tail off earlier cause she figured the H was trying to put the moves on her to make go home at the behest of her dad. So the little minx was tormenting him a bit, but during the seduction attempt, the H made it clear he never met her dad and did not care.
The trekking begins again and soon the H and h are at a big raging river, the h is bathing her feet and the H is rather unhappy that she did not tell him about them. Mainly cause hiking with blistered feet can be very, very bad. Too bad the h did not know about the wonders of duct tape, she could have carried some in her handbag. So now the h has to ride the mule, but there is a raging river to forge. The H finds a spot and he and the mule make it across fine. The h strips off her outer clothes and goes to follow, holding her little bundle above her head. But tragedy strikes, the h missteps and loses her balance and gets swept away down the river. She manages to grab a tree branch and the H pulls her out. Everyone is shaking, (except for the mule, who had a spot of lunch) and the h and H have a passionate kissing moment.
Then the h has to explain she lost her clothes. The H is not happy at all, he lends her a shirt and hands her a blanket, so the trekking stars up again with h on the mule and one really angry Incan god lookalike. They make to the next village where the doctor there is a friend of the H. The h gets some borrowed clothes and when she is ready to rejoin the H, she hears his friend going on to the H about how useless women like her are and reminding the H of Isabella. The h wanders off again and then joins the H and Dr friend for dinner later, where they mostly ignore her.
The h falls asleep, but wakes up in time for the village's fiesta - it is an reenactment of the battle between the Conquistadors and the Incans symbolized by a dance fight between a dancer wearing a bull mask and a dancer wearing a condor mask. The condor is the spirit bird of the native Peruvian people - it is the only bird strong enough to fly to heaven and take messages to the gods. (In fact Machu Picchu was built in the form of a condor flying west - the gateway to the gods.) The villagers are performing the dance in order to invoke the old gods to help out their harvests and there is a lot tension running through the crowd as it looks like the condor might be vanquished by the bull (the dancers are really fighting with the bull horns of the mask and beak of the condor,) but the condor wins in the end and the H and h are transported by the night and physical attraction.
They wind up celebrating the victory in a very elemental way and the H gives the h his pinky gold signet ring to wear. There is a night of love but the H doesn't want to know the h in the morning and the h is now sick with love, so she gives the ring back. Then the h goes off to have breakfast with the H's Dr. friend.
We find out Isabella was another society rich party lady who was engaged to the H, until she realized that he loves his archaeology dig and helping the native people far too much to leave. They broke up and the h is aware of the fact that to the H, she is just another ignorant party girl. Still, she has to collect her now ex-fiance, he may be stealing cultural artifacts, but it is partly her fault he is there and she needs to get him out of there.
They finally make it to the village and the dig site. The h's fiance has returned, with the mule, but while everyone is happy to see the mule, no one likes or wants the ex fiance around. Too bad, says the h, she trekked this far and her dad's money is running the place, she wants to see what is going on. The h is very sad tho, cause the H is avoiding her like the plague and there is a lady in the camp that is probably his Spanish on site lover. The h makes herself useful to the nurse who is tending to the native ladies and innerly moping about her unrequited love for the H. She let the fiance know that she wasn't that into him anymore and that she wants him to give back what ever artifacts he stole, she thinks he might have found some Incan gold.
The H and h meet up again while she is bathing in the river and they wind up lost on the shores of transcendental physical passion again when the H tells her the police are coming for her ex. The h decides she has to get the ex away, she feels guilty he is there and she decides to make him give back the artifacts or gold that he stole too. Maybe the police will just kick him out of the country if she can give the things back and promises that he won't do that again. As much as the h doesn't like him and his nasty attitude towards the natives anymore, she still doesn't want to see him in the really bad prison in Lima.
The h smuggles some food in a pack for the ex, she is trying to convince him to turn over his relic stash when the Spanish girl the h thought was hooking up with the H shows up and we find out that she is actually the ex's lover. The ex hasn't been stealing priceless Incan artifacts, he has been smuggling coke and the h is horrified. She is even more horrified when the ex knocks his lover out and drags the h off on his escape. The h has no clue where they are going, but she knows it isn't good and then she sees a condor above her and she starts singing to it, hoping the condor will take a message to the H.
Then the ex gets shot on the precipice of a big cliff, the h falls off the side and lands on a ledge, but the ex is definitely not gonna make it. The h hears someone searching above her, she keeps really quiet and pretends she is dead too, until the person goes away. Then some time later the H and her father show up and the h is saved. She has to recover for a week and all the while her dad is going on about how the H insisted on tracking her and the ex by following a giant condor. The h is missing the H and wondering if she will ever see him again when he shows up and tells her he quit his position on the dig to follow her wherever. He proposes and she will only accept if he takes his job back and they hang out there together. The H is overjoyed and swears true love and the h swears true love back. They get on with the lurve clubbing for a condor approved HPlandia HEA.
This one was good and the h was no doormat at all, there was some really funny parts and SC did a great job on the journey part of the book. I liked how she worked in a lot of native belief and I liked how she had the h grow up and learn some self reliance. The H was pretty good too and for once he wasn't overbearingly mean or cruel. I believed the HEA on this one a I fully recommend it for a great HP road trip read.
The story starts with the 22 yr old h, who has more of dad's money than God, taking herself off to Peru to find her unhappy fiance. He had been sent there to work for a year as a test of his love by the h's dad. Plus dad wasn't too fond of the young man and he figured absence would cause the heart to forget, but I guess he forgot whose genetics his daughter had, cause she isn't taking the enforced separation any longer. The letters from her fiance sound more miserable with each epistle and she is going to rescue him, no matter if she has to take on cranky archaeologists, raging rivers, altitude sickness and Incan gods to do it.
She winds up in Lima and starts seeking ways to get to the remote native village where there is an ongoing archaeology dig and an attempt to help the native population. She finds out that there is a man at the hotel to see her, assuming it is her fiance, she tells the disapproving front desk to send him on up to her room. She gussies herself up and is awaiting a joyous reunion, but when she flings open the door, it isn't her fiance standing there. Instead it is a man who could be comparable to an Incan god with the most arresting eyes imaginable. He is the director of the archaeology/native aid project and he is NOT happy to see her. He tells her that her fiance has run off with a mule, and while the mule is sorely missed, the fiance was pretty useless and totally not wanted.
The h doesn't care, it is her fiance and she wants him, preferably delivered clean and shaven and smelling like Drakkar and it should have happened yesterday. Mr. Incan God archaeologist is not impressed. Dad's money isn't an influence with him, even though dad is paying for the project and Mr. Incan God is willing to bet that dad isn't too happy about the h's little sojourn either. The h loses her temper and kicks him out. Then she sets to scheming. She tries every thing she can think of to get to the remote archy dig, but it is a no go. So she decides to use her bodacious flirty charm to get Mr. Incan God to take her with him.
She goes to his office and waits around, but he had other plans for the morning, so the h leaves a note inviting him to dinner. Then we get some Inca and Peruvian tourism and we find out the the h DOES NOT APPROVE of Pizzaro ( the guy that killed the last Incan king after stealing a ton of gold from him,) so we know that the h is culturally aware now too and not just another pretty English party girl. Mr. Incan God shows up as planned and the h is dressed to impress and doles out the charm like a geisha. Except the Mr. Incan God doesn't offer her a place on his mule up the mountains, he sweeps her up off to her bed instead. The h is somewhat flabbergasted to say the least, she isn't sleeping with ANYBODY - not even to save her fiance. The H leaves after a few salacious and kinda mean comments and so the h is back to scheming, after she gets most of her clothes back on.
Her plan is simple, she will join an organized excursion to Machu Picchu and then from there she will either hire a jeep or find a mule and camping stuff and set off for the dig site. Her plan goes fairly well on the Machu Picchu part, and then she starts running into a bit of trouble. She gets conned on the poor mule she buys, she has to camp out all alone and she doesn't really have hiking boots that work. She doesn't keep her gear in her tent, so when she wakes up in the morning all her stuff has been stolen. She winds up looking for the next village and she only has her handbag, she had to leave her tent and her sleeping bag behind.
Then she runs into Mr. Incan God and she has a horrible headache too, he is harnessing up a mule at a native house and she thinks it is hers that he has stolen. She runs up full of accusations and in the tradition of good HP h's everywhere, she passes out after delivering a scathing diatribe. This h actually has a reason to pass out tho, her headache and illness is from altitude sickness. She did not acclimatize in Cuzco and now she is suffering for it. The H and the people he is staying with nurse her over the next three days - SC throws in the traditional native treatment of using Coca leaf tea for altitude sickness and here is where her research comes through, she actually gets it right and has the H explain that yes you can make cocaine out of it, but in unprocessed leaf form, it is a mild stimulant and tonic for various ailments and it is non addictive and won't get you high.
The H also tells her she has to go back to civilization, but the h swears that Mr. Incan God or not, she will trail along in his footsteps if he won't take her with him. The H reluctantly agrees and they start their trek. Mr. Incan God is Mr. Crankypants all the way, even tho the h manage to impress him by not freaking out when she was admiring the cute little guinea pigs the couple they were staying with kept and wondering how they could afford to keep pets and the H asked her what she thought was in the stew. (Word to the travelers here, if you go to Peru or Machu Picchu don't eat the cuy, get the vegetarian option - srsly- meat is not readily available in cow form and most of the natives rely on vegetative proteins so they are really good at cooking vegetarian style and most dishes are quite tasty with no guinea pigs being harmed.)
The H and h are trekking along, the h is valiantly keeping up even tho this whole experience is completely outside her realm of prior existence and then she starts getting feet blisters. She doesn't have any way to treat them, so she just keeps moving and trying not think about it. Then she finds out she has to share a tent with the H when he crawls in after her and she isn't too delighted. However sleeping outside isn't a good idear with all the insects and even worse when it starts to storm. The h is afraid of thunderstorms, so the H hold her hand to be nice while she drifts off to sleep. In the morning she wakes up wrapped up in the H's arms, he sleepily calls out the name "Isabella" and that makes the h sit right up and slap the H awake too.
He starts a little seduction attempt and when the h protests, he asks her why shouldn't he get some compensation for his trouble. The h flatly delivers the line that she isn't "Isabella" and the H backs off, in a really cranky mood. The h is satisfied she finally got some payback, tho to be fair she had been flirting her little tail off earlier cause she figured the H was trying to put the moves on her to make go home at the behest of her dad. So the little minx was tormenting him a bit, but during the seduction attempt, the H made it clear he never met her dad and did not care.
The trekking begins again and soon the H and h are at a big raging river, the h is bathing her feet and the H is rather unhappy that she did not tell him about them. Mainly cause hiking with blistered feet can be very, very bad. Too bad the h did not know about the wonders of duct tape, she could have carried some in her handbag. So now the h has to ride the mule, but there is a raging river to forge. The H finds a spot and he and the mule make it across fine. The h strips off her outer clothes and goes to follow, holding her little bundle above her head. But tragedy strikes, the h missteps and loses her balance and gets swept away down the river. She manages to grab a tree branch and the H pulls her out. Everyone is shaking, (except for the mule, who had a spot of lunch) and the h and H have a passionate kissing moment.
Then the h has to explain she lost her clothes. The H is not happy at all, he lends her a shirt and hands her a blanket, so the trekking stars up again with h on the mule and one really angry Incan god lookalike. They make to the next village where the doctor there is a friend of the H. The h gets some borrowed clothes and when she is ready to rejoin the H, she hears his friend going on to the H about how useless women like her are and reminding the H of Isabella. The h wanders off again and then joins the H and Dr friend for dinner later, where they mostly ignore her.
The h falls asleep, but wakes up in time for the village's fiesta - it is an reenactment of the battle between the Conquistadors and the Incans symbolized by a dance fight between a dancer wearing a bull mask and a dancer wearing a condor mask. The condor is the spirit bird of the native Peruvian people - it is the only bird strong enough to fly to heaven and take messages to the gods. (In fact Machu Picchu was built in the form of a condor flying west - the gateway to the gods.) The villagers are performing the dance in order to invoke the old gods to help out their harvests and there is a lot tension running through the crowd as it looks like the condor might be vanquished by the bull (the dancers are really fighting with the bull horns of the mask and beak of the condor,) but the condor wins in the end and the H and h are transported by the night and physical attraction.
They wind up celebrating the victory in a very elemental way and the H gives the h his pinky gold signet ring to wear. There is a night of love but the H doesn't want to know the h in the morning and the h is now sick with love, so she gives the ring back. Then the h goes off to have breakfast with the H's Dr. friend.
We find out Isabella was another society rich party lady who was engaged to the H, until she realized that he loves his archaeology dig and helping the native people far too much to leave. They broke up and the h is aware of the fact that to the H, she is just another ignorant party girl. Still, she has to collect her now ex-fiance, he may be stealing cultural artifacts, but it is partly her fault he is there and she needs to get him out of there.
They finally make it to the village and the dig site. The h's fiance has returned, with the mule, but while everyone is happy to see the mule, no one likes or wants the ex fiance around. Too bad, says the h, she trekked this far and her dad's money is running the place, she wants to see what is going on. The h is very sad tho, cause the H is avoiding her like the plague and there is a lady in the camp that is probably his Spanish on site lover. The h makes herself useful to the nurse who is tending to the native ladies and innerly moping about her unrequited love for the H. She let the fiance know that she wasn't that into him anymore and that she wants him to give back what ever artifacts he stole, she thinks he might have found some Incan gold.
The H and h meet up again while she is bathing in the river and they wind up lost on the shores of transcendental physical passion again when the H tells her the police are coming for her ex. The h decides she has to get the ex away, she feels guilty he is there and she decides to make him give back the artifacts or gold that he stole too. Maybe the police will just kick him out of the country if she can give the things back and promises that he won't do that again. As much as the h doesn't like him and his nasty attitude towards the natives anymore, she still doesn't want to see him in the really bad prison in Lima.
The h smuggles some food in a pack for the ex, she is trying to convince him to turn over his relic stash when the Spanish girl the h thought was hooking up with the H shows up and we find out that she is actually the ex's lover. The ex hasn't been stealing priceless Incan artifacts, he has been smuggling coke and the h is horrified. She is even more horrified when the ex knocks his lover out and drags the h off on his escape. The h has no clue where they are going, but she knows it isn't good and then she sees a condor above her and she starts singing to it, hoping the condor will take a message to the H.
Then the ex gets shot on the precipice of a big cliff, the h falls off the side and lands on a ledge, but the ex is definitely not gonna make it. The h hears someone searching above her, she keeps really quiet and pretends she is dead too, until the person goes away. Then some time later the H and her father show up and the h is saved. She has to recover for a week and all the while her dad is going on about how the H insisted on tracking her and the ex by following a giant condor. The h is missing the H and wondering if she will ever see him again when he shows up and tells her he quit his position on the dig to follow her wherever. He proposes and she will only accept if he takes his job back and they hang out there together. The H is overjoyed and swears true love and the h swears true love back. They get on with the lurve clubbing for a condor approved HPlandia HEA.
This one was good and the h was no doormat at all, there was some really funny parts and SC did a great job on the journey part of the book. I liked how she worked in a lot of native belief and I liked how she had the h grow up and learn some self reliance. The H was pretty good too and for once he wasn't overbearingly mean or cruel. I believed the HEA on this one a I fully recommend it for a great HP road trip read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 8, 2016
Leigh has come to Peru because her fiancé has stopped answering her letters. A little while ago, she met this great guy and he was all dashing and charming. Daddy didn’t like him. Leigh’s dad is wealthy and has fingers in many pies. To prove himself worthy of Leigh, the fiancé is given a job on a project in the Andes to build housing for locals displaced by an archaeological dig. Initially the fiancé chose to be amused. How droll, your father is sending me to South America to make me into a man, he would write to Leigh, well, anything for you darling!
Then, the tone of his letters changed. He got all bitter and paranoid and erratic. Nobody liked him. The living conditions were primitive. His boss, this archaeology guy named Rourke, was being super mean. Then, the letters stopped altogether.
Now, Leigh’s a stubborn person and she wants her fiancé, regardless of what Daddy says about him. She’s prepared for it not to be that easy to get to him and get him out. She’s prepared to be outraged and impatient about it. She’s even, when she meets Rourke and he’s crap to her and she’s crap back, prepared to invite him up to her room and get her flirt on, to see if it makes any difference. It doesn’t. Or, at least not in the way she’d hoped.
Leigh is another one of Sara Craven’s spoiled princess heroines who are most admirable because they are super confident and won’t give up. I like a spoiled princess, especially when she’s scheming and has a fundamental conviction in her own abilities to take on anything and make the world over to her liking. Without getting overly whiny or stroppy about it along the way. Her fiancé has disappeared, she’s getting no help. If Rourke won’t help her, if the entire male population of Peru shows up to threaten to rape her, it doesn’t matter. Leigh’s got a bee in her bonnet, and she’s going to get the job done. Rourke refuses to take her out to the dig site? No problem, she can get herself out there. And, she’s insistent that she wants the fiancé, even though she’s fighting her attraction to Mr September on the sexy archaeologist calendar.
Rourke is chock full of glares and sneers, veiled threats and punishing kisses. He naturally finds Leigh irresistible, and also naturally thinks she’s a terrible person. Hang on, why? Oh, he’s not going to say. Nobody’s going to say. Instead, they’re going to eye off Leigh and whisper to each other. They’re going to suddenly break off conversations whenever she enters a room. Leigh’s fiancé had hinted to her that he was planning a bit of artefact smuggling, so she thinks maybe it’s about that, but she’s going to make sure that he doesn’t do it, and anyway, why do they think she’s involved at all? She’s been sitting around in England, waiting to get letters, not plotting to deprive the indigenous population of their cultural artefacts.
Of course, the fiancé turns out to be heaps villainous, and Leigh finds out about it after she’d already decided she wasn’t into him. That order of discovery is very important, because the heroine can’t look like too much of an idiot, or too much like she’s transferring to the hero on the rebound. She also can’t look too much like an indecisive ho, so most of the hotness between Leigh and Rourke is at a simmer.
Leigh has lots of dangerous adventures and gets to see a condor up close. I didn’t like this one quite as much as Craven’s other Romancing the Stone – adjacent romance (Flame of Diablo), because that one had far more crazy fun. I felt frustrated for Leigh. I thought she was incredibly confident and very capable at adjusting to a very different lifestyle than her own. I think she would have been fine, except the whole secrecy and the way the other characters, including Rourke, shunned her, was emotionally devastating. She didn’t deserve it.
Then, the tone of his letters changed. He got all bitter and paranoid and erratic. Nobody liked him. The living conditions were primitive. His boss, this archaeology guy named Rourke, was being super mean. Then, the letters stopped altogether.
Now, Leigh’s a stubborn person and she wants her fiancé, regardless of what Daddy says about him. She’s prepared for it not to be that easy to get to him and get him out. She’s prepared to be outraged and impatient about it. She’s even, when she meets Rourke and he’s crap to her and she’s crap back, prepared to invite him up to her room and get her flirt on, to see if it makes any difference. It doesn’t. Or, at least not in the way she’d hoped.
Leigh is another one of Sara Craven’s spoiled princess heroines who are most admirable because they are super confident and won’t give up. I like a spoiled princess, especially when she’s scheming and has a fundamental conviction in her own abilities to take on anything and make the world over to her liking. Without getting overly whiny or stroppy about it along the way. Her fiancé has disappeared, she’s getting no help. If Rourke won’t help her, if the entire male population of Peru shows up to threaten to rape her, it doesn’t matter. Leigh’s got a bee in her bonnet, and she’s going to get the job done. Rourke refuses to take her out to the dig site? No problem, she can get herself out there. And, she’s insistent that she wants the fiancé, even though she’s fighting her attraction to Mr September on the sexy archaeologist calendar.
Rourke is chock full of glares and sneers, veiled threats and punishing kisses. He naturally finds Leigh irresistible, and also naturally thinks she’s a terrible person. Hang on, why? Oh, he’s not going to say. Nobody’s going to say. Instead, they’re going to eye off Leigh and whisper to each other. They’re going to suddenly break off conversations whenever she enters a room. Leigh’s fiancé had hinted to her that he was planning a bit of artefact smuggling, so she thinks maybe it’s about that, but she’s going to make sure that he doesn’t do it, and anyway, why do they think she’s involved at all? She’s been sitting around in England, waiting to get letters, not plotting to deprive the indigenous population of their cultural artefacts.
Of course, the fiancé turns out to be heaps villainous, and Leigh finds out about it after she’d already decided she wasn’t into him. That order of discovery is very important, because the heroine can’t look like too much of an idiot, or too much like she’s transferring to the hero on the rebound. She also can’t look too much like an indecisive ho, so most of the hotness between Leigh and Rourke is at a simmer.
Leigh has lots of dangerous adventures and gets to see a condor up close. I didn’t like this one quite as much as Craven’s other Romancing the Stone – adjacent romance (Flame of Diablo), because that one had far more crazy fun. I felt frustrated for Leigh. I thought she was incredibly confident and very capable at adjusting to a very different lifestyle than her own. I think she would have been fine, except the whole secrecy and the way the other characters, including Rourke, shunned her, was emotionally devastating. She didn’t deserve it.
review-of-cover-only
September 10, 2022Not the best not the worst SC. With a few exceptions I find her stories and those of most every other M&B/Hqn author distractingly cringe worthy when they're set in "exotic" locales. The cover by Ted Sizemore is really lovely though.
September 11, 2022
I didn't mind this one, although not generally a fan of the exotic trek through inhospitable lands with H being reluctant guide and h being spoilt brat starting to toughen up and learn. Rourke is a fairly decent H and Leigh improves as the story proceeds. My romantic soul can never overcome the practical negative issues that would arise in such a setting. The fiance is suitably horrible, being intent on getting rich quick and not by trading in Inca artifacts as the h suspects, and the denouement as expected for something set on the Peru/Colombia border. It was fine.
August 30, 2012
The heroine was going to marry a different man than the hero. When the heroine went in search for her fiance she met the hero, only for him to be absolutely cruel to her. When she took off on her own to find her fiance she got terribly lost, only for the hero to find her. The hero refused to help her find her fiance and seduced her. She fell in love..
It was an okay read, nothing specifically special. I had an immediate dislike to the hero.
It was an okay read, nothing specifically special. I had an immediate dislike to the hero.
July 31, 2021
She looks desperate to me. He rejects her again and again and she keeps coming at him again and again.
During their first night together (she was a virgin), he gives her the ring he was wearing so that she wouldn’t feel as naked. And the next day, after he acts cold, she gives him his ring back. And he accepts the ring. Bleh. What kind of man takes back a gift. And that morning after is a nightmare for every woman how he behaves then.
During their first night together (she was a virgin), he gives her the ring he was wearing so that she wouldn’t feel as naked. And the next day, after he acts cold, she gives him his ring back. And he accepts the ring. Bleh. What kind of man takes back a gift. And that morning after is a nightmare for every woman how he behaves then.
November 9, 2014
the start was hilarious! i enjoyed it very much but the book quickly went downhill as they travelled to the dig. i got bored! leigh was too much the spoiled socialite to change overnight. it did not make sense dat she actually wanted to stay there! even love is not enough in some cases.
December 23, 2012
Interesting, but it could have been much better.
The best of the book; the exotic condor celebration (opposed to a bull)
The best of the book; the exotic condor celebration (opposed to a bull)
April 19, 2018
The girl is a rich and wilful brat. Chooses to run behind her boyfriend to far away Peru.
Before she finds the useless guy, she finds a hot Spaniard.It's a no brainer whom she finally settles for !
The Spaniard is a hot hunk, stinking rich and incharge of some major Peruvian project. While the poor boyfriend is a weakling, a drug peddler and also sleeps around. He works in the same project.
The girl meets with a million adventures before getting to her HEA. Swept of a mighty river, injuries, bad food, tough living conditions. And last of all, the slimy boyfriend uses her as bait to escape before being arrested.
But not to worry, the hero is never far away. He does more of rescuing than actual project work.
And in between times, teaches her how to DO IT on a comfortable bed, on the barren floor, out in the open, and many other inventive places. And she loves it !
Bold and brazen heroine but is gritty. Hot and sexy hero who is crazy about the girl. Good enough for me.
3 stars.
Before she finds the useless guy, she finds a hot Spaniard.It's a no brainer whom she finally settles for !
The Spaniard is a hot hunk, stinking rich and incharge of some major Peruvian project. While the poor boyfriend is a weakling, a drug peddler and also sleeps around. He works in the same project.
The girl meets with a million adventures before getting to her HEA. Swept of a mighty river, injuries, bad food, tough living conditions. And last of all, the slimy boyfriend uses her as bait to escape before being arrested.
But not to worry, the hero is never far away. He does more of rescuing than actual project work.
And in between times, teaches her how to DO IT on a comfortable bed, on the barren floor, out in the open, and many other inventive places. And she loves it !
Bold and brazen heroine but is gritty. Hot and sexy hero who is crazy about the girl. Good enough for me.
3 stars.
July 14, 2020
Least favourite so far of SC
June 4, 2021
Love led her down a different path
Leigh Frazier, impatient at the separation imposed by her father, went to join her fiance. Getting to Peru was no problem. However, she discovered that getting to the archaeological dig in the high Andes, where he was stationed, was almost impossible.
Her womanly wiles failed to persuade Rourke Martinez, a returning archaeologist, to help her, and she misguidedly set out on her own.
When Rourke rescued her, he did help her--but not to find her fiance rather to forget him in a new and dangerous embrace. For under the magical spell of the Andes, real love changed Leigh's life..
Leigh Frazier, impatient at the separation imposed by her father, went to join her fiance. Getting to Peru was no problem. However, she discovered that getting to the archaeological dig in the high Andes, where he was stationed, was almost impossible.
Her womanly wiles failed to persuade Rourke Martinez, a returning archaeologist, to help her, and she misguidedly set out on her own.
When Rourke rescued her, he did help her--but not to find her fiance rather to forget him in a new and dangerous embrace. For under the magical spell of the Andes, real love changed Leigh's life..
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