365 books in 365 days Challenge ... book #128

Aftershock - Jill Shalvis
Harlequin Temptation
Harlequin, 2001
ISBN: 9780373259458





My rating






From the back cover:

"THE EARTH MOVED...LITERALLY!
If it hadn't been for the earthquake, Amber Riggs would never have made love to a perfect stranger. And no doubt about it, fire inspector Dax McCall was perfect! Who else could have taught her the meaning of passion at a time like that?
AND NOW THE AFTERSHOCK...
Still, when Amber ran into him a year later she wasn't sure how he'd react. She hadn't meant to keep the news from Dax.... But he'd been out of town, and she'd been sort of relieved. After all, how do you tell the perfect man he has a perfect baby girl with a woman he doesn't know from Eve?"


I have been attempting recently to include some older books in this challenge, this is a book form 2001, which is available as an ebook from the kindle store.

The heroine Amber is looking around a property she is trying to sell when an earthquake hits, lucky for her Fire Inspector Dax, the hero, is also in the building. When the building starts to fall down around them he helps keep her safe and calm while they are trapped. Both of them believe there is no chance of them getting out alive, one thing leads to another and they end up making love. They do manage to get out when they are rescued, Dax tries to see Amber again but Amber, embarrassed by her actions, flees. A year later and a chance encounter brings them face to face again, Dax's initial pleasure in seeing Amber again is crushed when he realises she gave birth to his daughter and never told him. Dax makes it clear that he will be a part of his daughters life and they agree to a shared custody schedule. Dax realises this isn't enough and that he also wants to be with Amber but she is hesitant to get involved with him for fear of losing control and getting hurt.

I really, really enjoyed this book. The plot is actually quite original, to have two virtual strangers that haven't even seen each other in the light become intimate is, perhaps, a risky subject but it makes you think about just what you would do in a life or death situation. Both character are well developed and complex enough to keep you interested. I particularly liked that the heroine was more complex that the hero, and how the hero really wanted to help her open up. The writing is wonderful and really draws you into the book, I read this in one sitting!

Recommended.

Xx