Island Heat


by Suzanne Forster

Romance and secrets in a tropical fantasy paradise

Island Heat is an earlier light fantasy romance written by an author who is currently writing suspense and erotic romance. An enjoyable short romance with touches of darkness and humor in a tropical paradise.

Lauren Cambridge has had nothing but failed relationships in the past but when this Type A hard working woman finally decides to take a vacation to a tropical paradise, she gets more than she bargained for...a crazy taxi driver, a haunted castle, men, a mystery. The men may be plentiful but can she break enjoy her vacation and break her past record of failed relationships? Lauren Cambridge was a good girl, a hard worker with a Type a personality with a dating life that is about as dead as possible. Her life is fairly safe and routine ---until she went on vacation. Now she is a wanton woman --- kissing men, sleeping naked and imagining Peeping Toms ---or is she imagining? One of the first things my mother taught me was never to get in a car with a strange man. Maybe taxis are the exception, but Lauren is snatched away by a crazy taxi driver. After the first crazy drive, she actually dares to get in his car again? And what about the other men she encounters? What secrets and past histories hide within this tropical paradise? Can destined love really exist in the modern work world?

I read this book because I loved Suzanne Forster's The Arrangement. Although this is an older romance, reprinted from a 1988 romance first issued under Silhouette Desire, I wanted to back read and see if I could find any clues in her earlier works that I see in her writing today. I was reading an intriguing blog which asked about readers following an author across subgenres. I had wanted to read another Suzanne Forster but when I was told that this book had different and lighter feel than The Arrangement, the blog question inspired this read.

On the surface, these two books could not be more different. If you handed the two books to me without an author name, I'm not sure I would guess they had been written by the same person...at least not today because I have not read enough of the complete Suzanne Forster body of work to really be good at that kind of question across subgenres for most authors. And yet.....

Although Island Heat has a completely different tone than this author's current suspense writing, there are some similarities between the two. Island Heat has some darkness, some similar unexpected twists, definitely a similar psychological realism,and a similar longing in the heart. Island Heat is a light and fantasy vacation kind of romance, inspired by a real event (a crazy cab driver in Barbados) according to the notes in the beginning. This book will appeal to those looking for a well-written light romance and long term Suzanne Forster suspense fans curious to see a glimpse of her style in another genre. Maybe a reader would like one genre and not the other in her writing, but seeing the two side by side, I have a greater appreciation for this author's writing.

Of the two books, The Arrangement would be my favorite in a literary and suspense lover way and Island Heat is enjoyed in a more personal, heart kind of way. I liked the lighter tone and humor in this one mixed with the slightly darker tinges. This romance is more fun than the back blurb would lead one to think although the gold toned cover on the reprint is a bit misleading even if it gives a wholesome tropical glow. This romance contains some darkness and some mysterious legends to go along with the tropical setting.