Title: Out of Reach
Author: Kendall Talbot
Genre: Romance, Suspense, Adventure
Opens: Lily Bennett reached into the satchel at her side and placed her hand on the leather-bound journal that had triggered her travelling more than three thousand miles out of her comfort zone.
Blurb: Lily saw the temple of Agulinta on television: a vast stone structure swallowed by the Yucatan jungle, rediscovered only now after hundreds of years. So why did the papers she found after her father’s death show the same mysterious carvings that puzzled archaeologists at Agulinta? Her search for answers pulls her to Mexico’s southern border, where the journey to the lost temple will take her through jungle and mountain, over waters home to crocodiles and drug runners, and into uncomfortably close quarters with a man whose need to wander has become a way of life. Australian Carter Logan’s work as a nature photographer has given him the excuse he needs to roam wherever his restless feet take him. But in all the time he’s travelled, he’s never been drawn to anyone the way he is to this determined, cagey young American. Lily’s perseverance through dirt, sweat, and danger to the heart of the ancient temple attracts him. But when the two of them are left alone and stranded in a vicious wilderness, their connection might prove the difference between life and death . . . if the secrets of the past don’t come between them first.
My thoughts: I discovered Kendall Talbot’s books in 2013 when I read her debut novel Lost in Kakadu which walked off with a swathe of awards. I have read quite a few of her books since and she has never let me down, so was thrilled to get my grubby little paws on her latest release.
I loved Carter and Lily – they were perfect for each other – and although they did not trust each other at first it was lovely seeing how the barriers gradually came down. Thanks to life on a dairy farm Lily had all the skills needed to survive in a jungle – she was not a helpless little miss at all.
…A laugh tumbled from his throat. “I really am lost in the jungle with Lara Croft.”…
The setting was wonderful, the jungle descriptions were so evocative that I could close my eyes and imagine myself there – except I had to open then again to keep on reading! Pesky monkeys, amazing wildlife, terrifying canyons to cross on rickety little rope bridges, and camping miles from the nearest settlement. But in paradise there is a snake – and this jungle paradise is no different. Not only a venomous snake that changed the agenda – but the human kind too – Drug dealers who don’t want witnesses. All too quickly the situation gets dire and Lily and Carter are running for their lives to get back to civilisation. But despite a death, danger, injuries and a chicken rescue mission there are a lot of light moments in the story to break the tension – and there is a lot of tension.
OUT OF REACH is action packed, Lily with her survival skills and Carter with the courage and strength make a perfect team. This is romantic action suspense at its best. Secrets are revealed, problems overcome and safety is eventually reached but not without more than a couple of ‘how the heck are they getting out of this’ moments.
The first in a series – I can’t wait until the next one is released.
For more about author Kendall Talbot – Click Here
A – Excellent Stuff – a real page turner and hard to put down. I carved out extra reading time just so I could finish it. This book got carted into the bathroom with me, read over meals, read at work, and/or kept me up late at night. If this author has more work, I will certainly read it.
With thanks to the Kensington Books and the author via Netgalley for my copy to read and review.
[…] Thoughts: Separate review here […]
[…] MIND is the second book in the Maximum Exposure series, a sequel to OUT OF REACH which I reviewed here; and it is just as good. In fact pick a book she has written, any book, and you will not be let […]