#BookReview: Risky Surrender by Robin Bielman - 3.5 Wine Glasses

Title: Risky Surrender 
Series: Take a Risk #2
Author: Robin Bielman 
Format: ebook, 136 pages
Published: August 26th 2013 by Entangled: Indulgence
ISBN: 1622662393 
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N
Source: Purchased by Reviewer
Reviewer: Linda
Rating: 3.5/5

Archeologist Lucy Davenport made a promise to retrieve an elusive piece of history buried in the walls of an iconic Indian village. But when she draws unwanted attention that interferes with her secret plans, she's forced to risk it all with a man who threatens not only her goal, but the walls she's carefully constructed around her heart. 
Keats McCall is an environmental preservationist navigating the globe on behalf of heritage protection. When he catches Lucy at his latest project, he suspects she's up to something. She's secretive, sexy as hell—and has trouble written all over her. He devises a plan to keep her close so he can keep an eye on her. But what he isn’t prepared for is just how close he wants to get.

Thoughts:
Robin Bielman is a first rate storyteller and she writes wonderful romances!       

McCall and Lucy, our hero and heroine in this novella, experience instantaneous attraction when they accidentally collide during one of Lucy's plunderous adventures at a boat party where she  was masquerading as a waitress carrying an appetizers' tray.  She escapes from McCall's attention and subsequently steals an ancient emerald by cutting through the wall of the captain's cabin. She makes her getaway wickedly flashing the precious emerald to McCall.    

Lucy desperately wants an artifact at an old Indian village that is part of McCall's conservation project and she plans to take it come hell or high water.  When he catches her at his project while she is casing the site for her  heist, McCall follows the  adage of “keep your enemies close” and offers her safe refuge with him.  But she walked away!    “Wow," Clay said. "Never thought I'd see the day a woman walked away from you. And in the middle of a the desert." He cracked up and pulled his cell phone from his pocket. "I'm definitely tweeting this.”   That was such a cute scene!        

McCall is a environmental conservationist whose job is protect his historic sites from people like Lucy.   He's serious and playful,  sexy and rich;  He has a reputation as a wealthy playboy.  He impressed me as he really worked at saving Lucy from herself by showing her the land, the people that live in the area, his awesome dedicated co-workers and at convincing her of the importance of preserving historic sites and their associated treasures.  He was  extremely patient with her and downright incredible.  McCall certainly didn’t plan on falling for her, though.  LOL!  I would have had her arrested.  

Their high treetop making-out adventure was one of my favorite parts.  I chuckled and then shuddered thinking about how sky-high they were.  The sexual tension between McCall and Lucy was utterly through the roof from the word go.   Their sex scenes were all sizzling hot and well-written.   Oh my!  “She wanted -- needed -- a McCall induced orgasm.  And if he kept kissing her like she was the sexiest thing in the world, she might have one in the next half a minute.” 

This book was an enjoyable read but I had one stumbling block.  When I first started the book, I thought I'd have an issue with McCall who was chauvinistic and  had attempted to insert himself in Sam's and Dean's romance in Worth the Risk.  However, because this story was told in alternate POVs, my view of McCall improved exponentially as I turned the pages.  That was a good  thing.  BUT I didn't like Lucy.  Lucy was an unethical thief.  She sugarcoats what she does, but when you take items that aren't yours, that's thievery.   I really hated that she was sticky-fingered with our history!    I felt sorry for McCall as I believed that he foolishly cared for her while she was secretive and ran hot and cold.  Lucy was my snag.  The romance and plot was very good but, in reviewing, I cannot get past my feelings for Lucy.  

Robin's writing was top notch as always.  In the 1st book, the characters were in a come-again relationship but these characters had never met until this book so Robin had a lot of ground to cover.  Robin packed it all in the   109 pages and did a great job developing the plot and characters.  I utterly adore the conservation slant in all the romances in this series.  

I was thrilled to see Sam and Dean, the fun and loveable couple from Worth the Risk make an appearance here.  Even though Risky Surrender is the second in Robin's Take a Risk series, and there are interconnected characters, this story can be easily read as a standalone.  

If you're in a mood for a hot romance with a hint of intrigue, then this book is definitely for you.   You will assuredly be left with a happy heart.  It all finally comes down to whether Lucy is going to trust McCall and give their love a chance.  No worries, Robin writes the best cloud nine endings :-)