RISKING HER HEART

Author: Liz Allison and Wendy Etherington ISBN: 9780373773190 10/2008 Contemporary Publisher: HQN/NASCAR

As manager of her family's champion team, Rachel Garrison learned the woes of mixing business with pleasure the hard way. And no way is she going to get involved with NASCAR sponsor Parker Huntington, the guy who almost ruined her brother's career! But that doesn't mean she can deny her instant and unwanted attraction to his considerable charms.... Parker is used to getting exactly what he wants—and when Rachel needs his help finding out who's embezzling from her family, their sleuthing soon leads to stolen kisses. However, neither knows how to trust in love... or whether they even want to take that risk. And Parker isn't about to let down his guard until he sweet-talks Rachel into surrendering her heart!

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Liz Allison and Wendy Etherington team together to write a great family centered romance in their latest collaboration, RISKING HER HEART.

Rachel Garrison is part of the Garrison racing legacy and has been all of her life. But having grown up in the world of NASCAR, she finds herself not being able to trust so easily. This is made apparent when she imposes the rule of not dating anyone involved in the family business. And for Parker Huntington, this turns out to be bad news as his hotels are one of Garrison Racing's biggest sponsors. The straitlaced Parker has made it very clear to Rachel that he would like to have a relationship with her that goes beyond business. But because of her rule, and the fact that Parker makes her tingle in all the right places, Rachel shoots him down and instead, begins a relationship with a brain surgeon.

Then Rachel finds out that someone is embezzling funds from the family run company. Needing Parker's great financial skills, she asks him to help her flush out the culprit. Parker thinks she should fire whoever it is upon finding the person but Rachel wants to know why anyone would steal from the Garrisons. Together the two set out to find the thief and in the process find themselves getting closer to each other, though they both hesitate to build a relationship for different reasons.

RISKING HER HEART is the story of a woman who doesn't trust so easily. Dealing with the fast-paced and very complicated world of racing doesn't leave much time for fun. But the fun she does have, Rachel wants to share it with someone who isn't so concerned with the business side of her life. Past breakups as well as the dissolution of her parents' and brother's marriages have left Rachel weary of mixing business with pleasure. And as much as she is attracted to Parker's devastatingly good looks paired with a sharp and cunning mind, she doesn't think that a relationship between them will stand the test of time. Parker, on the other hand, doesn't even want a relationship. His initial attraction to Rachel is physical, though it does build from there. Because of the hard relationships he has with his own family, he doesn't think a long term relationship is in the cards for him. But as he and Rachel begin to spend more and more time with each other, he cannot help but slowly fall for her.

I really enjoyed RISKING HER HEART. I love Harlequin's NASCAR series of books and this one is a great addition. The relationship between Rachel and Parker is one that is built upon throughout the progression of the story. The romance isn't on the hot and heavy side, but I was very captivated by the story nonetheless and wanted to get to the couple's happily-ever-after. There are a few supporting storylines, including the planning of the wedding between Rachel's brother Cade to his fiancée Isabel, as well the whole embezzling mystery. This was a story about taking chances. Both Rachel and Parker had to be willing to let go of some big insecurities in order to be able to love one another. I hope to read more stories by this writing duo in the future!

Maame Kanbi