"Hilariously funny!"

MaryJanice Davidson has a wicked sense of humor and it is showcased in this collection of three novellas that had me snickering, giggling and laughing out loud throughout the whole entire book.

Sweet Strangers starts out this book telling us the story of Renee Jardin, the ex-head of Security at Anodyne. Now she's on the run because she's been accused of stealing PaceIC a revolutionary invention that would drastically change how heart patients would be treated. She feels she's about to run out of time when she darts into an elevator straight into the arms of Eric Axelrod. What she doesn't know is that he is one of the ones looking for her. So now all she has to do is convince him to help her instead of turn her in. Can she do it and what is she willing to do in order to convince him? Will he turn her in to her boss, Dr. Jekell and his bodyguard, Peter Random? Only time will tell.

Lovely Lies tells us Peter Random's story. Peter runs when things start getting hot leaving Dr. Jekell holding the bag. After all it's not like Peter really did anything wrong. Now he's unemployed and hoping against hope at winning the Powerball Lottery any day now. On the way home from a bar one night, he finds a gorgeous woman sleeping in his car. What is this all about? She tells him that she has to spend her grandfather's money and quickly before her wicked stepfather and stepbrother find her. Her name is Lori Jamieson and she has a plan. Peter cannot believe this crazy woman but tells her he'll do whatever he can to help her but he doesn't count on falling in love being one of the things he does.

Delightful Deception the last story in this collection tells us Dr. Thea Foster's story. Thea is the one who slipped the PaceIC into Renee's things because she wanted the world to find out about her discovery, which is what Jekell did not want to happen. Now Anodyne has been sold to Dr. James Scrye. He's got scads of money and buys up ailing biotech companies. He's heard of Thea and wants her to work on more of her ideas, one if which is Faskin. Faskin could revolutionize the way burn patients are treated and could even save some of the ones who are sure to die. Jimmy has a special reason for this but of course he cannot tell Thea, AKA IQ (Ice Queen). The more Jimmy and Thea work together the more attracted they are to each other but it can never work or can it?

This is the most entertaining set of stories and I read them in a matter of hours. These are the first works of Ms. Davidson's that I've read but they most certainly won't be the last.

Reviewed by Kathy Boswell
Posted October 21, 2003

Summary

Renee Jardin never meant to become the world's most sought-after thief. But the minute she walks out of her biotech firm accidentally carrying "The Cure"— the most important scientific discovery of the century— she's on the run from ruthless bioengineers, cops, and the U.S. government. Desperate to lose her trackers, Renee lays a full-body kiss on the first gorgeous guy she sees...a kiss that she gets back with a toe-curling vengeance. N.S.A. agent James Axelrod never thought apprehending his suspect would be so easy, and so sinfully arousing...or that he would consider taking her into custody in the privacy of his own bedroom...

Peter Random lost everything when he was outwitted by that goody-goody Renee Jardin. Late in his rent, his job gone, Peter vows he'll never let anyone get close enough to burn him again. So why can't he seem to tell Lori Jamieson and her troubles to hit the road? It isn't just her hot bod and full lips—although those have a magic he can't deny. Something about the damsel in distress makes Peter want to wrap her in his strong arms and prove that a bad boy can be very, very good, especially when it's between the sheets...

At the biotech firm, they call her Thea "I.Q." Foster— "I.Q." for either Intelligence Quotient or Ice Queen, depending. Slipping the Cure into Renee's tote bag was satisfying revenge, but now that the fun's over, Thea sets her sights on a new challenge: sarcastic, secretive Jimmy Scrye. Cracking open his hard shell would be a real game, but Jimmy's more than Thea's match. He's got a few ideas for turning the tables on the brainy scientist...sensual, erotic fantasy ideas that just might change those letters in her name to "Incredible," "Insatiable," and "Quivering with delight"...