Sandy M’s review of Elusive (Shipwreck, Book 1) by L.A. Fiore
Contemporary Romance published by Amazon Digital Services 21 Jul 17

Because I’ve been disappointed in a couple of my favorite authors lately, and because our own Kristie J can’t get enough of L.A. Fiore’s books, I decided to try one for myself. Holy cow, this was the perfect place for me to start. This book is intriguing, adventurous, sad, joyous, romantic, and so much more. It’s layered over and over again that I’m not sure any review will even come close to the experience a reader goes through while in the midst of treasure hunting and characters finding themselves where they never believed they could some day be. I will try to do this story justice, but, believe me, it’s best you just pick it up and find out for yourself what’s between the pages.

However, right off the bat, I’m going to skip so much of the story and just get to Noah and Willow. Noah grew up an orphan, on the streets alone, learning to survive and count on no one. He does find a friend during his teen years, one who sticks with him through thick and thin, along with others who have discovered they all need someone they trust in their lives. Conversely, Willow grew up in a privileged lifestyle, but even she is also basically an orphan – her parents are constantly after the ever-elusive treasure, making a name for themselves as premier treasure hunters. She’s followed in their footsteps to a point, more to show them she’s worth something. But when they stand her up on a vacation to Cancun, Willow decides to go by herself. That’s where she meets Noah.

They are immediately drawn to one another. Willow hasn’t felt this way for years, after losing the one man who stole her heart. There’s something about him that just pulls her in. Noah is a modern-day pirate. While he may be a criminal, he has his own moral compass and you have to respect him for that. He’ll do whatever it takes to keep the family he’s found over the years safe. Treasure hunting isn’t something these pirates do, but Willow convinces them there’s plenty of money to be made, so they go along for the ride to help her out in her latest adventure. And what an adventure it is. The action scenes in this book are outrageous and will keep you turning the pages well into the night.

Now, a couple of warnings. To get to this point in the book, you’re going to go through a lot with these characters. Growing-up years and how they’re treated and how they survive before they even meet. Even the prologue will give you a taste of history and is a precursor of what’s to come. Also, though this is a romantic suspense book, the romance is not nearly as front and center as the action and treasure hunting and mystery. But what is there is raw and intense and sometimes confusing. However, it’s all worth it in the end, especially after all the twists and turns you’ll go through to get there. You can try to guess as you read along, but I’m going to bet you’ll guess wrong nearly every time.

This is only a very scant bit of what happens in this book. But it has made me an L.A. Fiore fan, and I’m going to be reading as many of her books as I can from here on out. Her writing is top-notch. She slowly drags you into her characters’ lives, leaves you gasping for breath at the predicaments they endure, and pull your heartstrings fast and fiercely. I can’t wait to open another of her books and get started, nor can I wait for the second book in this series.

Grade: A

See Kristie J’s review here.

Summary:

I didn’t set out to be a pirate.
Life for me was about surviving the ugliness that people knew existed but didn’t talk about.
I lived in hell.
Then I saw her.
I knew I couldn’t keep her, but for just a little while I had found heaven.

Eight years later, I can’t get her out of my head.
It is a mistake sailing to her island.
It is a mistake reaching out to her.
She doesn’t recognize me. Or maybe she does.
Closure, it is all I’m after.
Then my past comes back to haunt me.

She’s thrust into my ruthless world. An angel.
A romantic who has a journal that leads to a shipwreck and a lost treasure.
She wants to find the ending to a love story that is over two hundred years in the making.
I want to help her find it.

I didn’t set out to be a pirate.
I didn’t set out to fall in love with an angel.
I did both anyway.

No excerpt available.