Veteran category romance writer Rock (His Wicked Ways
) sails blithely, if a bit unsteadily, into single-title waters with the story of two likable, unlikely sisters who escape an unstable childhood by working the gambling cruise circuit—a gig with no shortage of instability. Sensible, serious Rita Frazer, a seamstress and fashion designer, makes her unexpected debut as a showgirl on the cruise ship Venus
when her impulsive sister, Jayne, elopes moments before curtain. From the stage, Rita spots—and immediately falls for—hunky FBI agent Harrison Masters. Fortunately for Rita, the feeling is mutual. Unfortunately for them both, they have dramas familial, vocational and criminal to muddle through before their romance makes landfall. Harrison's official business aboard the Venus
—the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend and $30,000—eventually plunges the Frazer sisters into grave danger, setting the stage for a predictably daring rescue and a happily ever after. Rock embraces old-fashioned romance clichés with abandon, from sudden crises that endlessly and artificially delay consummation of the protagonists' affair to suspense subplots as silly and insubstantial as a showgirl's feathers. (Feb.)
