THRILL ME – Susan Mallery
A Fool's Gold Romance
HQN
ISBN: 978-0-373-78898-9
August 2015
Contemporary Romance

Fool's Gold, California – Present Day

Maya Farlow and Del Mitchell dated briefly as teenagers, but she became scared of falling too deeply for him and dumped him before leaving town. Ten years later, she's back in town. Unable to find suitable work in her journalism field, the Fool's Gold mayor offered her a job as communications director for the town. Maya is barely back when she runs into Del, who has returned home for the summer to spend time with his family after he sold a mega business he founded. Before either knows what happened, Maya and Del are roped into creating a video to help promote the town. Being thrown together rekindles the attraction once again between them.

Del had been ready to settle down with Maya when they were teenagers, but after she broke things off with him he used his pain as an impetus to leave town and embark upon a sports career. He parlayed fame into creating a product that sold really well and made him a millionaire. Now he's sold the business and is spending time to think about his next step. Working with Maya brings back the old feelings for her, but he figures he's strong enough to fight them. Yet there's no denying there is that special   something   between them.

Maya is afraid of commitment after growing up with a mother who flitted from one man to another. Moving to Fool's Gold when she was sixteen finally gave Maya some stability, but it didn't decrease the need to remain independent. Falling for Del surprised her with its intensity, so Maya did the only thing she thought was best: dump him and move away. She was working at getting an anchor position at a national news channel, but suddenly the job offers dried up. Getting the call from Mayor Marsha with the job offer in Fool's Gold is a stroke of luck. Maya is good friends with Del's mother, Elaine, and when her friend reveals she has a health issue, she asks Maya to not to tell Del or the rest of the Mitchell family. The more that Maya works with Del, the greater she feels the pull of passion for him. Del is attractive and genial, but he's only there for the summer. Why face getting her heart broken once he leaves? And how will he react when he learns she's carrying a secret about his mother?

It's a return to Fool's Gold with the latest tale from Susan Mallery. Readers who've kept up with the series will be familiar with many of the characters that pop up in THRILL ME. But if you haven't, you shouldn't have too much problem following along since the focus is mainly on Maya and the Mitchell family. Del's father is a temperamental artist who seems unaware if Elaine seems different. Del has four brothers, and soon the twins, who haven't been back to town in years, will also be showing up to help celebrate their father's birthday. With five Mitchell brothers, will readers see more books in the   Fool's Gold   series, or a possible spinoff after THRILL ME?

Insecurity about each other and secrets help keep the wall up between Maya and Del in THRILL ME. Instead of facing their insecurities each ran away from them and each other. Maya broke Del's heart, but it turned out to be the best thing for both of them as they created a career after their split. Now they're back in Fool's Gold working together. Love can't but help to find them again. If you love a sweet romance that is also sexy, grab yourself a copy of THRILL ME for a book that is almost impossible to put down.

Patti Fischer