Central America – Present Day

In the midst of a sensitive mission in Peru, Special Defense Force (SDF) operative C. Smith Rydell is reassigned to Panama. The timing couldn’t be worse, because Smith was able to positively identify the pilot flying impossible drug missions in South America as Irena Polchenko. Six years ago, Smith and Irena were lovers, then she betrayed him before dying in a fiery plane crash. It’ll take some work to convince the authorities that Irena is still alive, and now Smith is reassigned to Personal Security Detail: babysitting. This new assignment only gets more annoying - and more curious - when Smith finds out that the person he is guarding is Honoria York-Lytton. Four months ago, Smith pulled Honey York out of a dangerous situation in San Salvador and then spent the most amazing afternoon of his life with her, before putting her on a plane back to Washington D.C. If Honey is looking to go back in to San Salvador, it can only mean one thing: her sister, Sister Julia Ann-Marie, is in trouble again.

Honey York has less than two days to reach the guerilla camp, hand over the weapons, several locked suitcases, and a briefcase which is probably full of money in exchange for the documents and a flash drive that a downed CIA plane was carrying, and hopefully convince her sister to head back to the states. Shouldn’t be difficult for a trained agent, right? Of course, Honey isn’t a trained agent – she’s a Park Avenue Princess: an heiress and published author who splits her time between New York and Washington D.C.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that there is a lot more going on in El Savador, and neither Smith nor Honey are dummies. ON THE LOOSE follows not just Honey and Smith’s trek into the Morazán Province, but also the trials and tribulations of Alejandro Campos, their contact; Irena Polchenko who will do whatever it takes to see that the secrets Smith knows about her die with him; and to a lesser extent, Sister Julia Ann-Marie and the other nuns at the orphanage which is a little too close to the guerilla camp for comfort.

Between everything that is happening, and the very large difference in their lifestyles, the chemistry that burned so hot between Smith and Honey four months ago should not be an issue, yet it is. Despite knowing that a match between a soldier and a princess is not likely to last, Smith has spent the months since he last saw Honey following her escapades thanks to the society pages, and has even managed to read both of her books. Honey has used what political connections she has to find out what she can about the man she only knew as Smith (a name she’d assumed was an alias). The first encounter between them actually took place in Ms. Janzen’s previous release, CRAZY SWEET, and I am very happy that these two have a chance to explore their relationship further in their own book.

Non-stop action, a mysterious mission and a rekindled romance make ON THE LOOSE a winner.

Jennifer Bishop