Heat Wave: A Novel [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

HEAT WAVE by Jill Marie Landis is the second novel in the Twilight Cove Trilogy. In this story, Private Investigator Kat Vargas finds herself relocating temporarily from Long Beach, California to the small beach town of Twilight Cove, house-sitting for her good friend Jake, another P.I. While she is settling in, she meets one of the local residents of the town, Ty Chandler, who asks her to help find his daughter, someone he did not know existed until just recently. The missing daughter was born 19 years ago to his high school sweetheart, but because of a life of drugs that destroyed Amy in the end, he and Amy parted before he ever knew about the baby.

Kat's current philosophy in life was to keep emotional attachments at bay, and had focused on her career to keep from falling in love again. She keeps her past hidden from most people, a past that has shaped her into who she is today. But Ty Chandler is about to change everything. He finds himself falling in love with Kat while they work together searching for his daughter, and Kat tries her best to keep her own feelings for Ty hidden.

Their search leads them back to Southern California, where Ty's daughter Sunny is living a life that is headed towards disaster. When Ty offers her a home with him in Twilight Cove, Sunny at first turns him down, but surprises him and Kat by showing up one day at his front door, with her own baby in her arms. Ty has become an instant father and grand father!

Kat and Ty slowly build their friendship, while Ty and Sunny develop their own. Things get complicated when Sunny starts to distrust Kat, seeing that Kat does not seem too comfortable around the baby. Sunny senses that Kat is hiding something, and does not hesitate to let Ty know. And Kat finds her instincts tuned in to the fact that Sunny may not be telling them everything that they should know about her. When Sunny and the baby disappear one day without a trace, Kat goes on her own to track down the missing girl.

HEAT WAVE was my first book by Jill Marie Landis. It was not what I had expected, thinking I would be reading a pure romance novel. Although the main story line is that of Kat and Ty's budding romance, Kat's secret past and Sunny's life in Southern California play a big part in the novel, a story that brings two people together who may have never met except under these circumstances. I give this book 4 stars, and recommend it to those who are not true romance fans, but may enjoy a book that has a mix of several genres in one.

Kat isn't there very long when a neighbor comes by Jake's house to see her. Ty Chandler, one of the residents of this small resort town, has heard about her and asks if he can hire her to do a job. He has just found out that he has a daughter, born nineteen years ago to an old girlfriend from high school, but was never told about the daughter until recently, right before his mother passed away. He's angry with his mother for hiding this information from him. She had never liked his girlfriend Amy and wanted to protect him, but his mother and Amy are now both gone, and it was time to make up for the time he had lost. He's ready to find his daughter.

With only a few clues to go by, Kat and Ty work side by side, searching the Internet and making phone calls, following the trail of the missing girl. While this is strictly business for Kat, she senses that Ty is growing fond of her, but Kat does her best to tell him "no." She insists that she does not mix business with pleasure, but she also remembers what Jake has told her --- that she needs to relax and let someone new into her life. It was about time she moved on from her tragic past, a past that she hides from everyone she has met since leaving her home in Hawaii. Her career as a private investigator had come about because of what she endured on Hawaii due to a tragic accident. Only her family and friends back on the island of Kauai know of her tragic loss and the pain she kept buried inside her all these years.

Ty and Kat have enough clues to find Ty's daughter, who they discover is now living in Southern California with a number of other people her age, all of whom seem to be destitute, shady-looking and lacking any financial means to make ends meet. Upon meeting them, Sunny, Ty's daughter, looks upon both of them with distrust and lets them know that she is not interested in going back with Ty to Twilight Cove. But Ty hands over his phone number to her, hoping that she changes her mind.

Sunny does take Ty up on his offer and comes to find him in Twilight Cove. They get to know each other while she tries to make a home for herself and her baby, another surprise for Ty. While Ty is dealing with a new family, Kat is dealing with her own feelings, not sure whether she is falling in love with Ty or wanting to run away again. She's also not sure about Sunny, and decides to investigate Sunny's past to see what kind of trouble she may have gotten herself into.

HEAT WAVE was a surprise to this reviewer. It was a lot more than a romance. The story of Ty and his long-lost daughter was a great story-within-the-story, allowing the reader to get to know Ty's character much better than simply as a love interest. And Sunny's account of her life in Southern California was another interesting side-story that fit in with the rest of the book. Landis does a good job at creating characters that the reader will relate to, although this reviewer was not totally sure she liked Kat Vargas at first. As is the case with any romance, the most important feature should be the reader's ability to relate to the characters, and whether the story is believable or not. Based on that, this reviewer recommends HEAT WAVE to any person looking for an engrossing romance and a great beach read.

--- Reviewed by Marie Hashima Lofton

Speaking of a client who suspects her husband of infidelity, Kat opines, "...there was always `another' someone. Another woman. Another man. She was convinced happy endings were only for romance novels and that ninety percent of the population shouldn't even bother getting married."

No, she hasn't forgotten who done her wrong, how much it hurt, and she's not about to make that mistake again. Most of us know better than to say "never," and Kat should, too.

Once more the setting in Jill Marie Landis's second novel in the Twilight Cove series is a small California beach community, Twilight Cove, of course. It's a sleepy, slow spot, much too laid back for Kat who likes activity and is beginning to show signs of boredom. Then the doorbell rang.

Ty Chandler was too good to be true in the looks department. When he said he needed a PI, Kat was sure he thought his wife was cheating on him (which meant his wife was nuts or he wasn't very good in the husband department). Never able to resist a story, she agreed to listen to him.

Some nineteen years ago Ty had become a father; the girl he went steady with in high school had secretly given birth to a daughter. He had just learned of his daughter's existence, and he desperately wants to find her.

As the two begin their search for Ty's offspring they are irresistibly drawn to one another. Yet the intimacy they both wants can come only at a price - each must overcome what is past in order to have a future together.

Ty and his daughter are reunited. Now, what of Kat and Ty? After love has failed her will Kat be able to trust it again?

Author Landis spices her romance story with enough suspense to keep pages turning.

- Gail Cooke