Deception, by Amanda Quick

Ok, my reading last weekend: First, Deception, by Amanda Quick.

Although several generations have passed since Captain Ryder buried his treasure somewhere in the West Indies, the Flamecrest clan consider themselves to be dashing adventurers, worthy of carrying on the buccaneer tradition. All except for Jared. Jared is the businessman of the family and his relatives find him quite staid--useful only in petty matters like keeping them solvent.

When the Lightbourne diary, which contains clues to the location of the treasure, falls into the hands of Olympia Wingfield, Jared unromantically decides to purchase it instead of seducing the information out of her as his family urges.

But matters go awry when Jared meets Olympia--a self-proclaimed "woman of the world" who has lived most of her life in Upper Tudway. Attraction flares between them, and Jared promptly throws all thought of buried treasure out the window and does the first impractical thing of his life: he pretends he is the new tutor for Olympia's three nephews and installs himself in her chaotic household.

Nice book. Not her best, but a B+ none the less. The best thing here was Jared and how he worried that he was always the one rescuing other people and who was going to rescue him? I tend to go for these vulnerable heros... the uncomplicated alpha does absolutely nothing for me.

Olympia was the typical AQ oblivious bluestocking. I loved the dynamics of her relationship with Jared: he took care of business so that she had time to devote to her work. That implies a healthy respect for her work on his part, and this is something that's not too common in romance novels.

Extra points for the positive portrayal of homosexuality, and for the neat little mystery. However, I found it strange that Jared and Olympia decide not to go on the ship to look for treasure. Wasn't one of Olympia's dreams to travel the world?