Series: Animal Magnetism (Book 7)
Pilot-for-hire Zoe Stone is happy to call Sunshine,
Idaho, her home base. But her quiet life is thrown for a loop when her
brother’s friend Parker comes to stay with her for a week. The U.S. Fish and
Wildlife special agent is a handsome flirt with a gift for getting under her
skin. And the situation only escalates when Parker hires her to fly him around
the area while he collects evidence on a suspected smuggler.
Now she has to live and work with the guy. But when
they’re in the air, she sees another side of him. He’s driven, focused, and
sharp. And while he enjoys giving commentary on her blind dates, she quickly
realizes with a shock that it’s Parker who gets her engines going…
Very good book. Zoe is the last of the three Stone
siblings and the only one who hasn't found true love yet. She pretends that
she's fine alone, but really she wants what they have. Instead, she makes her
work as a pilot her life, along with her dog Oreo, until she decides it's time
to go after what she wants. As the book opens she's getting ready for a blind
date, assisted by commentary from her sister Darcy. A challenge from Darcy has
her kissing the man at the door, only to find out he's not her date.
Parker is an agent for the Fish and Wildlife Service, who
is on forced leave from his job, after the death of a friend and his own
injuries. He's been told to leave the case alone, but can't do it. A tip brings
him to Sunshine, where he is renting a room from his friend Wyatt's sister. He
does not expect the welcome that he gets.
There are sparks between Zoe and Parker from the
beginning. Both try to resist, Zoe because she's looking for something
permanent, which he isn't, and Parker because he'll be leaving as soon as he
does what he came for. But resistance is futile as each is fascinated with the
other. Zoe is smart, works hard, loves her family dearly and is also rather
bossy. She did most of the raising of her siblings thanks to her neglectful
parents, plus has been burned by a previous relationship, so she likes to be in
control. Her favorite phrase is "I'm fine, I've got this". Parker is
career driven and focused, but has a softer side that shows when dealing with a
pair of kittens and his sister. He's intrigued by Zoe, but knows that he's not
the one for her, because he isn't staying around.
I loved the development of their relationship. Parker is
charming, sexy and has a great sense of humor. I loved the way that he could
tease her out of a bad mood. Spending time with her has him thinking about
things that had never appealed before, like having a permanent home and someone
to come home to. It was sweet to see the little things he did to make her life
easier. Zoe works a little harder to resist, but soon falls for the man she
sees under the determined agent. It was fun to see them "playing
house" together, with the desire for more growing between them. Some of
their conversations were laugh out loud funny, while the chemistry between them
was sizzling. But when his job brings danger to Zoe, Parker pulls back. It
takes him a little while to see the light but his big moment at the end was
great. I really loved that bit of vulnerability that was there beneath his
apology.
There was a bit of suspense in this story, dealing with
the poacher that Parker has been chasing for years. It shows the stubborn and
somewhat rogue side of him, as he breaks quite a few rules that have been made
clear to him. The confrontation between Parker and Carver was pretty intense
and didn't end quite the way I thought it would.
The secondary characters always add some extra life to
the story. From Darcy's advice at the beginning, that started the whole thing
with Parker, to Wyatt's advice to Parker, the siblings show their love for and
understanding of Zoe. The football game involving characters from previous
books was a chance to catch up, and also see some of the fun interactions
between them. I loved Parker's sister and how important she was to him. She was
sweet and fun, and the Vegas and Glacier trip was awesome. But the one who
stole the show was the dog Oreo. It was fun to see his reactions to the
kittens, and how quickly he took to Parker.
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