Liquid Silver Books, $5.95, ISBN 978-1-59578-375-2
Contemporary Romance, 2007
Aww, Braving the Storm is such a sweet story. I know, it’s supposed to be a naughty story of beautiful people running around in the Alaskan wilderness doing the nasty, but I actually remember the romance more than any hot scene in the story at the end of the day. There are love scenes here, by the way, don’t worry.
Melony Shepherd is an abrasive businesswoman, ridiculously so to the point of caricature, come to think of it. One day she decides that maybe her best friend is right – she needs to stop trying so hard to be the son her late father wanted her to be and maybe even relax. When she hears of an acquaintance experiencing some soul-searching back-to-nature Kumbaya trip in Alaska, she figures that she may as well give that a shot. Therefore, for her long overdue vacation, she’s packing her bags and heading off to Alaska for the Alaskan Wilderness Survival Course.
The instructor, Hunter McFadden, of course is not pleased to have a woman around. He thought that Mel was a guy, you see, probably due to watching Lethal Weapon movies one time too many. However, he’s stuck with Melony whether he likes it or not since she’s paid up and the helicopter has left. It’s time for some Alaskan loving, baby!
While the main characters aren’t exactly the most original sorts but I like what author Kelly Wallace is trying to do here. Both Melony and Hunter experience some changes in their perception of life due to their relationship. The chemistry is pretty decent and I like the romance between the two characters.
Having said that, this is unfortunately yet another story where the woman gives up her old life and embraces the hero’s. Even more annoying is how Hunter expects, no, demands that she gives up her old life because he believes that she is better off with him. Ms Wallace tries to say that being a businesswoman is not what Melony wants to do in life, and fine, I understand that, but at the same time, I can’t help sighing when I realize that this is yet another tale with a “Woman, your place is at home, making babies and cleaning the house!” message. After all, there are already many contemporary stories out there telling me that women are happiest when they ditch their careers and let the husband take care of everything. One more of such story isn’t going to get me hyperventilating in excitement, I’m afraid.
