Treasure

by Helen Brenna

Treasure hunting is in his blood... Jake Rawlings has been searching for the Spanish galleon Concha his whole life. And he's paid a heavy price. Suddenly he's saddled with Annie Miller, a marine archaeologist who claims she can take him to it. All she wants is a home, family and a white picket fence... Annie has her own reasons for going back to the Concha. Before their sudden deaths, her parents found the Santidad Cross--an artifact--on board. Since then the curse of the Santidad Cross has ruined her life. Now she wants to bury the cross at sea--and her bad luck with it. As they set sail for the Bahamas, maybe the real treasure is staring them in the face....

Genres: Romance, Fiction, Harlequin

Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2007

About the author

Helen Brenna grew up in a small town in central Minnesota, the seventh of eight children. Although she never dreamed of writing books, she's always been a voracious reader of romances. After taking a break from her accounting career, she tried her hand at writing the romances she loves to read.

Since her first book was published in 2007, Helen has not only won Romance Writers of America's most prestigious award, the RITA, but also numerous other awards, including Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice and the HOLT Medallion.

Helen lives happily ever after in Minnesota with family, and she'd love hearing from you. Email her at helenbrenna@comcast.net or send mail to PO Box 24107, Minneapolis, MN 55424.

Visit her website at www.helenbrenna.com, chat with Helen and other authors at http://ridingwiththetopdown.blogspot.com, or friend her on Facebook!

Reviews

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2 Stars ~ Annie and Jake need each other. She needs him to take her to the dive site where her parents died, and he needs her to show him where the famous Spanish galleon, the "Concha" sank. Jake's a treasure hunter and he'd vowed on his father's deathbed that he'd find the Concha. Annie knows where it is, her parents had discovered the cursed Santidad Cross and then they'd been crushed under the sea. Annie's carried that cursed cross for ten years, and now she's found the proof that she has the real artifact and all she can think of is to return it to the Concha. What she hadn't counted on was her instant bond to Jake. He needs this find not only to keep his promise but to bolster his father's salvage company. Jake knows he can't give Annie the life she deserves and he tries to keep her at arms length. Battling their attraction isn't the only thing keeping things exciting on board, there's a hurricane fast approaching and Jake's rival has his ship anchored not far away just waiting to see what they pull from the sea.

This is Ms. Brenna's debut, earning her a well deserved Rita award. Annie and Jake are both carrying some hefty emotional scars. Annie's phobias after her parents accident are well depicted and I admired her resolve to overcome them. Of course, it took nearly losing Annie for Jake to open his eyes to the real treasure, but he does most wonderfully. Their's is a wonderful voyage to a HEA. I'm looking forward to reading more romances by Ms. Brenna.

[Patrick Scheele · Rating 2 out of 5]

Romance novels are not my usual cup of tea and it wasn't this time. I got it as a gift, because I like treasure hunt stories. And there was a kind of basic one here, so I did like that part of the story. I could have lived with the romance plot too, except that everyone was constantly talking about their feelings or thinking about them! Yikes!

[❀ Sabina · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Verborgen schatten” door Helen Brenna
Gelezen: 18 november 2015

24 december 2015

Ik had dit boek op mijn ereader staan en het was alweer een tijdje geleden dat ik een romannetje had gelezen. Ik wilde deze keer echter wel wat meer inhoud/verhaal dan de harlequin romanetjes en dus koos ik ervoor om Verborgen schatten te gaan lezen.

Je krijgt het verhaal te lezen van zowel Annie’s en Jake’s oogpunt. Annie werkt in een musuem en is in bezit van een vervloekt voorwerp; ieder dit het voorwerp wil bezitten, zal sterven. Annie is overtuigd dat de vloek bestaat en wil van het sierraad afkomen, maar daarvoor moet ze wel naar het scheepswrak gaan waar haar ouders het sierraad hebben gevonden en zijn gestorven. Hier komt Jake om de hoek kijken. Jake is al jarenlang op zoek naar het scheepswrak waar Annie heen moet. Als zijn toekomstige stiefvader Annie op Jake’s schip zet, tegen Jake’s wil in, als adviseur gaat Jake overstag. Hij mag Annie onmiddelijk niet en ziet haar meer als een last dan als aanwinst om het beruchte scheepswrak te vinden. Natuurlijk warmen Jake en Annie naar elkaar toe en leren ze elkaar beter kennen. Net wanneer ze denken dat alles goed gaat, komen ze in de problemen als de andere schatzoekers hun plannen in het water gooien.

Verborgen schatten was precies wat ik wilde hebben. Spanning, veel liefde, een onmogelijk verhaal, droeve achtergronden en een happy ending waaruit maar weer eens blijkt dat een groot offer heel veel betekend.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprisingly entertaining. (3.5 stars)

Jake runs a struggling salvage operation, hoping to find the find of a lifetime in memory of his brother, who died in a scuba diving accident. Annie knows exactly where to find the ship he's looking for because she's been there before. Her parents found it, along with a cursed cross, just before they died. That cross has followed her through her life, leaving death in its wake, and now she wants to return it to the sea.

The romance was pretty situational, but decent. I was actually more caught up in a good old fashioned treasure hunt. The love story suffered from the short time frame, IMO, and I wasn't sure why they fell in love so quickly, before they really knew the most important things about one another.

But definitely a quick, fun read.