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Antiquities Hunters #2
The Haviland Touch
It's been ten years since Spencer Wyatt jilted Drew Haviland for another man. Now she is free--and Drew will do anything to get vengeance and take what's been promised to him. But closer inspection tells him that Spencer is in dire straits--and in desperate need of his help.
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 15, 1991
26 people are currently reading
477 people want to read
About the author
Kay Hooper
107 books2,453 followersKay Hooper (aka Kay Robbins) was born in California, in an air force base hospital since her father was stationed there at the time. The family moved back to North Carolina shortly afterward, so she was raised and went to school there.
The oldest of three children, Kay has a brother two years younger and a sister seven years younger. Her father and brother are builders who own a highly respected construction company, and her mother worked for many years in personnel management before becoming Kay's personal assistant, a position she held until her untimely death in March 2002. Kay's sister Linda works as her Business Manager, Events Coordinator, and is playing a major role in the creation and operation of The Kay Hooper Foundation.
Kay graduated from East Rutherford High School and attended Isothermal Community College — where she quickly discovered that business classes did not in any way enthrall her. Switching to more involving courses such as history and literature, she also began to concentrate on writing, which had been a longtime interest. Very quickly hooked, she asked for a Christmas typewriter and began seriously working on her first novel. That book, a Regency romance titled Lady Thief, sold to Dell Publishing in 1980. She has since published more than 60 novels and four novellas.
Kay is single and lives in a very small town in North Carolina, not far from her father and siblings. Deigning to live with her are a flock of cats — Bonnie, Ginger, Oscar, Tuffy, Felix, Renny, and Isabel — of various personalities who all like sleeping on manuscripts and whatever research happens to be spread across Kay's desk. And living amongst the many felines are two cheerfully tolerant dogs, a shelter rescue, Bandit, who looks rather like a small sheepdog, and a Sheltie named Lizzie.
The oldest of three children, Kay has a brother two years younger and a sister seven years younger. Her father and brother are builders who own a highly respected construction company, and her mother worked for many years in personnel management before becoming Kay's personal assistant, a position she held until her untimely death in March 2002. Kay's sister Linda works as her Business Manager, Events Coordinator, and is playing a major role in the creation and operation of The Kay Hooper Foundation.
Kay graduated from East Rutherford High School and attended Isothermal Community College — where she quickly discovered that business classes did not in any way enthrall her. Switching to more involving courses such as history and literature, she also began to concentrate on writing, which had been a longtime interest. Very quickly hooked, she asked for a Christmas typewriter and began seriously working on her first novel. That book, a Regency romance titled Lady Thief, sold to Dell Publishing in 1980. She has since published more than 60 novels and four novellas.
Kay is single and lives in a very small town in North Carolina, not far from her father and siblings. Deigning to live with her are a flock of cats — Bonnie, Ginger, Oscar, Tuffy, Felix, Renny, and Isabel — of various personalities who all like sleeping on manuscripts and whatever research happens to be spread across Kay's desk. And living amongst the many felines are two cheerfully tolerant dogs, a shelter rescue, Bandit, who looks rather like a small sheepdog, and a Sheltie named Lizzie.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
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July 30, 20210
November 26, 2020
Fluff, that's it in a nutshell.
September 13, 2016
Actual Rating: 3.5 Stars
Having read the entirety of Kay Hooper's Bishop/SCU series, I guess I was a little startled by the experience I had reading these older works, which were apparently part of the Harlequin Silhouette Intimates line. Shorter than other books I've read by Kay Hooper, both Antiquities Hunters books were actually much more enjoyable and kind of refreshing.
The Haviland Touch and Enemy Mine both follow a romantic suspense/adventure story involving "treasure hunters," which really appealed to me. I've always been interested in archaeology and find many a movie depicting this particular topic very fascinating.
Of course, like any other category romance, you tend to get more romance than you get of anything else. Especially in this particular final installment of the Antiquities Hunters duology. In fact, I almost felt a bit frustrated about the relationship between Drew and Spencer... though it didn't drive me crazy or anything.
The Story:
Spencer Wyatt's father has always been an admirer of unique artifacts and relics. In fact, the biggest dream in his life has been to find and prove the existence of the Hapsburg cross that went missing in Austria hundreds of years ago. But even as the years have gone by, Allan Wyatt still only has a pile of notes to show for his research.
After being laid up due to a stroke, doctors are telling Spencer that her father may not have much longer to live. Determined to help her father realize his biggest dream, Spencer decides that she will head off to recover what he's been unable to find all these years.
But any kind of unique relic such as the Hapsburg cross attracts attention, sometimes of the unwanted, dangerous variety. Spencer's father wants her to request the help of Drew Haviland, also a renown collector and antiquities hunter--with him accompanying her, she's sure to find the cross.
But a jilted betrayal from the past has left the relationship between Spencer and Drew kind of rocky. The last thing Spencer wants is to ask the help of a man she walked away from and hurt ten years ago. Drew, on the other hand, has just discovered that his bitter memories of Spencer's betrayal is less like what he'd always thought.
My Thoughts:
I suppose, to be fair, this book is first and foremost a romance. You can kind of see it from within the first few chapters. A first love, left to hang after one party leaves the other. Spencer, being young and overwhelmed, runs away from Drew, breaking their engagement, and elopes with another man. Drew, having been jilted so easily and quickly, can only form his own opinions as to why Spencer would do that and why.
And then, in present day, the two of them are still wallowing in the angst that is a broken first love. To be totally honest, we've all read that same story time and time again. And to be totally honest, while I understand the angry, upset, bitterness that Drew has harbored all these years... it HAS been ten years, and shouldn't he have moved on by now? And even if not, I really don't like it when a person is threatened with unwelcome sexual harassment and intentions, no matter how upset you are with that person. It just doesn't seem right.
Or was there a different interpretation for Drew's declaration of how he was promised something and he intends to get what he was promised? That he would "take her" and show her what it's like to be "in thrall to someone else." Am I reading too far into these innuendos?
So anyway, Drew came off a bit of an asshole in the beginning.
Of course, his bitterness doesn't last long and the angst is resolved almost before our two main characters even leave the country. At the very least, I give kudos to Kay Hooper for not drawing out a misunderstanding and the romantic angst for too long, considering we have more pressing matters at hand that involve life and death.
Once the past is put behind them, Drew and Spencer actually exhibit a pretty good, if also gaggingly sweet and cheesy, partnership and romance. I kind of like them more when they're working together to find the cross rather than making mooney eyes at each other.
I think I might be getting cranky in my old age. But anyway...
The Haviland Touch was exciting and action-packed. It was lots of fun to read and, with the exception of the "Drew is an asshole" episode at the beginning, the rest of the book is actually fairly enjoyable. It just also felt a little unbalanced in the romance versus suspense allocations, but I'm willing to overlook that since I kind of expected it anyway.
***
2016 Reading Challenges:
• Goodreads Reading Challenge
• BookLikes Reading Challenge
• Reading Assignment Challenge
• Bookish Resolutions Challenge
Having read the entirety of Kay Hooper's Bishop/SCU series, I guess I was a little startled by the experience I had reading these older works, which were apparently part of the Harlequin Silhouette Intimates line. Shorter than other books I've read by Kay Hooper, both Antiquities Hunters books were actually much more enjoyable and kind of refreshing.
The Haviland Touch and Enemy Mine both follow a romantic suspense/adventure story involving "treasure hunters," which really appealed to me. I've always been interested in archaeology and find many a movie depicting this particular topic very fascinating.
Of course, like any other category romance, you tend to get more romance than you get of anything else. Especially in this particular final installment of the Antiquities Hunters duology. In fact, I almost felt a bit frustrated about the relationship between Drew and Spencer... though it didn't drive me crazy or anything.
The Story:
Spencer Wyatt's father has always been an admirer of unique artifacts and relics. In fact, the biggest dream in his life has been to find and prove the existence of the Hapsburg cross that went missing in Austria hundreds of years ago. But even as the years have gone by, Allan Wyatt still only has a pile of notes to show for his research.
After being laid up due to a stroke, doctors are telling Spencer that her father may not have much longer to live. Determined to help her father realize his biggest dream, Spencer decides that she will head off to recover what he's been unable to find all these years.
But any kind of unique relic such as the Hapsburg cross attracts attention, sometimes of the unwanted, dangerous variety. Spencer's father wants her to request the help of Drew Haviland, also a renown collector and antiquities hunter--with him accompanying her, she's sure to find the cross.
But a jilted betrayal from the past has left the relationship between Spencer and Drew kind of rocky. The last thing Spencer wants is to ask the help of a man she walked away from and hurt ten years ago. Drew, on the other hand, has just discovered that his bitter memories of Spencer's betrayal is less like what he'd always thought.
My Thoughts:
I suppose, to be fair, this book is first and foremost a romance. You can kind of see it from within the first few chapters. A first love, left to hang after one party leaves the other. Spencer, being young and overwhelmed, runs away from Drew, breaking their engagement, and elopes with another man. Drew, having been jilted so easily and quickly, can only form his own opinions as to why Spencer would do that and why.
And then, in present day, the two of them are still wallowing in the angst that is a broken first love. To be totally honest, we've all read that same story time and time again. And to be totally honest, while I understand the angry, upset, bitterness that Drew has harbored all these years... it HAS been ten years, and shouldn't he have moved on by now? And even if not, I really don't like it when a person is threatened with unwelcome sexual harassment and intentions, no matter how upset you are with that person. It just doesn't seem right.
Or was there a different interpretation for Drew's declaration of how he was promised something and he intends to get what he was promised? That he would "take her" and show her what it's like to be "in thrall to someone else." Am I reading too far into these innuendos?
So anyway, Drew came off a bit of an asshole in the beginning.
Of course, his bitterness doesn't last long and the angst is resolved almost before our two main characters even leave the country. At the very least, I give kudos to Kay Hooper for not drawing out a misunderstanding and the romantic angst for too long, considering we have more pressing matters at hand that involve life and death.
Once the past is put behind them, Drew and Spencer actually exhibit a pretty good, if also gaggingly sweet and cheesy, partnership and romance. I kind of like them more when they're working together to find the cross rather than making mooney eyes at each other.
I think I might be getting cranky in my old age. But anyway...
The Haviland Touch was exciting and action-packed. It was lots of fun to read and, with the exception of the "Drew is an asshole" episode at the beginning, the rest of the book is actually fairly enjoyable. It just also felt a little unbalanced in the romance versus suspense allocations, but I'm willing to overlook that since I kind of expected it anyway.
***
2016 Reading Challenges:
• Goodreads Reading Challenge
• BookLikes Reading Challenge
• Reading Assignment Challenge
• Bookish Resolutions Challenge
July 26, 2023
DNF... just could not get into this book although the synopsis sounded great.
April 11, 2021
I've been reading some of the old Kay Hooper books and every once in a while there is a good one. This is one of those as well as "Enemy Mine". The story was fun and there was a bit of intrigue. The relationship was done well. The difficulties were explained and understandably dealt with. Will be keeping this book as well as the other and reading again sometime in the future
August 9, 2019
One of Hooper's Harlequin Silhouette novels from 1991, a classic romance with a load of steam. Quick, enjoyable read.
June 17, 2025
Good read.
April 1, 2022
"𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗼 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹."
Unfortuantely, Kay Hooper failed miserably and she did nothing right which totally negates her quote. The book is hot garbage. The only thing that made me feel good was the blank page at the end of the book finally declaring that that traumatic reading experience was over and that I would finally stop feeling sorry for the writer. I tried so hard to get into the book, but my mind kept drifting away uninterested.
The male and the female protagonists in this book are irritatingly whiny and utterly unlikable. The romantic part of the story was absolutely ludicrous while the thrilling part, if there was any, was numbingly boring.
Haphephobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by a fear of being touched and readers of The Haviland Touch by Kay Hooper may exhibit the symptoms if any of them has an aversion to below mediocre stories.
Unfortuantely, Kay Hooper failed miserably and she did nothing right which totally negates her quote. The book is hot garbage. The only thing that made me feel good was the blank page at the end of the book finally declaring that that traumatic reading experience was over and that I would finally stop feeling sorry for the writer. I tried so hard to get into the book, but my mind kept drifting away uninterested.
The male and the female protagonists in this book are irritatingly whiny and utterly unlikable. The romantic part of the story was absolutely ludicrous while the thrilling part, if there was any, was numbingly boring.
Haphephobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by a fear of being touched and readers of The Haviland Touch by Kay Hooper may exhibit the symptoms if any of them has an aversion to below mediocre stories.
August 14, 2008
THE HAVILAND TOUCH - Good
Hooper, Kay - standalone (SIM-388)
It had been ten years since Spencer Wyatt had jilted Drew Haviland for another man. Now she was free—and more damnably desirable than ever. Drew vowed to seek repayment for Spencer’s broken pledge, planned to ruthlessly take what had been promised to him. But closer inspection told him that Spencer was in dire straits…and needed him desperately.
Spencer was determined to find the legendary Hapsburg Cross, the lifelong aim of her dying father. Drew was the only man who could help—but he also had the power to hurt her. Though danger lurked at every corner of her quest, Spencer feared above all the perilous passion she had fled so long ago…and Drew Haviland’s seductive oath of vengeance. …
A love that has lasted 12-years and a search for the Hapsburg Cross; it was very enjoyable.
Hooper, Kay - standalone (SIM-388)
It had been ten years since Spencer Wyatt had jilted Drew Haviland for another man. Now she was free—and more damnably desirable than ever. Drew vowed to seek repayment for Spencer’s broken pledge, planned to ruthlessly take what had been promised to him. But closer inspection told him that Spencer was in dire straits…and needed him desperately.
Spencer was determined to find the legendary Hapsburg Cross, the lifelong aim of her dying father. Drew was the only man who could help—but he also had the power to hurt her. Though danger lurked at every corner of her quest, Spencer feared above all the perilous passion she had fled so long ago…and Drew Haviland’s seductive oath of vengeance. …
A love that has lasted 12-years and a search for the Hapsburg Cross; it was very enjoyable.
July 15, 2011
This was a steamy, steamy book. It was in a little bit old-fashioned way, so most of it wasn't graphic, but there certainly are some scenes they don't leave much to the imagination. Even the parts where they barely touched each other were full of heat. There really isn't much action or plot in the book - mostly characters' thoughts, regrets, longings, etc. Which for me is easy to gloss through quickly. It was certainly a quick read and I was sympathetic to the plight of characters.
March 25, 2017
I liked it, and i love Kay Hooper's books, both FBI novels and other ones like this one. It's not her best, but its still pretty good. You can tell its one of her earlier books because the more of her books you read you can see her writing style improve. Its on the shorter side... it is a perfect "hey i need a book to read while at the beach for the next few days" kind of book.
September 20, 2008
sorry love story no mystery disappointing would not recommend to anyone
March 15, 2011
I enjoyed this book very much, a little romance, a little suspense, and good characters.
March 24, 2011
Really fun, more lighthearted than her FBI series. Very much a romantic thriller.
August 29, 2011
Better than the first. I really liked Drew and once I figured Spencer out I like her too. They had good chemistry.
December 28, 2013
This book was well written but far too heavy on the romance for my tastes.
December 22, 2014
lost relics -- adventure -- romance
December 10, 2016
very good
Read
January 22, 2008A must read!! But her explanation sucked!
April 10, 2014
Love anything by Kay Hooper.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews