Amazon Lily

by Theresa Weir

AS PURE AS A VIRGIN FOREST

She was white gloves and ice cream socials, a nice midwestern girl who'd come to the Amazon on a mission to aid the native Indians. Then Corey McKinney found herself alone in the thick, steamy jungle with a ruggedly handsome bush pilot who dared her to deny what they both knew: she wanted him.

AS DANGEROUS AS A JUNGLE CAT

He was rotgut whiskey and barroom brawls, a street-hardened adventure-seeker who had no time for women with lofty intentions. But Asher Adams was instantly captivated by his passenger's delicate beauty and feisty spirit, and he found himself caring when it was the last thing he wanted to do.

In a jungle teeming with perils, they must band together as they face the most thrilling adventure of their lives --- one that will bring a passion that burns hotter than the South American sun and a love as fiercely beautiful as the ... AMAZON LILY

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Adventure, Fiction, Romantic Suspense, Ebooks

279 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Theresa Weir (a.k.a. Anne Frasier) is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of novels and numerous short stories that have spanned the genres of suspense, mystery, thriller, romantic suspense, paranormal, fantasy, and memoir. During her award-winning career, she's written for Penguin Putnam, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins Publishers, Bantam Books/Random House, Silhouette Books, Grand Central Publishing/Hachette, and Amazon's Thomas & Mercer. Her titles have been printed in both hardcover and paperback and translated into twenty languages.

Her first memoir, THE ORCHARD, was a 2011 Oprah Magazine Fall Pick, Number Two on the Indie Next list, a featured B+ review in Entertainment Weekly, and a Librarians’ Best Books of 2011. Her second memoir, THE MAN WHO LEFT, was a New York Times Bestseller. Going back to 1988, Weir’s debut title was the cult phenomenon AMAZON LILY, initially published by Pocket Books and later reissued by Bantam Books. Writing as Theresa Weir, she won a RITA for romantic suspense (COOL SHADE), and a year later the Daphne du Maurier for paranormal romance (BAD KARMA). In her more recent Anne Frasier career, her thriller and suspense titles hit the USA Today list (HUSH, SLEEP TIGHT, PLAY DEAD) and were featured in Mystery Guild, Literary Guild, and Book of the Month Club. HUSH was both a RITA and Daphne du Maurier finalist.

THE ORCHARD

An Oprah Magazine Fall Pick
Featured B+ Review in Entertainment Weekly
Number Two on October Indie Next List
BJ's Book Club Spotlight
LIbrarians' Best Books of 2011
Maclean's Top Books of 2011
On Point (NPR) Best Books of 2011
Abrams Best of 2011
Publishers Lunch (Publishers Weekly) Favorite Books of 2011
Eighth Annual One Book, One Community 2012, Excelsior, Minnesota
Target Book Club Pick, September 2012

www.theresaweir.com


Title List

Writing as ANNE FRASIER
Hush, USA Today bestseller, RITA finalist, Daphne du Maurier finalist (2002)
Sleep Tight, USA Today bestseller (2003)
Play Dead, USA Today bestseller (2004)
Before I Wake (2005)
Pale Immortal (2006)
Garden of Darkness, RITA finalist (2007)
Once Upon a Crime anthology, Santa’s Little Helper (2009)
The Lineup, Poems on Crime, Home (2010)
Discount Noir anthology, Crack House (2010)
Deadly Treats Halloween anthology, editor and contributor, The Replacement (September 2011)
Once Upon a Crime anthology, Red Cadillac (April 2012)
Woman in a Black Veil (July 2012)
Dark: Volume 1 (short stories, July 2012)
Dark: Volume 2 (short stories, July 2012)
Black Tupelo (short-story collection July 2012)
Girls from the North Country (short story, August 2012)
Made of Stars (short story, August 2012)
Stars (short story collection, August 2012)
Zero Plus Seven (anthology, 2013)
Stay Dead (April 2014)

Writing as THERESA WEIR
The Forever Man (1988)
Amazon Lily, RITA finalist, Best New Adventure Writer award, Romantic Times (1988)
Loving Jenny (1989)
Pictures of Emily (1990)
Iguana Bay (1990)
Forever (1991)
Last Summer (1992)
One Fine Day (1994)
Long Night Moon, Reviewer’s Choice Award, Romantic Times (1995)
American Dreamer (1997)
Some Kind of Magic (1998)
Cool Shade RITA winner, romantic suspense (1998)
Bad Karma, Daphne du Maurier award, paranormal (1999)
Max Under the Stars, short story (2010)
The Orchard, a memoir (September 2011)
The Man Who Left , a memoir and New York Times bestseller (April 2012)
The Girl with the Cat Tattoo (June 2012)
Made of Stars (August 2012)
Come As You Are (October 2013)
The Geek with the Cat Tattoo (December 2013)

Reviews

[Christina ~ Brunette Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

A vintage 1980s jungle romance à la Romancing the Stone still retaining enough freshness, humour and fun to easily captivate today readers' interest as well, this book was a nice little surprise for me, being romance mixed with adventure one of my favourite tropes.
The leads' characterisations may sound a bit dated for the contemporary sub-genre, especially the heroine’s primness, but the amusing interactions between Corey and rough-around-the-edges sexy Asher are the book’s forte from page one to the end at the same time. The atmospheric wild forest setting, the lively banter, the right amount of introspection giving the predominant fluffy mood some substance and the smooth writing do the rest, making Amazon Lily a lovely and entertaining older little gem to (re)discover.

[Crista · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a romance junkie...(just look at my reviews), and it is my belief that Theresa Weir is THE BEST KEPT SECRET of all of the romance authors out there! McNaught, Howard, and Lowell are all UNBELIEVABLE authors, but Weir belongs in that group of authors, and yet it took a listmania list from Amazon for me to even know her name. I'm making it my personal mission to recommend her to whoever will listen to me, although most of her books are out of print...what????

I read this while on vacation in a tropical paradise. I recommend this. This book has vivid descriptions of the Amazon...I could feel the heat coming off the pages while the heat in the air surrounded me....ahhhh!

Corey McKinney is on a trip to the Amazon paid for by her church. It is her job to go and "check out" a village and people with whom her church are interested in supporting. Asher Adams is the pilot who comes to take her there.

"Rough around the edges" doesn't begin to describe this man. Raised in an orphanage with his brother, he now lives in the Amazon...searching for his "lost brother" who is presummed dead. He is tough, abrasive, and rude at times, but just as soon as I would want to "throw in the towel" and stop reading this book, he would do something so incredibly sweet and moving that I would again be captivated to see was lay under his prickly exterior. This love/hate relationship that the reader has with Ash mimicks the relationship that Corey has with him.

I loved Corey. She really puts up with a lot, and yet doesn't let Ash get away with anything. She believes in the good in him, even when he doesn't. This is a perfect beach read...remniscent of Midnight Rainbow by Linda Howard. I couldn't recommend this book or author more highly!

[Lisa Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ariel shots of the Amazon River that could conceivably have been taken by Corey’s 35mm camera from the window of Ash’s rust-bucket of a plane.
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★★★★★★ Loved, loved, LOVED this book! And it was a Kindle Freebie! Amazing. Originally published in 1988, I can see why this one won “Romantic Times Best New Adventure Writer Award.” I wish more authors, when offering a backlisted book for free*, had books of this caliber. Of course, Ms. Theresa Weir (a.k.a. Anne Frasier) is one smart lady, because I’m going to track down more of her suspenseful books.

The heroine, Corey McKinney, was just wonderful. I guess I would have to say she is very believable. “Real,” if you will. We don’t get many church-going heroines thrown into a hot, steamy romance novel in an exotic locale. Her bewilderment at her attraction to the rude, crude, and socially unacceptable hero is right on the mark. Nevertheless, she’s no shrieking, shrinking violet or virgin; but she does wonder what is happening to her hormones. She’s smart, too! Neat.

Speaking of the hero, Asher Adams (AKA a rough, disreputable, foul-mouthed, funny, hunky bush pilot) is just uncouth enough, without going over the line, to be her total opposite. His saving grace: he has a vulnerable streak as long – and as dangerously unpredictable – as the Amazon. That, and he can be very sweet.

Great pacing and well written. Definitely recommend!

Love the original artwork cover by Morgan Kane, too. Just campy enough to get a great mental image of Ash saving Corey – or “Lily,” as he calls her – from the Xingu Death Pit. This one is fun. And, there’s a dog named Bobbie in it. (♥ Dogs!)

*Currently it is free only for Amazon Prime Members, so you might want to wait until it rolls around again for the general population.

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[MelissaB · Rating 3 out of 5]

*** 3 1/2 stars ***

Corey McKinney travels to the Amazon on a research mission for her church, which is considering funding a reserve that helped the local Native populations. She is supposed to check out the reserve and bring back a report. Her pilot to the reserve is very rough looking man who insults her and tells her she should just go home because the jungle is no place for a woman. Asher Adams is an American ex-pat who went to Brazil looking for his missing brother and has stayed ever since. He doesn't want Corey there because he thinks she is just a "Lilly-Libber" who is coming to try to force her religion on a native population that neither needs it nor wants it. He also knows how dangerous the jungle can be and doesn't think she can hack it even for a week.

Ash takes Corey to the reserve, which consists of one house where he also lives. The man she was supposed to meet left unexpectedly, so she is stuck with Ash. They don't get off on the right foot, partially because he was a jerk to her and because she acted stuck up and snooty. Corey spends the rest of a very adventurous week with Ash, including visiting a local Indian tribe and treking through the jungle with spiders that fell on her when it rained (holy crap I would have freaked out). As they spend more time together, Corey starts to notice that Ash is more than just a sarcastic bad boy, he is helping the local tribes and using his joking to hide a sensitive side. Ash thinks Corey is beautiful but too fragile for the Amazon, so he fights his attraction and tries to be honorable - but of course they give in and some jungle loving goes down. But Ash loves the Amazon and won't leave and Corey has to return to her small town in America, so how can they have a future?

This book gave me mixed feelings. I liked some parts but others could have been better. The setting of the Amazon jungle was really neat, the author didn't try to romanticize it too much and mentions the diseases and dangers that abound. The lead characters were too black and white - the hero is a bad boy who had a harsh childhood in a foster home, he smokes, drinks whiskey and OMG has a tattoo (that says Born to Raise Hell that he got one night when he passed out drunk - that was actually funny). The heroine is a pristine girl who never drinks, lives in a small town and is a "good" girl. Their differences were pointed out again and again and again - yes it got old. The story really felt dated, you could tell it was written in the 80's by the clothing styles and the story. I was annoyed with the heroine sometimes for being such a Ms. Priss and judging the hero, she comes off as really immature sometimes. The hero would go from being a total jerk (standard 80's style) to being nice sometimes, but she loves him (after a few days of course) because she thinks he has the heart of a child - yeah I don't know what that means either. He was kind of funny and charming in a rough way though.

So overall, the story and setting were interesting enough. If you are feeling like reading a decent throwback 80's book, this would be a good one. The characters could have had more depth and not been drawn so polarizing but they were still interesting.

[Linda (NOT RECEIVING NOTIFICATIONS) · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was suppose to be a simple trip. Exciting but simple. Chicago to Brazil, meet with the owner of a parcel of land and return to the US. With a degree in social work and one year spent in practical nursing, Corey McKinney convinced her church minister that she was their best representative to travel.

If only it was that easy.

Upon arrival, her bush pilot -Mister Jones- was a no-show. Instead, Asher Adams greeted her. Grumpy, ornery, sweaty, scowling, unhappy Asher Adams. Cranky, dirty, detestable and full of advice, Asher Adams.

You want my advice? go back home get married have babies why is it you women have to prove your men? yada yada yada

In all her years helping others, Corey had never met such a disagreeable, nasty person. She had absolutely no intention of listening to him. After all, she was here for a purpose: to assist her church.

I don’t need your advice. I don’t want it. I’d like to leave now.

Asher was rude. He was abrasive and had a habit of calling Corey names. His attitude likened to a caveman when Lily, I mean Corey, didn’t listen to him. But darn, if I didn’t like him. His soul was buried deep, waiting for the right woman to come along.

~~~~~
I read this story in 1992 and it became one of my first ‘keepers’. Amazon Lily was my introduction to Theresa Weir and the concept of an anti-hero. Eventually I read all of her older romances and moved on to her contemporary thrillers under the name, Anne Frasier.

It is a shame that this story is under-appreciated. Yes, you will need to suspend your disbelief. The bulk of the romance takes place over a few days. Because it was originally published in 1988, there was some datedness: Dudley Do Right (from the cartoon Rocky and Bullwinkle), Jethro Bodine (The Beverly Hillbillies) and a few other select references to Asher’s childhood.

I love a solid romantic story of redemption. I enjoy a good opposites-attract trope with a fair amount of tension between the H and h. A quarrel here and there. Some angst with an adventure. Humor with contrariness. Why not include an animal? Perhaps an ugly brown dog with scars and one of his ears missing.

Amazon Lily had it all. I would love to see this romance made into a movie. It is available on Open Library or free at KU. Need I say more?

[CB · Rating 2 out of 5]

REVIEW
Rating: 2/5
POV: Dual (confusingly done)
Heat Level: 2/5
Tropes: Enemies to Lovers; Forced Proximity; Opposites Attract; 10 year age gap; Insta-love
Kinks: N/A

Like:
* I enjoyed how the FMC gave it right back to the MMC for the most part. He's very much an asshole oaf and she just hands it right back to him pretty well
* I felt the descriptions of the Amazon were fairly well done. When speaking of the different trees, animals, insects, etc.

Dislikes:
* The change between POV's was done so poorly. You'd be reading and then next think you know it's a different POV and a whole new scene. Very confusing
* The view that each MC had of the other was head scratching strange. The FMC is scandalized that he has a tattoo on his arm and the MMC seems to think the FMC can't do anything more than hold a baby in her arms.
* The blatant cheating! FMC is cheating on OM.

Synopsis:
This story is absolutely wild/bonkers (my favorite descriptive word for mind boggling books). Our FMC, whose actual name I couldn't even tell you but we'll call her Lily like the MMC, goes to the Amazon on behalf of her CHURCH to visit with a certain village and see what supplies they can provide (I think?). She then proceeds to end up in the jungle with her bush pilot, our MMC. He's a complete duchy asshole and she's honestly pretty naive.
One of the most flabbergasting parts to me of this story is how the FMC is this church attending, prudish female who then sleeps with basically a stranger and cheats on on her BF/fiance. HUH?

They also drink water like twice in the whole week but we are told left and right throughout the story how much of a sweaty mess they are. How are they even alive and not dehydrated beyond redemption? I don't get it, lol.

They both also fall in love with one another after 3 days and 1 bout of sex.

So all in all I can say I read this book and move on to the next.
Thanks for buddy reading Lori & Izzah!

2/5

[Lyuda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was very entertaining and sweet story of two people who were drawn together by circumstances and fought the building attraction, the recognition that they are two half of each other. Corey with her Midwestern roots and safe Norman Rockwellish childhood could not be more different than Ash who grew up in abusive children homes that hardened his outlook in life. Amazon jungle setting of the story is a very well done.

[Saly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Amazon Lily. It had was set in the Amazon forests, dangerous, wild, filled with insects and tribes with unconventional customs.

The hero was rude, obnoxious, crude, smoked, wasn't the most cleanliness friendly, had a tattoo but was awesome. He could be bad one moment and the next incredibly sweet. Ash came to amazon when his brother Luke went missing three years ago. Everyone believes he's dead but Ash still searches for him.
Growing up the way they did on streets and in orphanages, Luke was the good brother and Ash the bad one, getting into trouble. Luke joined the Peace Corps and Ash came searching for him and has stayed behind driving his planes. So, when Corey shows up on behalf of her small-town church he is not happy, he tells her to go back to her life and boyfriend and Amazon is no place for her.

Corey grew up on a farm in a small-town with all the love in life. She worked as a nurse and is now a social-worker. When Ash comes to pick her up when her pilot is drunk she's not happy, he's crude, rude and doesn't seem to care but he still revs up her hormones which she always thought didn't work well.

I liked the book, Ash had not had anything good in life and was good at acting as the bad-boy but despite all the camouflage Corey or Lily as he called her fell for him.

The name Lily started out as an insult but then changed. He sends her away thinking she deserves better but comes back. I loved it when Corey realized that he's a humanitarian no matter what he says.

I like bad-boy heroes and sometimes they ate hurtful but oh so delicious in their love for the heroines.

[Lefthandedbibliophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

[Anne OK · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently stumbled across a true treasure and a gem in this older contemporary romance novel by Theresa Weir. She’s a new-to-me-author who I’ve since learned is also a Romance Writers of America RITA award winner. Weir also writes suspense thrillers under the pen name Anne Frasier. In many ways, her writing reminds me of two of my favorite authors, Judith McNaught and Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Suffice it to say, I was wowed by this author and I will definitely be checking out her backlist of books.

“Amazon Lily” was originally published in the 1980s. Set in the Amazon, not only is it a captivating and heartwrenching love story but a rather fun jungle romp with sizzling hot chemistry between its hero and heroine. Asher Adams and Corey McKinney are two marvelously well-crafted characters, whose love/hate relationship touches ever fiber of your being, while proving true that old saying that “Opposites attract.”

On a church mission trip to an Amazon village, Corey’s purpose is to evaluate the needs of the people and report back to her congregation so that they might help. When a problem occurs with the original pilot, Asher Adams is the one who flies her there. He’s rude and crude and just downright nasty at times. But below the surface, he’s sooooo much more! Ash is an A+ hero and a memorable character. Corey, on the other hand, is such a good girl. She’s sweet, gentle and kind -- and the total opposite of Ash. But Corey likes this bad boy - a lot! She sees good in him even when Ash is at his worst.

Ash and “Lily” now hold a place of endearment among my favorite couples. Their love story tugged at my heart and never let go. This is one of those books that you don't want to ever end.

[Izzah ꒰Duchess of Cabria ಇ ⭑✧ ᴏɴ ᴘᴀᴛʀᴇᴏɴ ✧ ⋆꒱ · Rating 2 out of 5]

When she swoons because he smells like the cockpit of an airplane

Access to running water, plumbing and electricity

Everyone: (๑'ᵕ'๑)

MCs:


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🕮⋆˚࿔✎𓂃 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰
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[Luli · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can find this review in English below.

No creo que hubiese leído esta historia de no ser porque mi amiga Lyuda me la recomendó. Y estoy encantada de haberla leído. Este es uno de esos fabulosos y casi perfectos romances contemporáneos tan imposible difíciles de encontrar.
Así que muchísimas gracias por descubrirme esta joya, Lyuda, de verdad. :)

No creo que ni la descripción ni la portada hagan justicia a la historia.

Si estás de humor para un romance ubicado en la sofocante y agobiante selva amazónica, con unos protagonistas que te atrapan desde el minuto uno y una historia de amor preciosa, este es tu libro.

La autora desde luego tiene un don con las palabras. Las descripciones son fantásticas, te transportan a la selva con cada frase y la relación entre los protagonistas es algo especial. A pesar de que hay algún que otro cliché y algún que otro malentendido, aquí funcionan. Funcionan a la perfección.

Me ha encantado.


***

I think I wouldn´t have read this story if not because my friend Lyuda recommended it to me. And I´m so glad I read it. This story is one of those fabulous and almost perfect contemporary romance so impossible difficult to find.
So thank you so much, Lyuda, really! :)

I don´t think either the blurb or the cover do justice to the story.
If you are in the mood for a romance settled in the suffocating and oppressive Amazon jungle, with a MC´s who are going to hook you from the start and a beautiful love story, this is your book.

The author certainly has a way with words. She can transport you to the jungle in a sentence, her descriptions are well done like that. And the love relationship is something special. Even when there are a few clichés that should have rubbed me wrong, she makes them work. Makes them work to perfection.

I loved it!

[Maqluba · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really great jungle love story. You could feel the humidity and the bugs and the sweat and the heat-- it really is jungle love. I really got a sense of the bad boy hero and the good-hearted heroine- they stayed true to their characters and it didn't feel forced or fake. It was the biker-boy-with-the-reverend's daughter-type of romance and I ate up every minute of it. The only aspect I didn't enjoy was the resolution to the missing/dead brother thing- I think that whole plot was unnecessary but I understand that there had to be a reason for our hero to be in the Amazon for a reason other than an altruistic one because that's not like him.
All in all a great read--I'll def be checking out other books by this author!

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Top notch!! Read this one years ago, and re-visit it occasionally. This woman can write romantic suspense. Great plotting, awesome characterization, emotionally captivating, and soooo sexy. What's not to like??

[Rabbit {Paint me like one of your 19th century gothic heroines!}]

DNF on pg 50, I can't.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of a young woman who travels to the Amazon to do a report on a mission for her church. Of course, things don't go as planned and her trip to the Amazon was a bit more of an adventure than she was expecting.

What made this book genuinely enjoyable for me was the hero, Asher Adams. He was like, but unlike, any hero I had ever read in a romance novel. He was truely flawed, mean and gruff and vices aplenty. However, the author expertly reveals a deeper character that will make you love him in the way the heroine, Corey, does.

It is a short read, but fulfilling.

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actual rating — 2.5 stars. Might even be 2.75. Honestly, for most of the book it was a solid 3 stars for me. Ash, the love interest, didn’t have much to recommend him, but I liked the jungle setting and Corey was fine as a heroine. However, what caused me to lower my rating was the fact that the ending was completely told and not shown. I didn’t want major things to be resolved off page so that affected my rating quite a bit. There’s also a cheating element in play which I feel like was common in older books, so I try to look at it as a product of its time but I still don’t like to read about cheating.

Also — Ash didn’t know Indiana Jones! What?!? This book was written in 1988 so maybe that’s why, but I feel like those movies are basically classics at this point. Of course, in ‘88, only Raiders and Temple of Doom had been released, but STILL. It’s INDIANA JONES. He referred to him as “Indiana Smith” which had me cringing.

[Mela · Rating 4 out of 5]

A romance with an alpha hero, who has a sensitive site. Taking place in an exotic Amazon, for (the main part) a few days. Written in the late 80ies. You probably got the gist. But let me stress it out, it was as good as it could be.

Just ignore nagging questions about the reality of some parts, and savour old good romance.

[3.5-4 stars]

[MBR · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great contemporary romance. Loved the characters.
My review: http://bit.ly/bp8T5R

[Sammy · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was cheating in the book and I did not particularly like either the hero or the heroine.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable old-school romance novel. I liked it, but didn't love it. Still, it kept me entertained over the past few days, and given the reading slump I've been in lately that's something!

[Lesleya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Has just joined my list of favorites! I grew up loving romantic adventure movies and my library has been sorely lacking in that area! Loved this one. Thank you Christina for recommending this one to your book buddy who expressed her undying love for Romancing the Stone and all things Indiana Jones!!!

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, there are some moments that are a little dated, but this book has held up amazingly well. I suspect that the author was just ahead of her time. The heroine is no action heroine, and she does have quite a few preconceptions that make her judgemental. While she's acting for her church, she's not particularly religious in her language or thoughts, though her language tends to be very clean.

I'd say the things I liked the least were her jumping to conclusions, his constant snide remarks about her life, and the fact that she has a long-term boyfriend/fiance back home who she seems to forget all about. Which didn't seem like her. Of course, the fact that he was so forgettable may have been a sign, but no one thought of it that way.

What I did like is how the two of them are so different, yet had great chemistry and really complemented each other. They said plenty of mean things to each other in their hasty rushing to judgement, but were almost never truly cruel. I also liked that there wasn't any guilt tripping, and when he doesn't take advantage of her vulnerability she isn't offended. In fact, with their flaws, I felt they were much more true to life than most romance characters I read today.

And can I just say it was such a relief not to have some intrigue thrown into the mix. Sometimes the simple plot should just stand alone (in fact, I'd argue that most times it should). This book was a surprise treat, and definitely not particularly politically correct, yet it did not belittle the culture of the Amazonian Indians at all.

[Connie N. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite nice. Not technically a Harlequin romance, but very much like one. Little miss do-good Corey heads to Brazil to check out a reserve that her church might want to support. She meets the handsome and bad-boy pilot, and they get thrown together when the leader of the reserve isn't there when they arrive. They face some jungle issues, a native tribe, and the effects of malaria. But they also make the best of a primitive situation. There's a side story of Ash (the pilot) searching for his missing brother in the jungle. Weir does a nice job of building her characters. I particularly liked Ash, but Corey could often be unbelievably naïve and proper. This was written in 1988--were tattoos really so unusual at that time? She saw Ash's one tattoo on his arm and was totally shocked. She also tended to jump to conclusions. Probably necessary to create some tension in the story, but sometimes annoying. Overall, a pleasant book, though. I'll look for more from this author.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Corey McKinney was chosen by her church to see if the money and supplies they were sending to aid the natives in Brazil were going to good use. She wasn't prepared to find herself alone in the jungle with handsome bush pilot Asher Adams. She also wasn't prepared for the sparks that were flying between them. Ash didn't know how he got stuck being tour guide to Miss Goody-Two-Shoes. But after saving her life in the jungle and rescuing her from a native who wants to keep her for himself, Ash begins to enjoy having Corey around.

This book is considered one of the all-time greats by RT Book Reviews. It is a good story that kept me turning pages, but it also feels dated. Corey is one of those heroines who just jumps to outlandish conclusions without asking questions. She sometimes wore on me. Ash is sometimes rude and abrasive, but you know down deep he is a good guy. I loved the jungle setting and the things Corey and Ash had to go through to survive. My rating: 3.5 Stars.

[Gail Richmond · Rating 2 out of 5]

Typical romance reminiscent of the film Romancing the Stone but without famous characters acting out the parts.
Farm girl Corey McKinney goes from small-town Illinois to the Amazon jungle as an emissary of her church to report on a possible medical mission investment. Young, blonde, and beautiful, Corey meets rough bad boy Asher, bush pilot and partner in the work to provide medical care, nutrition support, and education to the Amazon tribes. Of course, they fall in love.
Stereotypical but light, fast reading.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't put this book down! The writing flowed beautifully and takes you to the Amazon with the story. I'm pretty sure I could feel the humid air and smell the plantlife. It pulls you in and keeps you there. Did I mention HOT and I don't mean the climate. Wonderful read!

[Shelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a first printing of this book with a different cover. It is my all time favorite! Jungle, hero and a daring girl!

[Sherron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Free on Kindle today

[Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two-haiku review:

South America
She goes to check out mission
Meets surly pilot

Instant attraction
Hidden depths to characters
Very steamy sex