This starts out a little oddly, with Hope dodging Franco, the charming, hunky Italian Policio. It becomes clearer as the story progresses that Hope's had some horrible experiences with law enforcement types who used their badges to belittle people and made her life hell.
Franco finally meets Hope and he discovers weird things are happening at Hope's home, which she borrows from her friend. The friend runs an English instruction school in Italy, which has some priceless broken syntax with these gentlemen trying to learn our nutty tongue and mangling it quite well. And the friend? Well, she's hospitalized and that's why Hope's even IN Italy to start with, she's dropped everything and moved to Italy to help her bud. Good trade for the inconvenience, though, since she finds the love of her life in the suave Franco.
I really liked him and meeting his Mama, who wanted her boy hitched and gave Hope a nudge with some style tips. It's not as if Hope had to have a make-over to catch Franco's attention: she's a blonde and that's rare in Southern Italy, but Ms. Rice aggravates poor old Franco by opening the eyes of EVERYONE who gets a glimpse of our girl once she gets a hair cut and some nifty clothes.
There are, as previously reviewed, some hot sex scenes and one in the police station that should have completely cured Hope's phobia about law enforcement. Yowza! Then again, in order to get a, uh, second dose of Franco's revolutionary treatment, I would have pleaded faintness, shortness of breath, dizziness and any manner of other symptoms.
Which brings me to another point: Ms. Rice can and does write strong Alpha men: police, military and ex-military men. Now, she should branch out a bit and write about at least one doctor. That's a natural for a potential love story. Romances started out with doctors and nurses or doctors and their patients, but it's not as popular these days. I have high hopes of what Ms. Rice could do with a man with a good bedside manner.
This is a previously published book that Ms. Rice has embroidered upon for fans of her books: "Midnight Man," "Midnight Run," and "Midnight Angel." While I totally love those stories, you must check out "Woman on the Run" as well. She's not written a bad book yet.