Wild Orchids

I DNF at 6%. Why? First, inconsistency in the heroine’s backstory. Her mother became disabled when heroine was 17. Heroine spent the next 10 years caring for her mother. Her mother would not allow a non-family member to take care of her, and the only other family was heroine’s uncooperative older married-with-children sister. For instance, Heroine took one weekend away and her mom ended up with a broken hip and blamed heroine. Get the picture? She was a martyr. A doormat. But wait! She’s a teacher! But at what point did she have time to get a degree and teacher’s certification, then become gainfully employed? She is 27 years old as the story opens, so there hasn’t been time, right? Oh, and how did she get a fiancé of 4 years if she couldn’t leave her mom alone. At what point would she have had a chance to date?Second reason to hate the heroine and DNF. The racism and stereotyping of Mexico and its inhabitants are blatant. Also, shouldn’t this woman have understood (or researched) what the weather was like in Cancun in July? Heroine is very whiny.Third (and biggest) reason for DNF is the “hero” and the heroine falling in love with him (I’m assuming, since I quit reading after he got violent the second time).;He kidnaps her at gunpoint, calls her bitch twice and gets physically abusive. There is no excuse or reason this guy could redeem himself in my eyes. A man who terrorizes an innocent person cannot become a sympathetic character, I don’t care what kind of stress he is under. In fact, if stress causes him to get verbally and physically abusive, that is pretty much a guaranteed go-to response. And this guy is supposed to be the romantic lead? This woman is supposed to fall in love with him? That ain’t love. It’s Stockholm Syndrome.This type of book, and the “bodice rippers” published in the same era (1970s-80s) were why I quit reading romance for over a decade. My sister had to convince me that rape romance was a thing of the past before I would read one of her recommendations (of course, since 50 Shades was published, sexual violence in romance is becoming more common again).

*USA Today and NYT bestselling author Karen Robards outdid herself with this excellent romantic suspense that she is quite known for. As queen of romantic suspenses, Wild Orchids is listed among Romantic Times Top 200 books since 1980 and winner of the Romantic Times Reviewers' ChoiceAward for Best Contemporary Romantic Novel of the year...........At twenty-seven years old, high school teacher Lora Harding was tired of living her life for others including family and friends instead of what she wanted for herself, and having had enough of her surroundings and controlling people in her life, she decided she needed a small vacation and she found herself heading forCancun, Mexico. Only once there, everything changed the moment a gorgeous stranger slid into the passenger seat of her car, and even worse, he was pointing a gun at her giving her gruff instructions, and if she didn't comply, he made it quite clear that he would definitely kill her. She not only agreed to his terms by carrying out his orders, but she could see only contempt and arrogance for her, and the more insolent he became, the more her temper flared and vowed right then and there, she would escape by whatever means necessary from the evil clutches of this cold-hearted sob. Was her abductor a criminal? Was this renegade someone who considered himself above the Law? A master manipulator? Lora hadn't a clue, all she knew for certain was she was a victim, and he was her confederate kidnapper. While working undercover and hired to rescue some prisoners from a Mexican jail, Max Maxwell had no other choice but to kidnap the pretty blonde as a cover while trying to escape from the authorities in Cancun,but what he wasn't counting on was for the feisty sexy teacher to give him trouble at every turn including a couple of failed attempts of escaping from him, purposely plowing into a tree with their only means of transportation not to mention her vile need to sabotage his escape route time after again. Needing to catch up with his men so they can all leave Mexico as soon as possible, Max wasn't prepared for the unexpected attraction building between Lora and himself, and he made a decision not to act on those impulses, but when unforseen circumstances strikes between an injured colleague, drug smugglers out for blood, and the authorities on his heels, he realized the more time he spent with Lora, the more he wanted her, and once he did, he was confronted with a shocking revelation, a thought that terrified him to the very core. When Max makes a rash decision breaking Lord's heart into splinters, she leaves vowing never to see him ever again, and in that moment, Max immediately realized he might have just lost the only woman he ever loved!..........

I couldn't continue after the first couple of chapters. The 'hero' is frankly an obnoxious piece of work and why any woman who is not a doormat would want to be with him is beyond me. He threatens to kill her and rape her several times, he physically assaults her, forces her to strip naked and she still lusts after him! This heroine is in serious need of counselling.

I loved the heroine of the book. She seemed a very realistic character and her though process made me laugh out loud. You could completely relate to he running commentary when she was taken hostage, making you warm to her immediately. A great ending as well.

Funny, thrilling and sexy.Enjoyable romp!Dominating male lead and feisty female who discovers her true self and manages to get her man by getting under his skin.Would recommend for those of you who want a light bit entertaining read.

Why do people do this? It’s so frustrating to get to the end and have no proper conclusion. Very naughty!

A very likeable if predictable main theme, but really good attention to detail and the further I got into the book the more interesting it became to see how the story/situation would resolve. One of the best books I've read in a while. Thoroughly recommend it.