Whitewater Rendezvous

Megan Maxwell is a workaholic. Anyway, ever since her ex, Rita, dumped her and stripped her of all possessions. She a VP for one of the major networks in Chicago. Her friends badger her into finally taking a 2 week vacation with them to Alaska. They'll be checking out the Last Great Frontier while kayaking and hiking. OHHHHH....Megan is not an outdoors person at all. Chaz Herrick is the main guide for the kayaking/hiking trip. Chaz is a biology professors and does the tours during her summers. She's also a pretty good photographer. Sandy, the other guide, is cute and knowledgeable and happily married. But she has a great role of confidant and matchmaker. The first meeting between Chaz and Megan is frigid. Oh they both find each other attractive, but they can't get passed some of the luggage. Chaz looks very similar to Megan's ex, Rita, which doesn't settle well at all. And since she's totally ignoring Chaz, she believe Megan is an icy [...]. Take the trip with them and see the beauty of Alaska thru their eyes. Learn what happens when you don't heed the rules of the camp. Watch the battle between Megan and Elise for Chaz's attention and who ends up sharing Chaz's tent. Kim Baldwin is rolling out the novels and I'm looking forward to her next one "Flight Risk".

News Vice President Megan Maxwell is at the top of her game. She's good at her job and she's got the life she wants. So why isn't she happy? In an effort to help, her friends "talk" Megan into accompanying them on vacation...a trip kayaking in Alaska of all places. Wilderness guide, Chaz Herrick, is in her element when she's on the river. She's always gotten along with her clients, sharing her world and helping them enjoy all that the great outdoors of Alaska has to offer. So imagine Chaz's surprise when Megan is immediately antagonistic towards her. Why? They've never met so it can't be something from Chaz's past. For the life of her Chaz can't imagine the reason for the animosity. However, during the trip, someone else in the group begins to display interest in Chaz and Megan is soon forced to reexamine her feelings towards the guide. The big question on Megan's mind - if they are in fact changing, are they changing for the better or for the worse? While trying to puzzle her way through the mystery, Megan unexpectedly finds herself confronted by one of nature's fearcest creatures. In coming to Megan's rescue, Chaz places her own life in danger. A fact that escapes neither of the women and forces Chaz to admit something to herself...she has an attraction to Megan. Something Chaz can't afford to let happen...for a myriad of reasons. One of which is...Megan is a client and Chaz doesn't mix business with pleasure. However, for the first time in her life, Chaz thinks of breaking her own rule when she begins to suspect that Megan might be having real feelings for her. At least until Chaz overhears a conversation one night between two of the women in the group. A conversation that sends Chaz reeling, a conversation from which she interprets the worst...that Megan's attempts at seduction are simply to make Chaz another "notch" on Megan's bedpost. Will the truth be uncovered before any chance of a future for both women is destroyed? Or can the other women in the group help both Chaz and Megan understand that sometimes, just sometimes, you have to go with your heart. With her previous book Hunter's Pursuit, Kim Baldwin displayed a flair for dramatic suspense. In her second book Force of Nature, she captivated her readers with her ability with suspenseful drama. Whitewater Rendezvous, her third book to be released, flows into the realm of romantic intrigue. All indications from Kim's upcoming book, Flight Risk, shows that another dynamic offering is coming from a talented teller of tales. The author's ablility to weave drama, suspense, intrigue and romance, whether seperately or together, captures and holds a reader as they share the lives of women who overcome any and all things to find their way to each other.

Could not decide between 5 stars and 4 stars...I guess the romance part should garner 5, but, the believability is definitely 4. I found it hard to believe that the "tour"guide could have found something so incredibly edible (the "touree") after being on the trail for several days. Could also not put my brain around the fact that a very high paid executive would give up her life in the city for a life in the wilderness. Could I possibly be this much out of touch with life?

This is just what I was looking for in a romance. No crime, no dastardly characters, no life threatening illness to overcome. Simply a beautiful love story. Megan is 32, living in Chicago and working as the executive producer for a national news station. She has it all, terrific job, terrific friends, terrific health and a terrific sex life. The only thing missing is romantic love. Her heart was shattered 5 years earlier and she no longer has the desire for a relationship. She has become something of a workaholic but is very satisfied with what she has because she knows she can never be hurt again. Chaz is a wilderness guide in the Alaskan summer and a professor during the academic year at the local college in Fairbanks. She is a super likable person and is probably everyone's best friend. She is passionate about the outdoors and loves her life. She has had plenty of girlfriends but never a relationship. It seems no one she has dated had created that spark. The story begins with Meg and her 5 friends being guided by Chaz and the other guide, Sally, on a trip via kayak through the wilderness in June. What makes this a page turner is the wonderful writing. The description of the landscape and the trip itself is so fascinating that you want to sign up for the next trip. The interplay between all 8 people on the trip makes this romance come alive. The chemistry between Chaz and Meg is apparent but Meg is running from the chance of any emotional entanglement and Chaz can't see the sense of getting involved briefly with someone who lives 3 time zones away. The peril of both journeys (thru the wilderness and to find love) make this a great read.

Megan Maxwell is a workaholic. She is a VP of a news division of a television company. She is stressed to the max. When her friends in the Broadcast Broads group decide to go kayaking in Alaska for their annual vacation together, she reluctantly agrees to go. The trip will change her life. The group's guide Chaz Herrick teaches biology in Fairbanks during the winter and does guide duties in the summer. As with Megan, the trip with the Broadcast Broads will change her life. Kim Baldwin has written a beautifully sculpted book. There is excitement, danger, and romance. She describes the scenery with loving detail (be prepared to feel the spray of the water on your face or so the author makes you believ), her characters are fully realized, and the romance charming. Her two protagonists are well-rounded individuals whom you want to know in real life. Baldwin's characters must overcome Chaz's reluctance to be involved with a client, Megan's bitchiness because Chaz looks just like her ex, and, finally, distance - Alaska vs Illinois. How they make that trip is what makes this book one of the best in the genre.