Reviewed by Dan
TITLE: The Professor and the Smuggler
AUTHOR: Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon
PUBLISHER: Duet Publishing
LENGTH: 222 Pages
BLURB:
A grumpy smuggler meets a bumbling professor and treasure is found.
An explorer at heart, former university professor Phillip Singleton’s adventures have only taken place in his imagination—until recently. Exploring the Cornish coast to research a travel book, he encounters a living example of a pirate archetype. Dark-haired, black-bearded Carne Treleaven might have been hewn from the very rock his name describes, and Phillip is eager to discover more.
Carne has little patience for the awkward, dreamy professor, an outsider who must be steered away from local secrets. He agrees to serve as a guide to seaside caves where smugglers once operated only to keep Phillip away from more recent activity.
As personalities clash, secrets unfold, and riches are revealed, the two polar opposites find the point where their similarities lay. Carne’s old beliefs are shattered by his attraction to a man and he must decide if he’s willing to take a huge step outside his familiar life and into a brand new world.
REVIEW:
I’m really enjoying the format these ladies have come up with for their tales. Totally opposite characters, usually of totally different social standings, meeting each other and working their way through various issues and ending with a HEA. This one doesn’t vary from that tried and true format. I knew going in that it would be a pleasant read, with well-developed characters and storyline and that there wouldn’t be a lot of angst.
Former Professor Singleton, now only Phillip Singleton since he has walked away from his position at Cambridge, is on a trip to Cornwall to document and photograph various ancient stone circles, and also to photograph and write about the Cornish coast and its history of smugglers.
But there is more than meets the eye in the tiny village of Par Gwynear. It might be that smuggling isn’t as far in the past as Phillip thought. What will happen when he meets the large, dark, hairy, bearded and handsome Cornishman named Carne Treleaven? And when Carne starts to notice Phillip in more than a friendly manner…how will the villagers keep Phillip from finding out their secrets?
I thoroughly enjoyed the read, as usual. Both men go through a lot of troubled thinking, and have some dangerous adventures along the way through the story. This one kept me turning pages and burning the midnight oil. I kept saying just a few more pages until I get to…and then I would get to…and say, only a few more pages…
I recommend the book, and all the books I’ve read so far in this set of books the ladies have been writing. It isn’t listed as a series, and they aren’t at all interrelated except for the common format. These books are non-contemporary, set in the United Kingdom for the most part (I believe) and involve various social classes and positions. They have romance, but are refreshing due to their much different settings and times. I really enjoy them. I think you will as well. Give them a shot!
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: