Stranded by Dani Pettrey
Bethany House Publishers, September 1, 2013
When Her Friend Goes Missing,
Every Minute Counts
Darcy St. James returns to Alaska to join a journalist friend undercover on the trail of a big story. But when Darcy arrives, she finds her friend has disappeared. Troubled by the cruise ship’s vague explanation, Darcy uses her cover as a travel reporter to investigate further.
The last person Gage McKenna expects to see during his summer aboard a cruise ship leading adventure excursions is Darcy. And in typical Darcy fashion, she’s digging up more trouble.
He’d love to just forget her–but something won’t let him. And he can’t help but worry about her as they are heading into more remote regions of Alaska and eventually into foreign waters. Something sinister is going on, and the deeper they push, the more Gage fears they’ve only discovered the tip of the iceberg.
I was really excited when this book arrived from the US. I love getting Amazon orders – it’s like Christmas several times a year! I’ve been enjoying Dani Pettrey’s Alaskan Courage series and was happy to delve into Darcy and Gage’s story. I enjoyed the book but Darcy got on my nerves a little. She was simply too pushy and nosy for me to truly engage with. Even though I’d read Shattered (my favourite so far in the series), I had trouble remembering the connection she and Gage had in that book. As a result I was struggling to place where they were in their relationship – were they together, did they talk about a relationship before this book? and so on. This impacted on my ability to relate to them as a couple. Oh and yes, I could have reread Shattered to find out but I couldn’t find my copy!
I found Gage a character I could understand more, his journey to faith was one I was happy to see through till the end – boredom is sometimes most often used by God if we let him! As much as I struggled with Darcy, her faith is something I liked. She clearly was working on things in her life, trying not to cross moral boundaries, but struggling all the same. Such a human trait!
As usual with this series the whole McKenna clan gets involved and as each book goes by it’s easier to keep track of them all! I was confused though by the various cruise liner characters. They had minor roles and some very important roles, but they were very interchangeable and I didn’t know who was who most of the time. This is important because when it came to uncovering the bad guys, I was confused as to which bad guy was which!
It seems like I’m not really liking this book – but I did enjoy it overall – just not loved it. I’m really excited about Silenced and reading Jake and Kayden’s story!
Your series continues to keep me wanting more from the McKenna’s Dani!
Jess is a mum of two children and married to the calmest man alive. She loves to bake and go for walks. A writer of contemporary romance, Jess write stories about the heart and where love is worth the journey.
I recently read "Submerged", and felt the same way. I found the story-line interesting, but the hero of the story seemed way too…I don't know, his emotional wounds didn't seem real because they never got in the way between him and Bailey. I loved the McKenna sibling camaraderie, and I've had my eye on "Shattered". 🙂 So glad you hear you liked it.
Hi Gwen, yeah I had the same problem in Submerged, Shattered was the best by far out of the three. I'm really gunning for Silenced when it comes out. Jake and Kayden are well developed already, so it will be interesting to see where Dani takes them!