ILLUSIONS OF LOVE

Marcia King-Gamble

BET/Arabesque

1-58314-104-9

May 2000

(4+) Melanie Schuster

Contemporary Romance

PLOT SYNOPSIS: 

REVIEW: 

Formerly a high school outcast, the plain, pimply-faced Skyla Walker escaped her boring life by going to Paris to participate in an exchange program. Time turned her from an ugly duckling into a swan.  When the book opens, Skyla is a gorgeous, self-assured young woman as well as a respected journalist. She returns to her home in Mill’s Creek, Pennsylvania--an up and coming town nestled in the Pocono Mountains--to investigate and write an article about Creed Bennett’s alleged role in the disappearance of several local women.

Creed Bennett is Mill Creek’s answer to David Copperfield. He’s the talk of the town because he left home and became the elusive The Mighty Creed, a rich and famous illusionist who’s fine, rich, and oh so arrogant. He enjoys living the high life in his palatial Fort Lauderdale, Florida home and he can return to the Poconos to a spread equally as elaborate whenever he feels like visiting Mill’s Creek.

Skyla and Creed meet after years of not seeing one another when they both end up in Mill’s Creek.  Creed wants to escape the spotlight and figures that his hideaway in the  Poconos is the perfect place to escape the nosy press. But he is so wrong because he soon finds out that Skyla Walker is the press and she’s great at her job. His proverbial antenna goes up because he was burned by a journalist (his former girlfriend) and he’s not trying for a repeat of that fiasco. Skyla and Creed don’t agree on very much when they meet.  His arrogance comes to the forefront and she doesn’t get too far with Creed because he is determined to keep her at bay-- and he does just that.  Sure that she’s up to no good, Creed puts up obstacles at every turn. She’ll never get her story if he has anything to do with it!

Again, time prevails and serves to soften Creed’s attitude. The evidence mounts against him as more women disappear and some are killed. He changes his mind about Skyla and wants to prove his innocence to her. He tries hard not to address the sexual sparks between them, but he can’t get her off his mind. Neither can Skyla, although following  her heart nearly costs her job and her well-being. However, she’s not one to play by the rules, so she goes for it and their coupling has little on the Fourth of July fireworks!

ILLUSIONS OF LOVE is undoubtedly Marcia King-Gamble’s best book to date. She has written a winner that will keep readers up all night. It did this reviewer. The book begins slowly at first, but the pace accelerates in no time.  King-Gamble methodically laid the plot’s foundation so that the unfolding events are understood and make sense later in the novel.

The well-crafted characters make this book shine. Each of them has a purpose and add another dimension to the storyline. Some examples are Jed, Creed’s alcoholic father, and Kareem, Creed’s best friend. Jed is depicted as a drunk who lives in a rooming house in the hood, but he is not pitiful. He’s intelligent and through excellent foreshadowing, is set up to help his son prove his innocence.  Kareem is every woman’s dream--or so it seems. However, he is embroiled in much drama  and is not what he appears. Skyla interacts with some of her family members--all of whom are colorful and each of them adds some comic relief to the storyline.

Overall, ILLUSIONS OF LOVE is a keeper. King-Gamble has written an excellent romantic suspense that has a steamy romance just below the surface of the basic plot and is hung on the crime story. She doesn’t give anything away too soon, but clues are intermittently dropped throughout the story.  There’s even a red herring to throw readers of the track for a moment, but if they are astute, they won’t be misled. Every element of writing is addressed and included in this book. The Poconos setting is a welcome relief from the trite, clichéd East and West Coast cities where so many romance novels are set.

Clearly, King Gamble has found her writing niche. ILLUSIONS OF LOVE will infuse the hearts of readers with fire, passion and a wonderful story. If we’re lucky, King-Gamble will write a sequel. If not, perhaps she’ll write several more romantic suspense novels. They’re her forte and she should continue writing more of them for a while. Romance fans will be more than pleased with this book. As the younger set would say, ILLUSIONS OF LOVE is all that and a bag of chips!

1st May 2000