Reviews for Stardust and Sand

The average rating for Stardust and Sand based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-07-03 00:00:00 Dora Leonard I don't usually go for romantic suspense, but this was good, mostly due to the heroine with a heart of gold BUT ALSO a pretty damn solid backbone. One of the few stories that managed to evoke both the beautiful and the seedy sides of Las Vegas. The hero is a private investigator, partnered up with his old Army buddy, who also runs a school for aspiring P.I.s. No doubt many of Harlequin' sleuthing heroines graduated from it :) He meets the heroine when he mistakenly takes her as a member of an illicit ring of crooks running secret gambling sites and skimming from several prominent Vegas hotels. Thankfully, unlike vintage Harlequin heroes who persist in believing the worst of their heroines until the last page of the book, this guy wises up pretty quickly, has the grace of issuing a sincere apology, and proceeds to pursue the heroine quite romantically, including serenading her with his clarinet. He actually composes a sexually suggestive clarinet number that he names after her, which I thought was so hilarious, and it reminded me of Will Ferrell playing his jazz flute for Christina Applegate in The Anchorman :))) The heroine is a budding fashion designer who is just starting to recover from the emotional and financial toll of letting a compulsive gambler sponge off her for the past two years. She is no dummy, just has a big compassion, loyalty and capacity for love, which is why she stuck with the loser longer than she should have. But it was understandable because it was her first boyfriend and he initially swept her off her feet with his immense charm and it took her a while to see below the shiny surface to the rotten core. When she finally breaks it off with the toady ex, that's that. Even when he comes crawling back, she tells him off and with a bit of tough love, gets him to attend a Gamblers Anonymous meeting. There was quite a bit on GA and the evils of gambling so the author obviously felt strongly about inserting social commentary amidst all the romance and suspense. Anyhoo, the plot had good pacing, a good cast of secondary characters including some truly creepy villains, and even if I saw the twist coming early on, I still enjoyed it. This couple was adorable and it was fun riding along on their journey to their HEA.

Review # 2 was written on 2021-01-24 00:00:00 Watesutt Watesutt Review to follow