Briana Devon knows her twin sister would never deliberately leave her-but when she emerges from underwater, Daria and their boat have banished. Fighting rough waves and a fast-approaching storm, Bree doesn't have time to question: if she wants to survive, she has to swim. Exhausted and terrified, Bree barely makes it to a tiny barrier island, where Cole De Roca, who has also taken shelter, revives her. Bound to Cole by the harrowing experience, she turns to him as she struggles to understand what happened to her sister. What was her twin, whom she thought she knew so well, hiding? What really transpired that terrible afternoon? And what secrets lie dormant...below the surface?
Melanie H. (MELNELYNN) from ELMENDORF AFB, AK wrote on 7/13/2008...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Twin sisters Briana and Daria Devon are diving together as they have for twenty years in the Gulf of Mexico off South Florida to check the health of the waters when a storm arrives much faster than expected with Bree under the water. When she reaches the surface she is stunned; not only is Daria missing, but their boat Mermaid II is gone. Panicky Bree swims to the safety of barrier island Keewaden.
The storm came too fast for Cole de Roca too who beaches his boat on Keewaden to wait it out when he sees Bree and helps her. Later she tries to learn what happened to her sibling, but as she begins to unravel the secrets, Bree begins to believe she was the intended victim not Daria and begins to doubt her heroic rescuer, whom she is falling in love with even as she wonders if Cole helped kidnap her sister.
BELOW THE SURFACE is a tense thriller from the very first page when Bree surfaces in the stormy sea to find her sister and their boat missing. The story line never slows down from that exciting onset until the final confrontation at seas. Readers will finish in one sitting to learn what happened to the missing "Mermaid" Daria and whether Cole is Bree's knight in shining armor or a betraying pirate. Karen Harper provides a terrific romantic suspense.
Cherri B. (cherri) from MANCHESTER, NH wrote on 4/2/2008...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Suspenseful adventure with family life, and some romance on the side. that's a winning combination from a skilled writer. I really enjoyed this book and recommend it.
Briana comes up after a dive expecting her twin sister to be on the boat waiting for her. Her sister is gone, the boat is gone, and she has to fight the waves of a storm to get to shore. I like Karen Harper as an author and have read several of her novels. Even though the story had lots of action it was not one of her best; too much of the action was forced and not always believable.
I was looking forward to reading this book, but I just couldn't get into it. Maybe because I'm not that interested in diving and environmental issues. I lost interest about 50 pages in.
I could not get into this book. Even though I tried really hard to finish it, I had to put it down halfway. Normally I really like this author.
Mitzi G. (mitzilsg) from MEMPHIS, TN wrote on 4/15/2008...
I tried to read this book and halfway thru I quit because it was really predictible. It's a story about twin sisters that have a salvage business in Florida, one ends up missing for a diving trip.