Killer Cargo: A Fun and Exciting Read

I must confess I don't usually read a lot of the category romance novels. I'm not sure why that is, precisely. Maybe I've just assumed they would all be too much alike.

Well, last week I picked up Killer Cargo, a Steeple Hill Love Inspired Suspense novel by Dana Mentink. And I knew I had been wrong. Within about ten pages, I knew this book was going to be different--and in a very good way.

Maria, the pilot of her own private plane, knows she's in trouble when she discovers a package of drugs among the piles of pet supplies she's supposed to be delivering in the wilds of Oregon. The bad guys pull up and know she's discovered their secret, so she has to take off--and not in her airplane. There's no time or fuel for flying. She has to run on foot, then in a borrowed car. Okay, so far, I'd seen it all before.

However, her plane's cargo also contained a three-legged bunny named Hank, who was apparently destined to be snake food. Even in her hurry, Maria decides to rescue him, too. She rents an electric blue 1972 Dodge Demon from a kid working at the airstrip (actually he's keeping it for his cousin, who is currently incarcerated) and tears out of there, with the bad guys in hot pursuit and Hank sliding around on the back seat.

She seems to be doing pretty well at evading the bad guys, until she crashes the car into a creek. She and Hank are rescued and hidden by the handsome Cy Sheridan--the creek is a part of his animal sanctuary. This seems like a pretty good deal, until Maria actually enters his cabin and finds frogs in tanks all over the place. Until she finds mysterious hand-written notes about cyanide. Until she realizes that the animal sanctuary has its own crime problems.

This was a fast-paced, fun read. If you're going to be relaxing by the beach or lake any time soon, grab a copy and take it with you.