Honeymoon with a Stranger
Stranded with a Stranger
Love Under Fire
The Man for Maggie

In Honeymoon with a Stranger (4) by Frances Housden, spy games, secrets and passion abound in this story. Right in the middle of a life-and-death sting operation, IBIS agent Mac McBride is forced to protect a civilian when Roxie Kincaid stumbles into the private meeting between him and terrorists. 

Protesting that she's just a fashion designer, Roxie nonetheless has to go along with Mac's claim that she is his girlfriend or be killed. Roxie and Mac are taken hostages and the attraction between them flares to life. 

In the midst of the danger, secrets start to reveal themselves, and twists to the plot will leave the reader intrigued, eagerly turning the pages to find out what happens next.

STRANDED WITH A STRANGER
Reviewed by Pam Slade
Rating: *****

Frances Housden's latest tale of adventure in the Himalayas will please her many fans.

This is the story of another of the New Zealand born Jellic brothers.

The main story is set in the Himalayan Mountain region, and Mount Everest. It is so well written and realistic you feel as if you're there. It's a story filled with stunning suspense scenes, tension of all kinds and unforgettable characters. Despite the sub zero temperatures, the passion burns like a fire within the snow and ice.

Kurt Jellic is a man with a mission, one who will let nothing stand in the way of fulfilling it, except perhaps himself. An experienced climber and owner of Aoraki Expeditions, Kurt finds himself down on his luck. The guilt of not being able to save his friends, after a tragic climbing accident on Everest, has driven him to drink too much. Rumours abound amongst the climbers and clients in the Himalayan Mountains, leaving him discarded and without an income. When Chelsea Tedman arrives on a search for her sister, even more secrets and lies are stirred up. Kurt finds himself fighting, not only the elements but also his growing attraction to his latest client.

Chelsea Tedman is set on her path, by a letter sent only a few days before the death of her sister. Determined to get her own way, she fights her growing attraction to the man she needs to help her. Questions she has many, but answers none. She learnt from her father early in life, how to negotiate, and the many ways to get your own way no matter what it is you want.

They both know the key to all the answers, lies deep in an icy crevasse on Mount Everest. She's determined to climb despite the danger, and Kurt puts her through a test of skill and begins to toughen her up. As they acclimatise their bodies for the thinner air above the base camp. Kurt and Chelsea find they've lost the urge to fight their attraction to each other; they need all their energy to conquer the elements. Enmeshed in his own feelings of failure, Kurt drives Chelsea hard, fear of losing her to the mountain his driving force. The closer they come to their target, the more danger they are in. Who is the unknown assailant who will do anything to stop them and why?

This brilliant story is filled with edge of the seat tension, as the mystery unfolds. An intriguing setting that takes you into unexpected territory. The passion between Kurt and Chelsea burns hot enough to melt the ice in one of nature's coldest realms. The tension as they battle the elements as well as their feelings almost leaps off the page. This reviewer enjoyed every page and the ending was a fitting tribute to all that had gone before.

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"New Zealand author Frances Housden triumphs again. The prologue returns us to her prior novel, The Man for Maggie. In one of its closing scenes, Jo Jellic saved Max Strachan’s life by diverting the killer’s attention and drawing fire upon herself. Her sergeant, Rowan McQuaid, jumped in front of her and took the bullet in his leg, resulting in the loss of his career in law enforcement. Jo remained silent during the ensuing internal police investigation and, rather than identifying Max’s ill-advised conduct of placing is life in jeopardy, accepted her transfer to Nick’s Landing, a small rural community where she now investigates shoplifters rather than murderers. These two years of exile have seriously eroded her sense of worth, but the one redeeming feature in the demotion is that she discovers her father’s former partner. Rocky Skelton is running the local bar.

"Jo’s late father and Rocky had been police officers; her father had died in disgrace with his reputation destroyed by alleged drug involvement. Jo sees this as a chance to try and prove her father’s innocence.

"Opportunity strikes as the department finally hands her a case no one else wants, only because they believe it can never be solved. The very same Rocky Skelton has been trussed, tortured and left to die in an arson fire that destroyed his home. He is claming it was the work of Satanists…a new concept for Nick’s Landing.

"Jo is surprised one day to meet her old friend Rowan McQuaid at the department in a deep huddle with the powers that be. In reality McQuaid is Rowan’s middle name and he is a Stanhope, Nick’s Landings’ first family. Among their vast holdings are several insurance companies and Rowan is in town investigating the arson claim before his company pays Rocky’s settlement.

"Jo and Rowan are thrown together again. Rowan is still concealing his wealthy background and able to do so by his very long absence from the town. Jo has now worked her way through her unfortunate crush on Max, but Rowan has not rid himself of his attraction for Jo.

"These facts merely set the stage for the complex joint investigation of Jo and Rowan into Rocky’s fire. The plot is complex, the pacing varies, the scenes are taut, the dialogue is crisp, the characters very well developed and the sexual and mystery suspense well sustained. All of this set in very small town New Zealand gives the reader a true sense of place as the story moves swiftly along.

"Although occasionally cluttered by too many plot facets, Frances Housden continues to evolve as a very gifted writer."

Thea Davis

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The Man for Maggie
 

"Remember the name Frances Housden! Editor Leslie Wainger calls her the New Zealand sensation and with this book she makes a memorable entry into the US market. A skilled writer gifted with a creative mind, she takes an oft-used paranormal plot to new levels.

"Frances Housden accomplishes much in this book. Artfully, she simultaneously sustains mounting sexual tension between Max and Maggie with ever increasing suspense. Just when you think you have it all figured out, it twists again. Even with this very strong plot line, it is the characters that drive the story. And these characters are multi-dimensional; always evoking the emotion the writer seeks."

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