boeklogboek: Suzanne Enoch – Billionaires prefer Blondes

The third book in the Samantha Jellicoe series, published October 31, 2006.
Genre: contemporary romance, with some suspense

Samantha Jellicoe has never met a security camera she couldn't disarm. And even though she's promised her billionaire lover, the irresistible Richard Addison, to walk the straight and narrow, she certainly can't help it when trouble finds her.
What should have been a quiet night at an auction house turns into something more unexpected when Sam spies her father-;her dead father-;very much alive and very interested in a painting Rick is after. Then the painting vanishes, Sam's arrested, and all hell breaks loose.
Now Sam has to track down the man who taught her everything she knows about breaking and entering. And when she finds him, will his proposal for a lucrative heist tempt her to the dark side, or does Rick have a few tricks to keep her on the right side of a jail cell?

Sam is really excited, going to Sotheby’s in New York together with Rick. The first time as a legitimate customer that is, she sure has been there before, and left with very valuable paintings too. But her excitement turns to dread, when she sees someone she never expected to see again: her father, famous art thief Martin Jellicoe. She also witnessed his funeral at the prison he was held at three years ago. Is it really him? And why is he here, and making sure she sees him? Suddenly she doesn’t want Rick to buy the paintings he came for, she is sure her father is after them. And how would it look when her father robs her boyfriend and she suspected it?
But Rick is stubborn as well, and he buys both paintings. Samantha tries to set up a meeting with her father that night, but he never shows. What did happen was that Rick got burgled, and the new painting he just paid 12 million dollars for, is stolen. And Samantha is missing as well, which makes Rick frantic with worry. His butler alarmed the police when the silent perimeter alarm went of, and they are out in force, having heard about her reputation and her father. They even arrest her when she comes home an hour later. And there is nothing Rick can do to prevent that, but he will do his damnedest to get her free as soon as possible. Which he does. There is something to be said for a mega rich boyfriend who knows which strings to yank. The lead detective on the case is not so happy that his suspect is snatched from under his nose, and keeps following Samantha around. Meaning he is not looking for any other suspect either.

Finally home again, Samantha calls Stoney with the bad news, and asks him to fly to New York to sort this all out. Did she really see her father? And did he set her up? Together they will find him. And why hasn’t he let her know he was alive all those years? Especially the last 5 months she has been very easy to find, with her being in the news as Richard Addison’s girlfriend. And while searching for Martin, he finds them instead. Still as arrogant and un-father like as ever. Stoney is and was more a father for Sam than Martin ever was. He would have left her for the police to find to safe his own ass. Sam is different though, she is a thief with morals.

Unfortunately, the bad guys have seen her with Martin, and now they want to use her in their heist. She has to choices: to get in, or to be dead. And not only herself, both Martin and Rick will be killed as well. This of course leaves Samantha with no choice but to join in the heist of the century, if they can pull it of. She is very excited about it, she really misses the adrenaline and the plotting and everything. But still, she is retired, and if she goes on the thieving path again, she will loose Rick. And that is something she is not willing to give up. How to keep everybody safe then? Those guys are really bad, they don’t mind killing security guards at all, let alone someone double crossing them.

This book had a lot more action and suspense then the previous one, and I gobbled it all up again. This is so well written, and the plot is absolutely great. Rick wants nothing more than to pack Samantha up, and taker her with him to England or wherever, out of the reach of the police and the bad guys. But running is no option, and she will not put Rick at risk at all. The moral dilemmas are difficult for all, but Rick has to learn to trust Samantha, and to give her her own choices to make, her own freedom. He cannot own her, and keep her behind lock and key (she would pick those in an instant). But he will do whatever he can to keep her safe, and to help her and protect her.

I also loved the ending of the book very much, leaving Samantha with a new job opportunity that has the adrenaline flowing through her veins, just thinking about it. And the best part, it is legit!

Another great book by Suzanne Enoch, I adore her writing style, her characters, her wonderful plots. You will love Rick and Sam, I am sure of that. And for those of you who really like love scenes, there are plenty of hot ones between Rick and Sam as they are very much in love and attracted to each other, even if they both are still adjusting in their relationship. I am looking forward to reading the next one soon.

9,5 stars.