The Senator’s Daughter by Christine Carrol
The Senator’s Daughter
By Christine Carroll
Medallion Press
January 2008
ISBN: 978-1933836300
The Senator’s Daughter is a fast-moving romantic suspense novel that follows its two very complex, very passionate characters from the ultra swanky hot spots of San Fransisco, to the lush green, but deceptive quiet of the Napa Valley’s vineyard country.
Sylvia Chatsworth, the wild-child daughter of a U.S. Senator, and Lyle Thomas, the man-to-watch in the San Francisco D.A.’s office, are the city’s new “hot couple”. Their romance doesn’t have time to get off the ground, because to the displeasure of her appearance-conscience parents, the local tabloids soon focus their white hot, destructive lenses on Sylvia. Sylvia decides it would be better for everyone if she disappeared.
For a price, the Sylvia’s Senator father sends Lyle to find his daughter. When Lyle tracks her down in Napa Valley, he finds she’s changed, and finds himself even more attracted and intrigued than before. Reluctant to reveal Sylvia to her parents, Lyle holes up with her at a Victorian Inn. Their passion grows even hotter amidst a suspense thread that involves a missing land developer and his vintner brother.
There were so many things I, as a reader, loved about this romance, but the main thing that kept me riveted was the way Carroll allowed me to watch the transformation of her two main characters. As a reader I love a huge character arc, so it was a true joy to watch Sylvia and Lyle, who’ve layered on their different forms of mental and emotional armor to survive in the glittering, but cut throat social and political society of San Francisco, and watch those layers of armor be slowly peeled away. The story provided an escape into a fantasy many readers might have — of leaving all the complications of real life behind, and getting “real” with the person you really want to be. That the transformations occurred in such a gorgeous setting, and amidst exciting plot twists, made the story even more of a fantasy.
-reviewed by Kimberly Ungar
