Blow Me Down

Author: Katie MacAlister
Published: November 1, 2005 (Signet)
Category: Contemporary Romance
Quote of Choice: "The word you are looking for, dear lady, is appreciate. I appreciate, not ogle! My wife has specifically forbidden me from ogling." ~ Holder

Ah, yet another satisfying brain bonbon from Katie MacAlister! I think this one comes in just behind Corset Diaries as my favorite stand-alone MacAlister novels.

If you read this book, you will have to suspend a lot of disbelief, because it involves a virtual reality pirate game. Amy Stewart, our leading lady, is playing the beta version of this VR game at the request of her daughter. Once she's plunked into the game, she tries to use her financial analyst skills in a pirate period town (i.e. trying to implement 401(k) plans in a brothel).

The man-of-the-novel is Corbin (a.k.a. Black Corbin in the game), a manly pirate captain, who's actually the creator of the game. I'm sure that the resemblance of the pirate on the book cover to Johnny Depp's character, Jack Sparrow, is not entirely coincidental, but Corbin thankfully doesn't have long hair. He does have grey eyes though, which MacAlister seems to favor in her romantic heroes. Corbin was extremely likeable because he realized Amy was the one when she defeated him in a swordfight at their first meeting. He declared his love for her first and spent a lot of energy convincing Amy she could love him too. He's wonderfully romantic, but has that take-charge attitude when danger comes onto the scene.

The story is made all the more entertaining by the intrigue: Paul, Corbin's ex-business partner has hacked his way into the game and has trapped the human players inside. Since it's in beta, there are only three players (Amy, Corbin, and Holder, Corbin's best friend and art director), and they've got to figure out which computer character Paul has taken over to affect the events of the game. Holder provides comic relief and some moral support to Amy because he believes Corbin and Amy are meant for each other.

You can get an idea of how funny and whimsical Corbin actually is by his ships' names. How about the Samurai Squirrel, Bumblebee Tuna (the ship is painted black and yellow), Saucy Wench (the ship he gives to Amy), and Java Guru. He also signed a note to Amy with "Much love and many smutty thoughts." Too cute. Of course Amy would fall for him (and I would too).

There's a lot of humorous banter in this book and I loved it. I can't wait for the next Katie MacAlister!