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Ms. Krentz has developed a story line about two misfits who fit together very well in TRADING SECRETS. One of the two misfits happens to be Sabrina Chase, an ex-accountant who escaped from California after an unfortunate friendship turns very sour. Sabrina has relocated to Dallas where she is the owner of a souvenir shop called TTT for Tacky Texas Temptations. Sabrina has an interesting male assistant who is handsome, charming, very humorous and openly gay. She is a gal with a very traditional background whose father and two brothers, all bankers, heartily disapprove of her life style and don’t hesitate to tell her so. Matt August is the other misfit an ex-special-forces trained officer who is very versatile with knives (read ABSOLUTELY POSITVELY for Harry Trevelyn’s ankle knife and knife throwing skills which are very similar to this earlier work). After resigning his commission as a point of honor Matt settled in Mexico to nurse his wounds of the spirit, run a sleazy tourist bookstore and recover from an ugly divorce. Matt’s family and friends have written him off as a loss. As Sabrina is turning thirty she takes stock of her life finding it not totally to her liking so off she goes to celebrate in Acapulco Mexico. Sabrina has decided to have an impulsive vacation fling. After scrutinizing what the hotel bar has to offer in the way of male companionship, she selects Matt August. Matt is blatantly unhandsome but Sabrina finds him appealing in a no nonsense kind of way. Matt is quietly nursing his whiskey at a corner table wondering what the vivacious, somewhat attractive lady has in mind for him. It has been too long, Matt thinks, since he has enjoyed being with a warm and friendly female. Could this be his lucky night? After a few more drinks, however Matt decides that Sabrina is in over her head with her pick-up technique. He resolves to teach Sabrina a badly needed lesson about the dangers of a barroom pick-up. So Ms. Krentz’s sets the stage for a somewhat entertaining tale sprinkled with blackmail, spies, traitors, a gay blade, a rebellious thirteen-year-old and a fascinating Central American guerrilla leader. All of which can not be taken seriously. This plot had just too many predictable twists and turns making very obvious what would happen next. However, the relationship between Sabrina and Matt was developed with humor and warmth thus more than making up for the weak plot. I found the repartee between both the major and secondary characters to be sassy and satisfying. It was a surprise to find Ms. Krentz successfully introducing a teenager into this early work providing additional humor and warmth among her characters. The sensual descriptions were less than sizzling but the ending satisfactorily tied up all loose ends. This out-of-print book was not difficult to obtain; however it was over priced. But none-the-less I’m glad I added it to my JAK collection.
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