Wild, devastatingly handsome Heath Oakes broke Alison Anderson's heart and humiliated her when she was a vulnerable twelve-year-old and he was a delinquent sixteen-year-old rebel. She was hoping never to see him again. Ten years later, however, when she returns to her grandfather's estate for his funeral, she is appalled to discover that she has inherited his wilderness resort The Promise jointly with Heath. Stipulations in the will bind them together in insuring its future. Furious, Alison sets out to break the will, but Heath has other plans. He shanghais her into a wild canoe voyage down the treacherous Northern River. There, alone together, forced to pit their minds and bodies against not only the wilderness, but also a mysterious enemy that reveals itself in the form of a sasquatch determined to kill them both, Heath and Alison come to a new understanding of both themselves and their unique Inheritance.

As her mind and vision settled, she was astounded to find herself ensconced in a sleeping bag, sitting in the bottom of a moving canoe. The Tilly hat that had been protecting her face from the sun lay in her lap. Seated in the pilot's seat at the stern, his paddle resting across the gunwales, a suggestion of a grin on his lips, was her nemesis. "Where am I?" she rasped, then coughed. Her throat felt like sandpaper. "Floating down one of the quieter stretches of the North Passage at the moment," he said calmly. "Here," he reached under his seat and pulled out a canteen. "You sound as if you could use a drink...of water." He unscrewed the cap as she freed her arms from the sleeping bag. When he extended the container toward her, she snatched it from his hand. Throwing back her head, she gobbled its contents. The ice cold water was the best she'd ever tasted and she couldn't get enough. "Easy," he said again and reached to take it from her. "You'll make yourself sick." When she ignored his advice, he wrenched it out of her hands. "Give it back!" she cried and lunged. Hobbled by the sleeping bad she fell headlong into his arms. The canoe rolled wildly, sides all but dipping below water level with each buck. :"I said, take it easy!" With a few swift, deft moves he managed not only to reseat her firmly in the bottom but also to save the canteen and its contents and stabilize the canoe. Chastened by their brush with a dunking, Allison remained where he had plopped her amidships, the sleeping bag about her hips. "What have you done?" she breathed looking about at the water and wilderness that surrounded them. "I've shanghaied you," he said, calmly recapping the canteen and taking up his paddle. "Kidnapped, you mean,"" she said, remnants of the cotton wool sensation still in her mouth. "No, shanghaied. I plan to see you work your passage. Not a very admirable thing to do but how else could I get you out here with me to show you what your grandfather loved and wanted us to preserve." "And just exactly what did you do while I was out cold?" she raged. "Nothing except load you into a sleeping bag and then into this canoe,"" he said calmly, holding his paddles steady in the water to turn their craft slightly to the left. "Check your clothes if you're worried. I'm no pervert. I prefer my ladies awake and participating. And I've never been turned on by one who's inebriated." "Drunk, you mean!" she yelled. "And I was not drunk!" Her rage had brought out a pounding headache and she caught her head between her hands. "Take me back to the lodge right now! Otherwise, I'll have you charged with kidnapping!" "Really? I'm shaking my boots. You'll feel better after lunch and a couple of aspirin." She clenched her fists and sucked in her lips. "Don't you dare laugh at me! I'm deadly serious!" "Well, then, that's too bad. Because I can't take you back. We're a good six miles downriver from the lodge, deep into roadless wilderness, and with the force of the freshet that's pushing us, Superman couldn't paddle us back upstream." He dipped his paddle deep and nosed the canoe to the left. "Hang on. We're heading into some rapids."

 

"Ms. MacMillan did a wonderful job of bringing the New Brunswick countryside to life. Her love of the wilderness and its importance in our lives came through with shining clarity. Descriptions of the North Passage River and the area it passes through came to life for me, making me want to go to New Brunswick and see it all for myself."

 

"The author does a very good job in bringing you into the lives of these two people, allowing you to feel their emotions and their passions. I enjoyed this read, it was entertaining and had a little twist of mystery to it. Love, mystery, entertainment, what more could you want!"

 

 

The Inheritance by Gail MacMillan
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