When Amy Shannon shows up in his establishment, Jase realizes immediately that she’s the wrong kind of woman in the wrong place; however, Jase is intrigued despite his misgivings. Initially, Jase believes he can have a simple affair, but after it becomes evident that Amy is in over her head with some unsavory characters in her attempt to find out what has happened to her ex-brother-in-law, Jase decides to become Amy’s protector and confidante.

Jase, alpha-male extraordinaire, does a fine job of protecting Amy and steps up to shoulder his responsibilities (would JAK ever let one of her heroes off the hook? I think not!) after an unexpected turn of events occurs. Jase and Amy are fairly predictable characters, but the book fits nicely into the themes so often explored in JAK novels – trust, faith, commitment, and family ties.

There are two things to consider when evaluating this book: The first item – JAK wrote this book in the early eighties, a time that touted the alpha-male as the end-all-be-all of romantic fiction; and secondly –Silhouette’s stringent page limits are inflexible. Serpent in Paradise has the makings of an excellent single-title release. The characters’ motivations are rock solid as are the plot devices that drive the action. My only complaint is that there weren’t enough pages to fully delve into the characters and the elements of mystery and danger.