Bonnie Gardner, Sergeant Darling

Sergeant Darling

Bonnie Gardner

Harlequin American, May 2004, $4.75, 249 pp.

ISBN: 0373750234

Near Fort Walton Beach, Florida, everyone at Hurlburt Field knows that Flight Surgeon's Clinic nurse Patsy Pritchard has earned her "ice princess" label for her rejection of all things male. Sergeant Ray Darling is like much of the men on this air force base as he wants to be the one to reach first base with Patsy, a boost to his pride when the top guns have failed to score. However, Ray knows he has no chance as his experience with the opposite sex is lacking having graduated from college as a boy genius at eighteen.

At a charity auction, Patsy's Aunt Myrtle Carter buys Ray and gives him to her niece. As they spend time together he begins to better understand why she is so aloof. Ray has loved Patsy from afar for a while, but now that he has the opportunity to prove that to her he realizes that this campaign is more difficult than some of the potentially deadly overseas missions he has had.

Though readers will need to adjust to Patsy being "as prickly as a cactus", which leads to misunderstanding between the lead couple, Ray's campaign of love. aided by the brilliant strategist her aunt. is fun to follow. Ray is a terrific hero struggling between his inexperience with the other sex and his love for Patsy, who trusts no man with her heart having been widowed once before. Bonnie Gardner provides a solid military romance though the conflict between the lead couple seems minor and should have been resolved faster than the 100 hour first Gulf War.

Harriet Klausner