Orchid Hunter [Paperback]

Bestselling author Jill Marie Landis continues her exploration of complex human relationships in The Orchid Hunter. Innocent beauty Joya Penn has spent her life on the idyllic jungle island of Matarenga, aiding her father in the search for rare orchids. When worldly Trevor Mandeville stumbles into the Penn's rainforest campsite, he is stunned by his first glimpse of Joya--she is the identical image of Trevor's adopted sister Janelle. Joya is thrilled to travel to London to meet the twin sister she has never known, but it is the dignified Trevor who captures Joya's interest. Her irrepressible nature and uninhibited sensuality are equally captivating to poor Trevor, who finds it difficult (impossible!) to maintain his distance. Their burgeoning desire for each other scandalizes the straight-laced British society, but Trevor cannot relinquish his beloved Joya, his own island orchid. --Alison Trinkle

In her newest historical romance, Landis leaves the 1820 U.S. frontier of Blue Moon for Victorian England with the story of Joya Penn, the daughter of a famous orchid hunter living on Matarenga, a Madagascar-esque island off the coast of Africa. Joya has always felt that some part of her was missing, and to compensate, she draws pictures of a girl she dreams about who looks just like her but lives in London. One day, Trevor Mandeville, an amateur orchid hunter, comes to offer Joya's father a deal with the Mandeville import company. He's awestruck when he casts eyes on Joya--not because she's wielding a machete and wearing much less clothing than a proper lady should, but because she looks exactly like his sister, Janelle. In order to learn more about her heritage, Joya accompanies Trevor back to England, where she tries but fails to acquire the ways of polite society. In a rehashed plot, Trevor marries Joya to save her reputation, but she flees back to Africa in the wake of her terminal gaucheness. Her husband follows her, at which point the lovers resolve to spend a month in a Matarengan marriage hut and then hunt orchids together. There are some good ideas here and a couple of good laughs among Landis's exotic set pieces, but the silly plot is beyond rescue. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Although Joya Penn lives in a veritable paradise on an island off the coast of Africa, she senses that something is missing, and she discovers the source of her feeling of incompleteness when orchid hunter and importer Trevor Mandeville arrives. Trevor is shocked by Joya: she could be his adopted sister Janelle's identical twin. And indeed, he discovers that she is. Joya is ecstatic to learn of Janelle, and both confess to having dreams about each other that have influenced their lives. Mandeville takes Joya back to England, but she has trouble conforming to Victorian society. Outspoken and independent, she doesn't understand the decorum, or why she can't act on her desire for Trevor. Finally, the lovers are caught in a compromising position and must wed, but Trevor's devotion to his business and to society's rules threatens to tear the couple apart. With exotic locations and a feisty heroine, Landis has written another winning romance. Patty Engelmann

"Ms. Landis gifts readers with a remarkable multi-layered love story that touches the heart. The humor sparkles, the sensuality sizzles and the gleaming light of love shines through every page of this keeper.

stars." -- Romantic Times

"THE ORCHID HUNTER is excellent reading. A must read for anyone who loves a good book." -- Rocky Mountain News

THE ORCHID HUNTER is "refreshing and lively, taking readers on a wide range of emotions from hilarious to heartbreaking. Ms. Landis writes brilliantly stunning story." -- Tanzey Cutter, Old Book Barn Gazette

An exotic tale that takes readers from a steamy jungle isle to London's drawing rooms. The irrepressible daughter of an orchid hunter comes to terms with the missing pieces of her past when she meets the twin sister she never knew she had--and the one man who makes love blossom in her eyes....

"If you love historical romance, you'll adore Jill Marie Landis."--Kristin Hannah

"Gripping and emotionally charged...Landis delivers another unusual, beautifully crafted romance." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

What if you always sensed there was something profound missing from your life, yet you had no way of explaining what that elusive something was? This is what happens to Joya Penn until Trevor Mandeville walks into the remote jungle where she lives on an island off the coast of Africa, and discovers the secret of her past.

From the moment Trevor sets eyes on Joya in the steaming rainforest and learns that she is the stolen twin of his adopted sister, he is certain that this captivating, innocently seductive creature will turn his life and his heart upside down.

Joya believes her dreams have come true when she is reunited with her twin and journeys to Victorian London with the Mandevilles. But her irrepressible, native ways and her uninhibited desire for Trevor quickly throw the entire household into chaos.

THE ORCHID HUNTER takes you from the steaming rain forest of a remote jungle isle to the drawing rooms of London. It's the kind of story that will have you laughing out loud and shedding a tear or two. It's a tale of deception and desire, but most of all, the enduring power of love.