Fast Track by Julie Garwood – a Review

Fast Track
Buchanan/Renard series – Book #12
by Julie Garwood
Release Date: July 29, 2014

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Description:
Cordelia Kane has always been a daddy’s girl—her father raised her alone after her mother died in a car crash when Cordelia was just two years old. So when he has a serious heart attack, Cordelia is devastated, and the emotion is only intensified by the confusion she feels when he reveals the shocking truth about her mother.

Cordelia can’t suppress her curiosity about the woman who gave birth to her, and when she discovers the answers to her questions lie in Sydney, Australia, she travels there to get them.

Hotel magnate Aiden Madison is Cordelia’s best friend’s older brother. He’s oblivious to the fact that she’s had a crush on him for years. When he gets railroaded into taking her along to Sydney on his company jet, he unknowingly puts her life at risk. He’s recently angered a powerful congressman by refusing to purchase overvalued land. Congressman Chambers is not a man to let such an offense slide, and he has the resources to get even and to get what he wants.

In Australia sparks are flying between Cordelia and Aiden, but multiple attempts on Aiden’s life are made while Cordelia is with him, and he realizes he must put a stop to the madness before he loses the thing he values most.

 Review:

Fast Track by Julie Garwood is the 12^th book in her Buchanan/Renard series. I have read the last few books in this series, and have loved them. However, after reading this one, I need to go back and see which of the earlier books have the characters from this story. I totally loved them all. Unless you want to read the other books, it is not necessary as these books can be read as standalones very well.

We are introduced to our heroine, Cordelia (Cordie) when she was just 5 years old. She lives alone with her father, as her mother died not long after she was born. When she attends her first day at kindergarten, she meets her friends, Sophie Rose and Regan Madison. The three girls, would remain inseparable friends for life, as well as the other members of their families. Even at the age of 5, Cordie developed a crush on Regan’s older brother Aiden, but she hid her secret well.

We switch to current day, where Cordie, now in her twenties, is sitting by her father’s bedside in the hospital, as he is near death. Andrew Kane was a simple auto mechanic in the early days, who rose to be a multi-millionaire, owning all the Kane Automotive stores he built. Before he takes his last breath, he tells Cordie that he has protected her in his will, so that “she” cannot touch it. Confused, Cordie asks “who”? In his last breath, he tells her that her mother was still alive.

After the funeral, with her friends (Regan and her husband Alec; Sophie and her husband, Jack; both of whom we met in earlier books, Aiden and the other brothers) there to give her support, Cordie confides to them the shocking truth about her mother. She shows them the goodbye letter her mother wrote her father when she left him, saying she it was mistake, she wanted a better life, and did not want custody “You can have her”. With that statement, Cordie wants nothing to do with her mother. Only after a bit, she decides she would just like to see her once, to see if she got everything she wanted in life, with no feeling about her betrayal of her heartbroken father.

What follows is a great story of finding her mother with the help of her friends (Alex and Jack are FBI agents). Aiden, who begins see the grownup Cordie in a different light, finds himself being attracted, as well as protective of her. The story becomes very exciting, as she reveals to her mother who she is, and the repercussions are escalated. Her mother is part of a wealthy powerful family, and Cordie is deemed a threat. Her life is now in danger, and Aiden protectively guards her and brings her home. It is her friends and family that will stand by her and help her fight against the threats that follow her home.

Besides this suspenseful storyline, the romance between Aiden and Cordie is wonderful to watch. Cordie may have had a crush all her life on Aiden, but she never thought that there was ever any hope. This romance built with each passing day that they spent together, with Aiden taking control. The sparks flew over the pages, as their chemistry together was sizzling. I loved the humor between them

Fast Track is a fun filled story, with a wonderful couple, super secondary characters, and an exciting climax at the finish. The romance was a sweet and delightful one, and I adored the friendship of them all. Being a true romantic, I love when there is a nice epilogue, giving us a peek at our heroes at the end. Julie Garwood has another winner.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher