ISBN: 0373389418
Publisher: Silhouette Select
Release Date: September 2006
List Price: $4.99

Reviewed by Terri Richison

A year ago, our country sat riveted to newscasts showing the destruction of a nationaltreasure –- Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of New Orleans. You might ask what that has to do with a review of Kristi Gold’s September release, DAMAGE CONTROL - HOTEL MARCHAND. Turns out, the answer is quite a lot, actually.

Renee Marchand returned to the Big Easy a failure, having left Hollywood in disgrace after Pete Traynor walked out on the movie she staked her career on. Professionally shamed, Renee is also devastated on a personal level, since his disappearance followed a night of passion. She refocuses her life, determined to help save her family’s hotel, a beloved landmark.

Trouble begins when Pete Traynor shows up in New Orleans, scouting a movie location. Will Renee be able to put aside her personal feelings for the good of her family? And why has Pete chosen to insinuate himself back in her life after abandoning her in the first place?

Even as the winds of Hurricane Katrina were actually blowing, Kristi was writing about the rebirth of a city dear to her heart. She wrote: …they proceeded up the street past myriad shops, restaurants and the occasional bar, sure signs that the city had begun to completely recover from Katrina’s devastation… Kristi’s optimism and love for New Orleans makes me wonder if she had a crystal ball. 

Kristi says this was the toughest book she’d ever written. Don’t miss this novel of hope and rebirth for both a city and for the love between Pete and Renee.

Terri Richison writes women's fiction and is pursing a goal of publication with Silhouette Intimate Moments. She has been happily married for over thirty years to her real-life hero, a man who shows her everyday that romance is alive and well.