Rodeo Star Josh Maynard is hanging up his spurs and is about to embark on his late father’s dream of sailing around the Mediterranean. To that end, Josh has booked into an exclusive Florida resort for three weeks in hopes of getting some much-needed training. Not only can’t he sail, he can’t swim.

Lexie Webster is single, manless, and ready for a fling after eleven months of celibacy. Her last boyfriend was an adrenaline junkie, a major turnoff to Lexie, who is saving every penny in hopes of buying a beachfront lot on a secluded cove. A no-strings-attached fling is just the ticket. When Josh walks into the resort where she gives water sports lessons and asks for private tutoring, Lexie decides she’s found the perfect candidate.

It isn’t long before Lexie and Josh embark on that fling. But what happens when he falls in love, and she isn’t willing to admit this could be more than a quick romance?

There isn’t much more to the story than that. It’s true, Lexie has no idea what Josh did for a living, and when she finds out he’s a former daredevil, you can guess the rest - especially when Josh is lured out of retirement for a charity rodeo and a shot at besting his oldest rival for once and for all. But the romance, which follows a period of instantaneous lust, is well done and believable. The conflict is a bit less so.

Josh is a particularly likable character, perhaps because he falls first and isn’t afraid to admit it. Lexie’s bias toward risk makes no sense to him, and he rightly points out that his is a calculated risk taken by a professional, not someone out for thrills. Plus, he could just as easily be hurt doing something as simple as tripping over a box or falling off a ladder. Given that Lexie didn’t exactly have her heart broken by her last boyfriend, her extreme reaction felt forced.

And note to cover art department: do you ever read the descriptions of the characters? When an author makes repeated references to her heroine’s short, curly hair and then she’s illustrated on the cover with long, flowing locks, it doesn’t help the cause.

In Over His Head is a perfectly acceptable romance - light, breezy, and entertaining. Jacquie D’Alessandro’s trademark snappy dialogue is here in force, and that alone makes the book worth a look.

--Cathy Sova