All I knew before picking up Elizabeth Lowell’s Night Diver is that the author was a big name in romance and that the book was published in 2014. Plus, I recently binged on YouTube videos about diving accidents, so I was looking forward to the thrill and danger of such dives in a romantic suspense.

Kate Donnelly left the island of St. Vincent after a horrible diving accident killed both of her parents. But now her brother appeals to her for help. He and their grandfather run the family business, locating and salvaging wrecks, and they’re in serious trouble. Short on money, they signed a disadvantageous contract with the Antiquities Office, which has now sent a diving consultant who has the power to pull the plug on the current expedition. Not only will this finish them off, but their grandfather is chasing a dream of a legendary treasure which was lost in that location, and this treasure also happens to be what Kate’s parents died for. So there’s a lot going on here.

The consultant, meanwhile, is a former Navy diver called Holden Cameron, who was injured when defusing mines and who isn’t about to put up with con artists – which is what he thinks the Donnelly family is, since they’ve found hardly anything to show for the Antiquities Office’s investment. As a result, he’s businesslike at best, cold and standoffish at worst. But he’s extremely competent and soon realizes how bad things are on board, because the Donnellys are underpaying the native divers (who may be stealing artifacts), there are rumors that the expedition is cursed, and the ship itself is so creakingly old that it might not outlast a storm. Oh, and there’s a huge tiger shark which hangs around the dive site, clearly curious about all this strange activity.

Well, what a setup. This premise had a lot of potential, but unfortunately doesn’t make much use of it. When Holden and Kate meet, he’s intensely attracted to her, and within hours of introducing himself, he’s holding her to stave off one of her panic attacks (and noticing her “woman heat” as he does so). Likewise, Kate is intensely attracted to Holden, and is especially fascinated by his “dragon eyes”, which are blue, green and gold. So Kate and Holden hang out together, eat delicious island food, and before long, have awesome sex.

This is very nice for them, but as a romance, it leaves something to be desired, because there is just no sexual tension between them. There isn’t much suspense either. One diver goes missing, but since this happens off-page and he’s as dull as the rest of them, I wasn’t overly invested in his fate. As for the villain, I could hardly believe that when he’s holding the hero and heroine at gunpoint, he passes on his chance to kill them not once, but twice, because both times he natters away until they get the upper hand. This is weak plotting, period. A romantic suspense should have dangerous characters, but no one is ruthless or lethal here – just grouchy, lazy and dense. Even the shark doesn’t do anything. I didn’t expect it to be the second coming of Jaws : The Revenge, but why is a huge tiger shark mentioned if it disappears shortly afterwards?

Oh, by the way, it’s not a spoiler to tell you the villain is a man, because the only named woman in the story is Kate. Speaking of her, she’s a collection of familiar traits – smart, struggling with her fears, gorgeous but unaware of how sexy she is, and frequently taken advantage of by her male relatives. She exists for the plot of this book, because she seems to have no life outside of the island (no work commitments, past relationships, or friends). Even the treasure hunt is her grandfather’s dream, not hers. Holden fares better, but he falls for Kate so quickly that his cold-bastard act evaporates just as fast. He has the power to shut down the expedition, but when push comes to shove, of course he picks Kate’s family over his boss. As I said, little to no suspense.

That said, I enjoyed learning how salvage dives are carried out and what it’s like on a ship which specializes in this. Ms. Lowell has clearly done her research here. Another plus point is the villain’s scheme, which is a clever one, and the descriptions of life on a tropical island are detailed and authentic. These weren’t enough to salvage (no pun intended) the story, but at least they saved it from a lower grade.

In summary, Night Diver gave me the chance to cross another author off my to-read list, but since the YouTube videos about diving accidents were more thrilling, I’m not going recommend this book. That shark deserves a better story, and so do we.