What a treat this book was. Story telling at its best.

Levina Wainwright works in a Boston Museum. She is one of the best amateur botanists in Boston but due to her clumsy nature she has been confined to the basement cataloging exhibits that come in by her fiancee Parnell. Parnell is a cold and unfeeling man that has strict punishments for Levina if she doesn't follow his orders. In going through and cataloging a crate shipped from the Amazon, she finds a strange flower in packing leaves. She is very excited as she knows it something rare and undocumented and takes it to Parnell hoping they can plan a trip to the Amazon to find it. When Parnell just pats her on the head and says the Amazon is no place for a woman and with her luck she'd just set the forest on fire. Hurt but not down she decides she is going to the Amazon on her own.

Takura Takoi is a riverboat captain on the Amazon. He was born and raised there. When Levina comes to him asking for ride up the river to the Amazon Basin he quickly turns her down and tells her to go home. Levina decides to take another captain up on his offer to take her even though Takura warned her he was not a good man. Not long after leaving with the other captain Levina is thrown into a cage to be sold. Takura's conscience wouldn't let him ignore the danger Levina had placed herself in and goes to rescue her.

From here the adventure begins.. Takura's boat sinks. They run into alligators and jaguars. Are married in a tribal ceremony while they are asleep. They fall down 40 foot waterfalls. They are captured by headhunters.

This was a very exciting and humorous and dangerous trek through the Amazon jungles where we get to watch two people who couldn't be more different from each other fall in love. ( )