Amanda Quick is the pseudonym for Jayne Ann Krentz, the author, under various pen names, of more than fifty New York Times bestsellers; there are more than 35 million copies of her books in print. She lives in Seattle.
With 41 bestsellers to her credit, Jayne Ann Krentz (aka Quick) still approaches a new project as if novel writing were a just-discovered pleasure she can't wait to share. This late Regency romance offers her signature goodies. Elenora Lodge loses the manor to which she was born and thus becomes the eponymous paid companion. She is, of course, plucky, intellectual, democratic, lovely and unabashedly eager to surrender her virginity to the right man: "Sensation whipped through her; a glorious, heady, dizzying whirlpool of passion. She knew that if she did not explore these thrilling emotions with him she would carry the regret with her for the rest of her life." The source of the whirlpool is Arthur Lancaster, earl of St. Merryn, cranky, quirky, decent to the death, with a sizable fortune and lusty nature to match. Although a happy ending is never in doubt, a murder mystery is threaded through the love story, allowing the besotted couple to sleuth in dark alleyways between tumbles in bed. Quick draws on Regency fascination with science to inform villainous madman Parker, who styles himself "England's second Newton" and terrorizes Elenora with a precursor of the laser. Masked balls, upper-class gambling, women who manage their own affairs and marry for love: if this is familiar territory, it still satisfies. And when Arthur proposes, readers will be right there with Elenora: "The most delicious sense of joy unfurled within her." Agent, Stephen Ayelrod. (May) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
The Earl of St. Merryn needs an intelligent woman to pose as his betrothed and keep the matchmaking mamas at bay while he secretly investigates his great-uncle's murder. Miss Elenora Lodge, left destitute by her wastrel stepfather, is in search of a position as a paid companion. Both are more than a little desperate when their paths cross at an employment agency that has heretofore failed them. An interview (and the mention of triple Miss Lodge's usual fee) convinces each that the other meets their unusual requirements for the position of companion, and the chase is on. Typical Quick-which is to say immensely entertaining-this Regency romance contains a mystery element, but as always with the author, her characters are the main attraction. The hero and heroine are bright, principled people who finally find in each other the approval and appreciation denied them by a society that labels them eccentric at best. Thoroughly enjoyable and highly recommended for all popular fiction collections. Fans of Stephanie Laurens (The Perfect Lover) will especially go for this.-Elizabeth Mellett, Brookline P.L., MA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
