This is my favorite Jayne Ann Krentz novel.

********CAUTION POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD> PLEASE STOP NOW IF YOU DON"T WANT READ ANY SPOILERS>THANKS**********

Hero is dark and brooding. He is an orphan that, bottom line, just wants a loving family. He tries to work hard to please those around him and "never screw up" so he can feel accepted. He doesn't know what is love and is not part of his vocabulary. All he has is this intense need to be useful so he can feel like he belongs. He lives in...

This is my favorite Jayne Ann Krentz novel.

********CAUTION POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD> PLEASE STOP NOW IF YOU DON"T WANT READ ANY SPOILERS>THANKS**********

Hero is dark and brooding. He is an orphan that, bottom line, just wants a loving family. He tries to work hard to please those around him and "never screw up" so he can feel accepted. He doesn't know what is love and is not part of his vocabulary. All he has is this intense need to be useful so he can feel like he belongs. He lives in constant fear of being rejected. He is ruthless in wanting to get what he wants...a family. Before he met the heroine he was lost and trying to fit into a family that were to afraid to let him in. They knew that if they gave him any power he would take over and take away something that has been in the family for generations.

So the mentor that took him in and he worked so hard to part of his family hides some paintings in a bed and breakfast. This is not just any bed and breakfast. No this particular place is a haven for lost souls. The owner herself has traumatic history and has managed to collect lost souls along the way to create a cute, misfit of a family. The hero comes into the bed and breakfast to get the paintings but came out with something move valuable: a family.

I loved this book. The heroine was really sweet, bubbly and quirky. She was loyal to the hero, once they got together. Hero was head over heels in love with the heroine, but did not even know it. He was desperate to become part of her family and was very persistent in his quest to integrate himself into her life. The more the story progressed the more demanding and overwhelming he read. Heroine took it all in strike and was the balm to his high octane, anxiety peaking, insecure emotions. She is definable someone I would love to meet and becomes friend's with.

The love story also has two suspenseful stories that are well written into this loves story. You have someone trying to kill the heroine and the family that never accepted the hero trying to win him back to the company. Everything was well balanced and I never felt that the suspense took away from the story line. The main drive was how the H/h developed in their relationship.

The love scenes were hawt. In my opinion, one of the best sexual books Ms. Krentz has written. They are not numerous but they are well written and add to the intensity of the hero's emotions towards the heroine. The hero is heroine's first. She was saving herself for Mr. Right. It was her way of coming with her trauma. She had no regrets and their first love scene was very intense and beautifully written. The humor in this book I subtle but very entertaining. The climax scene was very exciting and I didn't see the bad guy coming until he is revealed at the end. There is nothing I did not love about this novel.

One of the best contemporary romance novels I have ever read. It had it all: suspense, action, hero literally saving the heroine, heroine figuratively saving the hero, steaming hawt love scenes, excellent dialogue, wonderful secondary characters, fast paced read, and great chemistry btwn H/h. I can't recommend this read enough. It is a safe read. The love develops well over time btwn the H/h but what a finish!

I've read over eighty books this year in this genre. Can't seem to get enough of them for some reason - maybe because I can lose myself in them and forget about the economy and other depressing facts of life. All I seem to be doing these days is reading and working.

There are three books that have stood out above all the others I've read so far in 2009 - "Obsession," by Karen Robards, Sandra Brown's "Envy," and now Ms. Krentz's "Grand Passion." The uniquely interesting characters have wove...

I've read over eighty books this year in this genre. Can't seem to get enough of them for some reason - maybe because I can lose myself in them and forget about the economy and other depressing facts of life. All I seem to be doing these days is reading and working.

There are three books that have stood out above all the others I've read so far in 2009 - "Obsession," by Karen Robards, Sandra Brown's "Envy," and now Ms. Krentz's "Grand Passion." The uniquely interesting characters have woven a fine fabric of yearning and discovery - of love, of family, of home, of imagination, of self. Jayne Ann Krentz expertly accomplishes this through her characterizations - through the clothing they wear, their manner of speech, the way they hold a toilet plunger. I've not quite finished the book, but sit here at my desk waiting for this evening when I can dive back into it and gobble it up, like Daystar's corn muffins. If you're a romantic suspense fan, you've got to read this one. Max and Cleo's blossoming relationship will touch you in places you've never known.

Jayne Ann Krentz has once again shown her mastery over a large group of well-developed characters, weaving a mystery and a romance of great quality. Even when I thought I'd solved the mystery, it was the journey that unfolded for the characters that made it worth the trip. Jayne's secondary characters have a wealth of detail and care, making many of them someone you'd like to meet. The romance has an interesting angle that keeps you wanting to see the next step in their relationship. A very s...

Jayne Ann Krentz has once again shown her mastery over a large group of well-developed characters, weaving a mystery and a romance of great quality. Even when I thought I'd solved the mystery, it was the journey that unfolded for the characters that made it worth the trip. Jayne's secondary characters have a wealth of detail and care, making many of them someone you'd like to meet. The romance has an interesting angle that keeps you wanting to see the next step in their relationship. A very satisfying read.