MIRA, $5.99, ISBN 1-55166-563-8
Contemporary Romance, 2000 (Reissue)

Old is gold, they always say, and when it comes to Call It Destiny, the adage fits just nicely. Sure, it’s a 1984 thing, but it’s everything I love about the author. Wit, humor, a hero to moon over, and a heroine that makes me go You go girl!. I haven’t read this one when it first came out, but this time around, I’m glad I did.

Heather Strand and Jake Cavender are all after the same thing – the great Strand Hotel. And Heather, a hippie bike-chick hiding under a classy exterior, is more-or-less convinced by her family to marry Jake to inherit the hotel. Thing is, don’t tell Heather but the Strands have sold the hotel to Jake long before the wedding is arranged. But when Heather does find out, oh boy.

She stands Jake up at the altar in a way to remember indeed. But Jake isn’t one to take it lying down. Heather zooms off on her bike, Jake gives chase. Where’re my binoculars?

This one has the usual Krentz-ian alpha hero, the sort that uses sex to keep the woman quiet when she is babbling. This sort of hero sometimes rubs me the wrong way, but in this one, it works, because the author makes it clear that the man is absolutely nuts about Heather. And Heather, who tries her best to please her family after a rebellious phase went awry, has the man wrapped around her little finger, though she doesn’t realize it at first.

I must admit I don’t particularly care for the Strand family who tend to be overbearing and pushy in their treatment of Heather – must they lie to her about the marriage? – but Jake and Heather compensate for that more than enough. When Jake goes through all sorts of desperate antics just to keep Heather in his life, let’s face it – I can’t resist, and Heather couldn’t either.

Call It Destiny? You bet.