Silhouette Desire, $4.75, ISBN 978-0-373-76975-9
Contemporary Romance, 2009
Not content with having expanded her Westmoreland Family series from twelve to fifteen books, Brenda Jackson cheerfully introduces another bunch of cousins that are conveniently found just as the author has run out of Westmoreland clones to write about. So now, yes, the Westmorelands continue to propagate like it’s the final lemming orgy before everyone heads off to the cliffs, and Westmoreland’s Way is the start of a new spinoff series; this time it’s the Denver folks that get the spotlight.
Honestly, though, do all the excuses to introduce more Westmorelands matter? The author could announce that a bunch of spaceships from Venus had beamed down another bunch of Westmorelands for her to write about, and the result will still be the same: it’s the same story, with the same type of characters. Dillon Westmoreland is once again another physically perfect, super successful billionaire hero who, in this story, can afford to take time off from his work to investigate his family history. The company can run itself, after all! Come to think of it, I don’t think he even called the office to find out whether everything is going smoothly. Anyway, he heads down to Gamble, Wyoming, where he comes in contact with the Novak family. He wants Pamela bad, but alas, she’s determined to marry a disagreeable if rich man so that she can keep the family house and send her sisters to college.
Pamela immediately accepts Dillon at face value and even declares that he’s a family friend just because he claims to be the descendant of the man that was once a business partner of her great-grandfather. After all, he’s cute and causes a combustion in her loins and… boy, aren’t we glad that he’s not a serial killer or she’d be the easiest victim he’d ever had! The story doesn’t have much conflict at all. After all, Dillon is a billion times richer than her fiancé – even if it ain’t love, he’s a far better candidate for her to prostitute herself to for money!
So, yes, these two have sex, which is fine because it’s only for one night in Pamela’s estimation. Dillon wants to marry her, but he stupidly orders her to stay there and wait like an obedient little woman for two weeks while he vanishes without a word. You see, he wants to solve her problems behind her back, but alas, things don’t go too well (other sequel baits want a chance to advertise their upcoming stories too, after all), and Pamela begins to wonder whether she’s been played for a fool. Because Dillon also stupidly doesn’t leave behind any number that she can use to contact him, you can imagine the stupid drama that follows, I’m sure.
But, the drama is solved in the blink of an eye, Pamela gets the billionaire that conveniently solves her money issues, and another Westmoreland story is done. There are three hundred more, so don’t forget to collect them all. Story? Plot? Westmoreland’s Way is such a pointless and insipid tale that seems to be cranked out in a day or two, so, boy, am I glad that I bought this book from a yard sale!
