ABOUT THE BOOK Illuisons ANNOTATION A finely crafted story, set against the extraordinary landscape of the Rockies and brimming with a cast of strong and memorable characters, Janet Dailey's captivating new novel sweeps readers away to the glitz and glamour of the Colorado ski country and into a spellbinding story about a beautiful security expert who is drawn into a high-profile case of dark murder and steamy romance. 320 pp. $250,000 marketing. 11-city author tour. 200,000 print. (Romance) FROM THE PUBLISHER Delaney Wescott, a beautiful security expert, is urgently summoned to New York after Lucas Wayne, a rock star turned movie star, is attacked and almost killed in his hotel room. His assailant is Rina Cole, a sultry sex-siren actress - and an old flame - who holds him responsible for her career's plummet. Delaney's first priority is to protect Lucas from Rina. As they head out to the breathtaking snowcapped mountains of Aspen, Colorado, Delaney figures that keeping Lucas safe will be a straightforward case. But the situation is complicated by an anonymous Lucas Wayne fan - a woman who sends him three love letters a week (some with locks of hair, others with romantic presents) and whose psychological profile is growing more disturbing by the minute; it isn't clear just who Lucas's enemies are. Focusing all her attention on her professional responsibilities, Delaney tries to ignore the fact that Aspen happens to be the hometown of the man who broke her heart. When they finally meet again, he throws her for an unexpected loop -just as Delaney begins to wonder whether she and Lucas might share more than a professional relationship. Before Delaney can decide, a horrendous crime is committed behind the Wayne estate - and fingers begin to point to Delaney herself. Has she been set up? FROM THE CRITICS Library Journal More romance from Dailey but with a murderous edge. Personal security expert Delaney Wescott is falling for the rock star she has been hired to guard, even as she is accused of murder. Kirkus Reviews There's a straightforward, even simplistic element to Dailey's (Notorious, 1996, etc.) follow-the-numbers murder mystery, but the quirky, determined Delaney Wescott-and her romantic pursuits-keep a fire going under the otherwise predictable proceedings. Security expert Delaney is a woman in a man's world-needless to say, she attracts a lot of attention, from the men she works with to the men she is hired to protect. When rock/movie star stud- about-town Lucas Wayne is shot by his ex, Madonna-clone (though this one's career is on a downward spiral) Rina Cole, he hires Delaney, and quickly develops more than a professional interest in her. Rina blames Lucas for her career woes, and she's hot on his tail; to get as far away from her as possible, Delaney, Lucas, and entourage head west, to Lucas's Aspen hideaway, but Rina is soon in pursuit. Once in the mountains, Delaney is confronted not just with Lucas's affections but also with the increasing attentions of her partner, Riley, and the reappearance of her own ex, Jared McCallister, who broke Delaney's heart years before when she found that he had been duplicitous and unfaithful. Jared's other ex-wife, Aspen native and snide art dealer Susan St. Jacque, complicates the situation by getting herself shot and killed-by Delaney, no less, who's under the impression at the time that she's shooting Rina, thus saving Lucas's life and doing her job. Subplots (as if they're needed) include Jared's missing little sister, Delaney's dad's peculiar hijinks, and the problems surrounding Lucas's brain- damaged brother Toby, but the real question comes across loud and clear: Who's going home with Delaney? A lot of plot threads and themes, but too little resonance. Fans will be satisfied, but hardly satiated.

Romantic  Suspense  Novels  Fiction