Grand Passion, by Jayne Ann Krentz

On Saturday I didn't feel like reading anything too demanding. I wanted a comfort read, so I reread a JAK, Grand Passion.

Plot summary:

Cleopatra Robbins has imagined the moment when she'll meet the man of her dreams. But when Max Fortune strides into the Robbins' Nest Inn, a devastating sensation sweeps through her. She knows it's him. And he's all wrong!

Head of the giant Curzon Hotel chain, a cynical man whose only passion in life has been for rare works of art, Max is looking for five priceless paintings left to him by his mentor, Jason Curzon. Max takes one long look at Cleo Robbins and feels fierce desire sweep through him...a feeling so powerful that he soon starts helping to fix everything from the plumbing to the fractured lives of the inn's quirky denizens.

Despite their mutual attraction, Max senses that Cleo is hiding something -- and by the time he realizes it's not the paintings, it's almost too late to save her from the danger rising out of her past. As suspense and desire intensify, this delightful duo sweep us toward a dramatic ending in a love story beyond compare...Grand Passion.

It was the perfect choice. I don't care that she's written the same book seemingly hundreds of times, I still enjoy it. A B+.

What can I say? A vulnerable hero, in need of a family who loves him. An intelligent heroine (who owns a small business, of course) who falls in love with him. Then there are the quirky secondary characters, including the New Age people, and the theme (in this case 2, modern painting and Cleo's book, The Mirror). There's also a very light suspense subplot which is the least enjoyable element of the book, but which was so light it didn't bother me much. Just right.