Yesterday I read another JAK, Perfect Partners.
Plot summary:
A beautiful book, an A-, which got rid of the bad taste in my mouth after the last book I read. I can't say much about this one that I haven't said 10 before, but I really loved Joel and Letty together, even if she was a little scatty for my tastes."Midwestern librarian Letitia Thornquist didn't have the right stuff to run Thornquist Gear, Inc. That was the bottom-line opinion of Joel Blackstone, the seasoned CEO who had built the small Seattle sporting goods store into an industry giant. But Letty's rich Uncle Charlie willed her the company, and now she was bubbling with enthusiasm to have Joel, a perfect mentor, show her the ropes.
Teaching her the business was all Joel grudgingly planned to do...until the sensuous curves under Letty's navy suit and the unabashed desire in her wide, innocent eyes left him longing for a personal kind of merger. Soon his sizzling kisses convinced her that she wasn't in Kansas anymore. But no matter how skilled Joel was in the art of love, Letty knew she was at risk in his arms. Behind his tough facade she sensed a world of hurt that cried out for her warmth and understanding. She realized the "L" word might never be spoken if trust didn't make them perfect partners 9 to 5...and in the loving after-hours of midnight to dawn."
I enjoyed how Letty managed to earn the right to make decisions in the company, in spite of Joel's roadblocks, and it was nice seeing how she was actually right in most of her recommendations (good to see how Joel gave those decisions his full considerations and didn't dismiss them outright).
I found the characters of Diana and Keith interesting. Diana was the type of character I hate to see as a heroine, a weak, spoiled, daddy's girl, but I enjoyed seeing her grow a little back-bone here as a secondary character. And I also had lots of fun with Stephanie and Morgan. It was great to see the 3 very different women become friends in the end, and her relationship felt very believable.
And I must mention the love scenes here... some of JAK's hottest. This was a particularly good year: I'm now reading another of her books from 1992 (more on it later), and the love scenes are scorching hot too.