Customer Reviews

Call It Destiny (Mira Audio)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I usually enjoy Jane Ann Krentz, but I was so disappointed in this book that I couldn't finish it. Heather Strand comes back home believing that she will inherit the control of the family motel. She agrees to a "business arrangement" marriage to Jake Cavender, friend and business associate of her father's. On the eve of her wedding, she discovers that the hotel was sold to Cavender months ago, and that she was not told because Jake and her father knew she would not return home without the belief that she would be in control of the hotel. They lied (by ommission) about something they knew was important to Heather. It was unforgivable, not just because of the huge lie, but because they were manipulating her. I quit the book when Jake followed his runaway bride-to-be to another motel, and appeared to have every intention of brow beating her with guilt and possibly raping her if he couldn't coerce her into having sex with him. I was outraged on so many levels, and I didn't even get halfway through the book.

Once a wild child, Heather Strand has matured and returned home to take over her father's hotel and enter into a marriage of convenience with Jake Cavender, her father's second in command. Then the night before the wedding, Heather discovers it was all a lie. Jake owns the hotel. Heather must work through her anger, feelings of betrayal, and newly discovered love for Jake. It isn't until danger appears that Heather and Jake work through their fierce independence.

Krentz is known for her Alpha males and strong-willed females, but Jake and Heather must be the poster children. An exciting tale from start to finish.

THis is the sort of plot and the sorts of main characters that make me want to give up romance fiction. The heroine, Heather, found out the night before her wedding that she didn't own the resort that she thought was hers: it really belonged to her marriage-of-convenience fiance Jake, who didn't tell her because he thought, with complete justification, that she would back out on the marriage. Am I the only one who found Heather's anger to be completely justified? These heroes of JAK are dishonest with the heroines all the time, and NOTHING HAPPENS. The men get away with it, because it 's for the heroine's own good, of course.(Even the heroine's FATHER is in on the deception in this one-no wonder she can accept being treated so disrespectfully!) Heather is, at happy- ever-after time, agreeing to slave away at the resort that she thought would be hers, but thanks to a pre-nup, not actually getting to own any of it nor seeing a dime in her own name. How likely is it that a fiercely independent woman is going to voluntarily accept not only being lied to and deceived by her man,(who really doesn't think he's done anything wrong-in fact, it was all Heather's fault for being arrogant) but making herself financially helpless? Is she really so stupid and lacking in backbone that she would accept Jake saying that "We'll run the resort together" knowing that she has no real power and certainly no money of her own, and absolutely no security?
If you want a feisty, independent heroine, you have to make winning her somewhat of a challenge.Heather talked a good game, but Jake had her in bed and bowing to his will pretty quickly.
I'd walk out on any man who did to me what Jake did to Heather, and I don't even ride a motorcycle. Let's hope this kind of plot stays in the past where it belongs.

The 'harsher' story line is typical of the writing of the time. Men were rough & tough; the women were headstrong but wanted/needed to be brought to heel by a man strong enough to take them in hand. I'm far fonder of her current works than some of these earliest ones but enjoy her stories nevertheless. For readers who love her work but are not book collectors - this is your way to acquire & read some of her earlier work.

JAKS prints are somewhat dated since they are 12 - 15 years old, but some don't show the wear and withstand the test of time. This one sort of walks the fine line. I got a little irked by the arrogance of the female character, but as the book went along it turned out well.

Heather was the headstrong daughter of a hotel owner in Tucson. At 18, the last the family saw of her was her waving bye bye from the back of a yamaha (sheesh JAK, you could have shown some class and made it a Harley, but this was not in the heyday of the Harleys so I shall excuse this!! lol). 10 years later she had come home to assume, what she presumes is the reigns of the family business. Her father is ready to retire and she is itching at the bit to be boss. She also decides that a marriage of convenience - a partnership, is just what she needs so she proposes marriage to Jake Cavendish, her father's business manager. On the night before the marriage, Heather learns she is not to take over the family business, because Jake already owns it and he would be boss, not her. Kicking off her well controlled image, she dons her bike outfits, rolls up to the curb of the church and tells the groom in front of the guests just what she thinks of him.

Naturally, in JAK it is a battle to the end between two headstrong people that find love is the winner.

Some of the action is a little contrived, but on the whole a very pleasant read.

If it was possible to give negative stars I would have. This is one of the worst books I have read.

The heroine is portrayed as strong, yet she lets everyone walk all over her. Her father basically lies to her in order to get his 'marriage of convenience' and so does her husband to be. When she finds out about the betrayal they act like she is in the wrong.

Granted she is not perfect, but she doesn't deserve her father or the 'hero'. Her father tells her that she had better be the one to bend (even though in my opinion he was in the wrong) because he has no softness in him. Now tell me why you would want to be married to someone like that?

Ok, now that I have ranted, I guess this is what I will say. I personally hated the book, but if you like the 80's alpha hero you might like this. In my opinion it was just too much, and I could barely bring myself to finish the book. Hopefully if you choose to read it you will enjoy it or whatever book you choose. Personally I would recommend a different book - perhaps a newer JAK.

I have read the other reviews and I am a little startled at the negative ones. If you are a fan of Jayne Ann, a real fan, you will love this book. She has a way of telling a story that will make your heart skip a couple of beats. I have read hundreds of other authors but if you were to look in my book shelf, Jayne Ann would be the only romantic suspense writer you will find. I thought that the characters were wonderful. The main lady was reckless and strong and the main man was strong, dashing and vulnerable...you can't get any better.

When Heather Strand had been wild and rebellious, she waved goodbye to her family as she rode away on the back of a Yamaha motorcycle with Rick. Her father wanted her to take over the family business, the Hacienda, an upscale hotel with no equal in the near area. Father and daughter were just too alike and clashed too often.

Now Heather returns home. She has proven to herself, and everyone else, that she could succeed on her own in the hotel business. Her father is stepping down and she is taking over. She also plans to wed her father's right-hand man, Jake Cavender. But on her wedding night she finds some business files and learns that she has been betrayed by Jake and her father.

**** This is one of Jayne Ann Krentz's older novels. Personally, I believe her older novels are her best works. I recently reread this one and loved it as much as I did the first time years ago. The author puts some real tension between her main characters, reasons that are believable and not simply misunderstandings. ****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

ARIZONA DESPERADO-Jake Cavender was cool on the outside, but inside beat a heart as hot as the desperate sands. He surprised Heather Strand by agreeing to an arranged marriage, evan if he had no intention of holding to her hands-off prenuptial agreement. Jake always played the gentleman-but Heather's sassy velvet mouth was turning him into a desperado...or just plain desperate. He'd agreed to take her, minus one clause-the marriage bed. He'd have a marriage...in every sence of the word.

I love the author's stories and thought that I would try to complete my collection of her works. I'm sorry that I even tried! I only got into the first five pages of this book when I realize that I simply did not want to continue with it. It did not take me long to dislike the main female character.