The Invitation [Mass Market Paperback]

Jude Deveraux (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1994

Jackie O'Neill was a daredevil pilot and a true American heroine...a woman so beautiful men stopped in their tracks to watch her walk down the street, her long confident strides eating up the earth. After years of nonstop excitement -- of traveling around the globe in a chaotic rags-to-riches-to-rags whirl with her late husband, Charley -- Jackie had returned to Eternity, Colorado, near her hometown of Chandler. She wanted to put down roots, start a business, maybe someday fall in love again. But she never dreamed that the man who might make all her wishes come true was William Montgomery...little Billy, the lovesick boy who dogged her every step when she was a teenager...little Billy, who was now definitely a man, handsome, sexy, rich, and still madly in love with Jackie O'Neill....

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the three novellas collected here, bestselling romancer Deveraux ( Sweet Liar ) explores some of the limits of the genre she knows so well, indicating she may be as spunky as her heroines. In 1934, Jackie O'Neill returns to her hometown of Chandler, Colo., an accomplished pilot and a lonely widow. Developing her air transport business can keep her happy as a pilot, and her new partner, William Montgomery, promises to make very cozy company--until Jackie realizes he is the same little Billy she babysat for many years ago. In the second story, Kane Taggert, who reluctantly agrees to guide four New York City women on a Colorado trail ride, may be enchanted by Ruth Edwards, a calculatingly charming widow, if only he can make it through the two-week trip without throttling Ruth's friend, bestselling author Cale Anderson. Experiments in shifting perspective and an outrageous soliloquy by Cale give the traditional plot some pizzazz. The last story, a historical piece, finds Dorie Latham enlisting Cole Hunter, "an aging gunslinger with no visible means of support and the beginnings of a paunch," to play husband and help her elude her sister's matchmaking scheme.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Jude Deveraux, one of America's most beloved authors of romance brings together three novellas destined to delight her legions of fans with her special brand of whimsy and delicious romance. In The Invitation, beautiful daredevil pilot Jackie O'Neill returns to her hometown to put down roots and maybe even to fall in love again someday. But she never dreams that her wish may be fulfilled by little Billy who is now most definitely a man - handsome, sexy, and rich. In Matchmakers there's a family saying, "You marry the one who can tell the twins apart. " Is that good advice or not for identical twins Mike and Kane Taggert? And in A Perfect Arrangement Dorie Lathem proposes to Cole Hunter, ;then calls him an aging gunslinger and a swaggering, hard-jawed, ruthless killer. Can this marriage survive? The large print format is ideal for the visual impaired who nonetheless love a good read! -- Midwest Book Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books (January 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671744585
• ISBN-13: 978-0671744588
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #114,396 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #14 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Romance > Authors, A-Z > ( D ) > Deveraux, Jude
  • #34 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > Short Stories > General

More About the Author

Jude Deveraux was once a fifth-grade teacher who loved to read. When her imagination began to be filled with her own stories to tell, her career as a writer began. Jude's novels have been set in both contemporary and historical periods. Her strong, lyrical writing style and ability to write stories with memorable characters, rich detail, and believable dialogue has garnered her many devoted readers.

Jude has had over thirty books on the New York Times bestsellers list, has over 60 million copies in print, and has been translated into 18 languages. When she's not writing, she enjoys reading murder mysteries, working in her garden, and in boxing class she likes to show much younger males that she can throw a mean right cross.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Jude!, June 2, 2006

By 

CoffeeGurl - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Invitation (Mass Market Paperback)

I have been reading Jude Deveraux novels in no particular order of release. I've read most of her older installments and read some of her newer ones. Her latest offerings aren't as wonderful as her earlier efforts and I still have quite a bit of her latest stuff to crack open. The Invitation was released a couple of years after the wonderful Sweet Liar, more than a decade ago. This three-novella anthology is a clear reminder of why I fell in love with this author's wonderful writing. This anthology contains two historicals and one contemporary. It begins with The Invitation. The year is 1938. Jackie O'Neill is a famous and accomplished female pilot. (I think Jackie is the fictional version of real-life 1930s pilot Jackie Cochran.) After her husband dies, she wants to settle down in the ghost town of Eternity in Colorado. But when her plane crashes, she awakens under the care of a handsome, mysterious man. When she finds out that the man is none other than William Montgomery, she does whatever is possible to push him away. After all, he is no longer little Billy, who followed her around, saying he loved her when they were kids. He is now a grown, gorgeous man, but he is still ten years her junior. Despite their age difference, she feels undeniable attraction for the stubborn man. The second one is Matchmakers, a contemporary. Kane Taggert is a young widower looking after his two toddler twin sons on his own. His mother and sister-in-law convince him to lead four women on a western retreat, hoping that he would fall for one of them. He is kind of attracted to a woman who looks just like his late wife, but it is the feisty mystery author Cale Anderson that gets under his skin in spite of his wanting to kill her for irritating the heck out of him. And the last one, A Perfect Arrangement, is a late nineteenth century Western/frontier about a seemingly plain, unremarkable woman making a strange proposal to a gunslinger who's almost past his prime. She wants them to pretend they're married while her sister is in town visiting. Cole Hunter is reluctant at first, but there is something intriguing about Dorie Latham, who is more full of surprises than he thinks.

All of the novellas are wonderful. They all have its own unique love story to tell. The one disappointing factor is that they are too short. Matchmakers is my favorite novella. I had looked forward to reading Kane's story after reading about him in Sweet Liar. I like him more than his twin brother Michael. I wasn't thrilled with the heroine's first person narrative at first but it grew on me. The novella changes from first to third person quite a bit. Since this one is set in JD's made-up Colorado towns of Chandler and Eternity, I like all of the references to her old novels, like the MacTarvit whisky (The Duchess), Tynan Mills (The Temptress) and the clothing shop Paris in the Desert and the mention of Joshua Templeton and his small house (Eternity). JD has a novel with a hero called Kane Taggert (Twin of Ice, I assume that the Kane in that novel is this Kane's great-great-grandfather), but I still wish I'd gotten more than just a novella for this Kane. Ah, well. The Invitation is quite good as well. But I feel cheated with this one though. William is the son of Jace and Nellie Montgomery from Wishes. According to the novel Wishes, Jace and Nellie had a dozen children, and we only get to read about one of their children, in a short novella at that. Wishes is one of my favorite novels and JD could and should create more novels based on this batch of Montgomery siblings. I think that William's obsession with Jackie since he was a child is kind of creepy at times, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. And A Perfect Arrangement is an enjoyable novella. I love reading about gunslingers. Humor is a big part of this novella because the hero becomes self-conscious after the heroine criticizes his age and physique. All in all, The Invitation is a wonderful compilation and a clear reminder of why I love reading Jude Deveraux novels so much. I only hope that this won't be the last of good JD reading.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Three wonderful Short Stories Stuffed in One Cover, March 17, 2004

By 

S. K. Leggate "Sunni" (Fernley, NV United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Invitation (Mass Market Paperback)

I am not much of a short story fan as the shorter the story the less involved the characters or plot tend to be. Jude Deveraux is obviously an exception to this rule. She writes three moving novelas who's characters move you. You end up rooting for them shortly after starting each story.

Ms. Deveraux is an accomplished writer as is obvious when reading the novelas in The Invitation. She shows a great imagination that will have yours working overtime as you read. Her discription is marvelous as you can picture the characters and places clearly. If you pick up this book, don't plan on putting it down. You won't be dissapointed.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Heroes, Greater Heroines!, June 18, 2000

By 

[e-mail] - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Invitation (Mass Market Paperback)

Let me begin my saying that I usually love novellas because they are not as complicated as full length romances. Let's face it: not everyone that falls in love has so many obstacles as some characters in romance novels have.

In the first novella, William Montgomery captured my heart. He was so certain that Jackie was the woman for him, and I felt something akin to envy when Jackie finally got together with William.

In the second novella, I adored Cale's spunkiness and cynicism. I loved Cale's views on Ruth and the cowboy Kane Taggert. I loved the fact that Cale did not sob over Kane's defection like so many sappy heroines would have.

In the third and last novella, I especially like Apollodoria. Her attitude reminds me of so many friends I have. She is blunt with Cole, and does not lie to him to get what she wants.

All three were great novellas, and I would recommend them to anyone.