In Hart's latest contemporary romance (following A Kiss to Dream On), a prestigious girls' school in Georgia with a highly reputed summer program is fortunate to have the brilliant, famous and charismatic scientist Eli Liontakis as one of this summer's eminent faculty members. But, as one would expect of a mediagenic, arrogant chemist with new acclaim, Eli hasn't agreed out of the goodness of his heart. Instead, he has his own motives for accepting the position. First, he hopes dance instructor Liza Kincaid can coax his 10-year-old daughter, Grace, who has been emotionally traumatized by the death of his ex-wife, from the shell to which she has retreated. Also, while he is determined never to marry again, he can't deny his lust for Liza after watching her dance. Although she finds him pompous, Liza admits her attraction to Eli, but a previous bad marriage prevents her from giving in to her heart's desire. Unfortunately, Hart paints her hero and heroine as unlikable characters. Eli, who supposedly feels profound grief over his ex-wife's death early in the story, later, states, "I didn't even like [her] very much." And then the reader learns that Liza lost her 3-month-old infant to pneumonia because she was too broke to seek medical help, despite living in New York City, where free medical clinics abound. Clich d villains in the form of hateful grandparents determined to gain custody of Grace using any means possible, including questioning Eli's paternity, round out the cast and spice things up a bit, but not enough to overshadow the predictable ending. (Dec. 5)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--Betina Krahn
"A powerful new voice in women's romantic fiction."
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