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Spellbound Candlelight Ecstasy Romance Jayne Castle 9780440180340 Books

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Spellbound Candlelight Ecstasy Romance Jayne Castle 9780440180340 Books

Always love her books.


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Spellbound Candlelight Ecstasy Romance Jayne Castle 9780440180340 Books Reviews

Good book from a great author.
"You were supposed to be much taller!" blurted Lacey Holbrook upon finding a stranger on her doorstep who was sent in answer to her summons. He responds at an eye-to-eye level by saying, . . . "we're out of six-foot-three-inch body builder variety this season. Perhaps if you'd gotten your specifications in before last Christmas we could have . . . ". Thus start the repartee on page one of SPELLBOUND and continues throughout this book in an entertaining and humorous manner.

The stranger is not really a stranger but Jed Merlin, Lacey's teenage heartthrob. Lacey had proposed to Jed when she was thirteen and he was twenty. Of course Jed turned her down gently and with fond tolerance thus sparing Lacey's tender ego. By doing so he became Lacey's unconscious role model for the ideal mate. Now Jed has reentered her life so changed that she does not recognize him. He has become a tawny bearded, scruffy, jeans-wearing-throw-back to a hippie gurus (remember we are back in the early 80's not so far removed from the earth mothers and fathers of the 70's, think MAMAs & PAPAs' California Dreaming to get into the right frame of mind). But underneath this surface image Lacey senses a strong masculine aura similar to a golden panther (Lacey's description not mine).

Jed however, is not at all surprised by the grownup Lacey. She is still the bossy-take-charge female he remembers so fondly. But Lacey is no longer that small, delicate young girl. She is now a sophisticated well-rounded women who is self described on a good self esteem day as a well proportioned but on a low self esteem day as plump. (Ms. Krentz certainly writes the way we sometimes feel about our body images. Its what I've come to look forward to in her books.) Jed lets Lacey know that she has also changed in some ways and shouldn't be so picky about her expectations of him. Both Lacey and Jed come to the conclusion that they are just not each others type despite the sparks that fly and an attraction that just doesn't quit.

SPELLBOUND develops from a reuniting of youthful friends into a delightful story of falling in love again. Jed agrees to help Lacey with her "problem" so he can pay off his father's old family debt to her family. He evens agrees to submit to a makeover. Jed laughs outright and states . . . "you're turning me into someone you can really fall for. Not many women get a chance to recreate the romantic fantasy of their youth!" Lacey responds caustically, "Don't hold your breath" all the while recalling the cool competent way in which Jed had always made her feel safe and protected. That sensation persists even now seventeen years later, when she is most in need of protection. Both Lacey and Jed discover that neither is what they appear to be.

It's a kick to read about Jed's makeover and how he handles it in his own unique way. The rebirth of Lacey's and Jed's relationship and the resolution of the "problem" is described in classic Krentz fashion and provided much satisfaction to this reader. Jed and Lacey happily ride off into the sunset for more fun and good times.

The surprise for this particular early JAK work is the unconventional hero, Jed. He certainly had no qualms about Lacey's take charge attitude in the bedroom. Jed was a well-rounded non-alpha male who made things happen without any fuss. He soon became one of my favorite Krentz guys. If you can find this book do buy it as it is a delightful read despite its lack of sensual descriptions. I'm sure glad I kept hunting for my copy.
Lacey Holbrook has gotten herself into dangerous trouble with a brief affair with a man who appears to be connected with the criminal sector. She schemes to have the man break off the affair when he finds out she has a supposed lover (sent to her by old family friends - the Merlin family who have an outstanding debt owing to her deceased father). But the man who comes to repay the debt is the son Jed Merlin, a man she thought herself in love with at the age of thirteen. Attraction and romance quickly develops between them.
Jayne Castle's romance stories have matured from the earlier ones in the series. Her plot line is actually realistic. Although the story line promises romantic suspense, Castle hasn't quite reached the stage in her writing career to develop it. Other than a brief car chase, there is little tension or suspense, and we never meet the criminal man himself. Still the love scenes with Jed are hot and steamy, and Castle keeps the pace racing. A nice page turner.
Heroine tall, plump/voluptuous
Interior decorator Lacey Holbrook is in trouble, and she's ready to call in an old favor to get out of it. She fully expected the Merlin family to make good on her request for a "suitable" man to assist her, but was stunned to see the heir to the empire himself standing at the door of her trendy L.A. apartment. Jed Merlin had changed. No longer the clean-cut young man she worshipped with adolescent eyes, this shaggy denim-clad stranger hardly seems like the CEO of a major corporation, and certainly not the answer to her predicament!
Jed Merlin rang the bell expecting to help out an old family friend, but the cool, collected woman who answered the door was nothing like the little girl he so fondly recalled proposing marriage to him, citing it as a merger between their two family businesses. Irritated with the way Lacey is intent on playing Pygmalion and pigeon-holing him into her idea of an urbane male, Jed sets out to show Lacey what a real man is made out of, turning the voluptuous beauty and her ideals on their ear.
What worked for me
I always get a kick out of reading older contemporaries because they are frozen in time. This story has the heroine sporting an easy-care Dorothy Hamill 'do and a silk jumpsuit, which I recall was all the rage way back when the wardrobe on "Charlie's Angels" was considered the cutting edge of chic fashion.
Though her appearance was brief, there is a secondary character, a writer of bodice rippers, who provides some tongue-in-cheek humor about the romance genre in general. It's nice to see an author who has a sense of humor about her line of work.
I thought Jed was fairly well-drawn for such a short novel, and I definitely could see myself chatting comfortably with him at a party.
Size-wise Lacey was heavier than was "in" for L.A. in the late 70s/early 80s, and felt self-conscious about her height around men under 6'.
What didn't work for me
I hate to say it, but I really didn't like Lacey. I couldn't break my initial impression of her as a controlling ice-queen because it took her so long to thaw out.
The story hinted at Lacey being in danger, but with the exception of one scene the reader never feels it. "Spellbound" just didn't deliver the suspense it seemed to promise.
Overall
A solid read, but it may be difficult to track down this older title.
Warning, there are some steamy scenes in this story.
If you liked "Spellbound" you might also enjoy "His Seductive Revenge", "The Bridesmaid's Reward", "Carried Away", or "His E-mail Order Wife".
Once again, she delivers a book with very real characters whom you can fall in love with and care about. I have read many books where the characters were so under developed that I didn't even like them. No matter what name she writes under, Jayne Ann Krentz always amazes!
Always love her books.