cover image Rivals

Rivals

Janet Dailey. Little Brown and Company, $18.95 (395pp) ISBN 978-0-316-17140-3

Instead of shrinking from cliches, Dailey rushes to embrace them with a fervor that brings passion and fun to the tale she spins, making the latest novel by the author of the bestselling Calder series a sure-fire winner for her fans. Flame Morgan, the blue-blooded, redheaded v-p of a San Francisco ad agency, is instantly attracted to Chance Stuart, a wealthy, powerful land developer. Equally smitten, Chance lavishes diamonds, orchids and hot kisses on her, all the while withholding a destructive secret that comes to light only after their whirlwind courtship and marriage. For years, Chance has hungered for Morgan's Walk, an Oklahoma estate that Flame inherits. Bad blood between the Stuart and Morgan clans goes back to the days of the Oklahoma land rush. Believing that Chance only married her to get at Morgan's Walk, Flame picks up the baton with alacrity, moving ruthlessly to block her husband. Mysterious threats, heated affairs and the heady scent of revenge are liberally sprinkled throughout the novel with Dailey's assured hand. First serial to Cosmopolitan; Literary Guild main selection. (Feb.)