Tempt Me with Kisses

The plot is lightweight, and the heroine has more petticoats than brains, but Conn's ( No Sweeter Ecstasy ) mid-19th-century romance amuses as it dabbles in an episode of California history following the state's entry into the Union. When Harmony Russel arrives in San Francisco with her uncle, Fletcher Duncan, she promptly loses her heart to a stranger who is tall, dark, handsome and off limits: Daniel Aragon, a half-French, half-Spanish Californio, whose pre-statehood land grant is being examined by Fletcher on behalf of the U.S. government; social contact could compromise the proceedings. But the determined Harmony eludes her uncle's watchful eye to meet Daniel in secret. He mistakes Harmony's flirtatiousness for experience, and the young woman finds herself pregnant. She tries to leave California quietly, but Daniel insists on a quick wedding. Disillusioned and caught in a marriage apparently ruled more by desire than by love, Harmony struggles to cope with her new life while Daniel and his family combat the legal challenges as well as some deadly threats to their home and security. (Jan.)