cover image Betrayal

Betrayal

Fern Michaels. Kensington/Zebra, $7.99 mass market (384p) ISBN 978-0-8217-7954-5

Bestseller Michaels (D%C3%A9j%C3%A0 Vu) mixes love and vengeance in this fast-paced but somewhat old-fashioned romantic thriller. Alex and Kate Rocket enjoy a rock-solid marriage and a simple life, with wealthy Alex raising golden retrievers and Kate throwing pottery and teaching cooking classes. In contrast, Alex's best friend, Don Winter, and his family struggle to maintain their expensive lifestyle and tolerate one another. When 12-year-old Sara Winter falsely accuses Alex of molesting her, the resulting trial changes the Rockets' lives forever, and Kate sets out to ruin the Winters. Hardly anyone has a cellphone, and Kate blithely "hacks" the computers of banking conglomerates, but the characters are far more believable than the trappings of their story, and a gentle touch of romance will keep readers going through an otherwise brutal recitation of human failings. (July)