Pocket Books (Hardcover), ISBN 0-671-03442-1
A "S" book any way you slice it, Open Season covers most of the "S" words: sexy, sweet, silly, sensual and suspenseful. And beyond those, and most important to me as a reader, it's replete with Story -- a great, if somewhat zany but totally fun, one at that.

Completely dependable, unwed and uncourted, bored and boring, Daisy Minor, the small town librarian, wakes up on the morning of her thirty-fourth birthday and decides to change. She needs to get rid of her navy-blue wardrobe, do something about her mousy hair, learn to use makeup, move out of her mother's house and go man hunting. She wants some of that hot sex people write about and goes looking for it at some of the local nightspots.

But wearing a red dress doesn't make Daisy a scarlet woman; it makes her a target. She sees something she shouldn't have but doesn't realize it until the corpse turns up. Fortunately -- or maybe not considering the way he specializes in driving her crazy -- local chief of police and former big city cop Jack Russo stands ready and willing to defend her body, if not her heart.

The chief's Yankee (lack of) manners rankle, and Daisy considers all those hard muscles and that deliberately intimidating body language about as far from her type as a man can get. Not that she knows what her type is, you understand -- Daisy lacks much of any experience in that regard. She just knows Jack couldn't possibly be it. But when did that ever stop a healthy attack of lust or a man determined to stake a claim on a woman's body and her heart?

Am I going to answer that question? Not on your life. I wouldn't dream of spoiling such a fun read. I will tell you this much. You'll revel in the quirky and the not-so-quirky characters, and adore the puppy Daisy buys for protection (according to Jack) and love (according to Daisy). I should know, because my niece acquired the fuzzball's counterpart while I read Open Season. The book barely escaped with its pages, and I still love the little menace -- I mean, puppy.

Patricia Lucas White

Patricia Lucas White's latest historical novel, To Last a Lifetime, was an Eppie finalist for 2003. To Last a Lifetime and two of her fantasy romances, the Sapphire Award-winning A Wizard Scorned and The Godmother Sanction, can be ordered through Hard Shell Word Factory. Her recent contemporary, PS, I've Taken a Lover, is available from Lionhearted Books.

Click here to read the Crescent Blues interview with Linda Howard

Click here to share your views.