A Jayne Ann Krentz Classic. First time in eBook. Searching for his hidden inheritance, Max Fortune finds more than he expects at the Robbins’ Nest Inn. Max’s mentor and friend, Jason Curzon, has left five priceless paintings on the coast and from his deathbed has sent Max to retrieve them along with anything else he might discover. What Max does find is a woman who sends shock waves to his core. … his core.
Cleopatra Robbins has her hands full managing her small coastal inn. When Max arrives she recognizes her dream man…and he’s not at all dreamy! But when danger threatens from Cleo’s past, Max is the one man she can trust.
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Excellent audiobook narration of a 1997 romantic suspense
Max Fortune is a handsome, wealthy, 34-year-old businessman whose passion in life is collecting art. At the death of Jason Curzon, his extremely rich, 80-year-old friend, benefactor, and boss, Max has inherited from him five valuable paintings by modern artist, Amos Luttrell. The problem is, the only clue Jason has given him as to where the Luttrell paintings are located is a cryptic note which reads, “The most precious things I leave you, you’ll find at the Robbins’ Nest Inn.” It takes Max over a month to locate the inn and its owner, whom he has cynically concluded must have been Jason’s mistress. However, on arriving at the cozy inn, there is nothing of the greedy temptress about Cleopatra Robbins, the 27-year-old, beautiful owner of the inn.
Cleo is a cheerfully harried proprietor of her cozy, family-friendly retreat, but underneath her sunny smiles, she is a woman with a tragic past. Her parents died a violent death four years before. The police concluded her father murdered her mother and killed himself, but Cleo knows how totally devoted her parents were to each other, and she never accepted that conclusion. Unfortunately, she has had no means to prove otherwise. With the money she inherited from her parents, she purchased her colorful inn, and has gained peace and healing by creating a family of affiliation with her quirky staff. A sentimental romantic, Cleo has never been willing to settle for less than the type of true love her parents enjoyed, and she always secretly believed that when the right man came along, she would recognize him instantly. The problem is, when Max appears in her life, her heart recognizes him instantly, but her logical brain questions her magnetic pull to him, because it is clear from the first that he is an emotionally closed off lone wolf.
From Max’s perspective, he is more disturbed than delighted when he finds himself more attracted to warm-hearted, lovely Cleo than any woman he’s ever known. It is clear from the start she is keeping a secret, and he’s afraid that secret is the fact that she is hiding the Luttrell paintings from him in order to keep them for herself.
This single-title, contemporary romance novel was first published in 1997. At the start of the story, Max more closely resembles the somewhat one-dimensional, emotionally stunted, traditionally masculine heroes so common in romance novels of the 1980’s versus the more emotionally open heroes that romance authors, including JAK, began to write after the early 2000’s. However, the saving grace of this hero is that, once he is surrounded by Cleo and her wonderful, loving friends, Max experiences a compelling, well-motivated growth arc into a three-dimensional, caring, loyal hero who more closely resembles romance heroes of the recent past.
Interestingly, at age 27, Cleo is perhaps the youngest heroine JAK has ever created in one of her contemporary novels. Virtually all of her other contemporary heroines have been 30 or 31 years old. In addition, as far as I can recall, having read every contemporary novel of JAK, Cleo is the only virgin heroine JAK has ever produced.
Though this is not the most complex or sophisticated romantic-suspense plot JAK has ever written, it did keep me guessing, and I was barely a step ahead of the climax in figuring out who the villain is.
I am a big fan of romance novels which contain a family of affiliation, and this novel offers one of the most adorable coterie of friends that JAK has ever created.
There was a previous audiobook version of this novel narrated by Joyce Bean soon after the original release date of this novel. I liked that version, but I got it from the library and did not own it myself. I recently purchased from Audible the current version, which was released in 2012 and is narrated by Richard Ferrone. He does an excellent job acting out all the parts and portraying male and female voices of characters of all ages.
I rate this novel as follows:
Heroine: 4 stars
Hero: 4 stars
Subcharacters: 4 stars
Romance Plot: 4 stars
Family of Affiliation Plot: 4 stars
Suspense Plot: 4 stars
Setting: 4 stars
Writing: 4 stars
Audiobook Narration: 4 stars
Overall: 4 stars
Grand Passion is one of my favorite Jayne Ann Krentz (JAK) romances. It has suspense, romance, humor, and the cutest little boy. I love the way JAK writes a strong heroine, who offers the lonely hero something he’s never had — a family. This is one of the earlier JAK books that turned me into a fan, and I heartily recommend it.
Every time I read this, I keep thinking that Jason Curzon knew Max Fortune waaay better than Max knows himself. How else could Jason have hidden the inheritance he set aside for Max in the way that he did in the place that he did with the intention that he did? Not going to talk about it – you just have to read the book to get through everything that Max does and learns and choose to get to the note Jason left for Max with his inheritance. You, like everyone else who reads this book, will be surprised. Thanks for that twist, Ms. Krentz!
mystery, hotelier, obsession, investigation, erotica, romance****
Mostly this is a classic Krentz romance with the brooding semifunctional male being rescues from an emotional desert by the heroine. There’s also an unusual commune, a missing inheritance, and a killer with OCD. Interesting read every ten years or so.
Richard Ferrone has an interesting manner of narration.