Calder Promise

I love Janet Dailey's "Calder" Series. The stories were very interesting and intriging to read.

In her eighth dip into the Calder story pool, prolific romance writer Dailey focuses on Laura Calder, the 21-year-old granddaughter of crusty Montana millionaire Chase Calder. The young woman is fresh out of college and making the obligatory rich-kid tour of Europe before she settles down to a life of, well, she's not sure. ---------- Reviewed by Janet Sue Terry, author of the contemporary romance, "Set Me Free" series Possibilities and Resolutions. President of Just My best Book Publishing Company. www.janetsueterry.com.

Reading a Janet Dailey book is always entertaining. Her dialogue is always sharp and fun. In her new book, Calder Promise, she provides a wonderful sequel in a great series of books. This is a real page turner that makes you want to read the whole thing in one sitting. Having read the first four books a few times, getting a new Calder is a real treat. Janet Dailey provides hours of enjoyment, whether reading any of her books for the first time, or re-reading her older titles.

I have been disappointed in the last several Dailey books in the Calder series, but I think she's back in the saddle with this one. While her tendency to "retire" her older characters by killing them off willy nilly might be disconcerting, it is a realistic method of making way for the younger generation. The Calder characters in earlier novels had to be tougher, because there was generally some physical or financial risk in their lives. I think it is a legitimate endeavor to see what a Calder heir is like when she has been raised with wealth and privilege and is able to take success for granted, not struggle to achieve it. There are frequently members of any family who, for one reason or another, don't quite fit in with the rest. So we have Laura, who is more than a little spoiled and who values the culture and sophistication in a world larger than the Triple C ranch. She's young, she's beautiful, she's rich; she's also a little wild and unconventional. She's used to having men pursue her, and she enjoys manipulating them to get what she wants. In many ways, this is a coming of age novel, in which the heroine has to decide who she is and what her values are. Will she embrace her Calder legacy, or will she go her own way? Will she get involved in life, or will she merely be a spectator, using her wealth as a buffer? Will she marry the man she has fallen in love with, or will she marry the wealthy man who will provide her with an opulent but probably shallow lifestyle? If you are a longtime Dailey fan, as I am, you already know the answers to these questions. One of Dailey's strengths as a writer is to take imperfect people, present them with problems, and give them the opportunity to grow while they overcome them. She does this very well in this novel, as well as providing strong new characterizations, snappy dialog, and steamy romance. There's more to be seen with the next generation of Calders, and I for one am looking forward to it.

Tara Calder takes her twenty-one year old niece Laura on a grand European tour following the latter's college graduation. Laura is having a terrific time with her aunt, who in many ways is more like a mother than her mom is. At a gala in Rome, Laura helps billionaire wheelchair bound Max Rutledge go outside where a few minutes later she meets his handsome son Boone. Laura can see the tension between the two Rutledge alpha males, but finds the younger one quite attractive. As they head back inside, Laura and English Earl Sebastian Dunhill accidentally walk into each other. Now she has two wealthy hunks wanting to date her.When Laura returns to her home the Triple C Ranch in Montana, she is followed across the ocean by her two persistent suitors. Her family wonders whom she will choose between the two studs if any.The latest Calder romance is a warm tale starring a favorite protagonist and two likable hunks. Laura's antics are fun to follow as series fans will wonder where the discipline she musters in Italy not to shout out "yee-haw" in an upper crust event comes from. Back on the ranch, Laura rides her two dudes on a merry chase that will please contemporary readers.Harriet Klausner