The Invitation

I have been reading Jude Deveraux novels in no particular order of release. I've read most of her older installments and read some of her newer ones. Her latest offerings aren't as wonderful as her earlier efforts and I still have quite a bit of her latest stuff to crack open. The Invitation was released a couple of years after the wonderful Sweet Liar, more than a decade ago. This three-novella anthology is a clear reminder of why I fell in love with this author's wonderful writing. This anthology contains two historicals and one contemporary. It begins with The Invitation. The year is 1938. Jackie O'Neill is a famous and accomplished female pilot. (I think Jackie is the fictional version of real-life 1930s pilot Jackie Cochran.) After her husband dies, she wants to settle down in the ghost town of Eternity in Colorado. But when her plane crashes, she awakens under the care of a handsome, mysterious man. When she finds out that the man is none other than William Montgomery, she does whatever is possible to push him away. After all, he is no longer little Billy, who followed her around, saying he loved her when they were kids. He is now a grown, gorgeous man, but he is still ten years her junior. Despite their age difference, she feels undeniable attraction for the stubborn man. The second one is Matchmakers, a contemporary. Kane Taggert is a young widower looking after his two toddler twin sons on his own. His mother and sister-in-law convince him to lead four women on a western retreat, hoping that he would fall for one of them. He is kind of attracted to a woman who looks just like his late wife, but it is the feisty mystery author Cale Anderson that gets under his skin in spite of his wanting to kill her for irritating the heck out of him. And the last one, A Perfect Arrangement, is a late nineteenth century Western/frontier about a seemingly plain, unremarkable woman making a strange proposal to a gunslinger who's almost past his prime. She wants them to pretend they're married while her sister is in town visiting. Cole Hunter is reluctant at first, but there is something intriguing about Dorie Latham, who is more full of surprises than he thinks. All of the novellas are wonderful. They all have its own unique love story to tell. The one disappointing factor is that they are too short. Matchmakers is my favorite novella. I had looked forward to reading Kane's story after reading about him in Sweet Liar. I like him more than his twin brother Michael. I wasn't thrilled with the heroine's first person narrative at first but it grew on me. The novella changes from first to third person quite a bit. Since this one is set in JD's made-up Colorado towns of Chandler and Eternity, I like all of the references to her old novels, like the MacTarvit whisky (The Duchess), Tynan Mills (The Temptress) and the clothing shop Paris in the Desert and the mention of Joshua Templeton and his small house (Eternity). JD has a novel

I am not much of a short story fan as the shorter the story the less involved the characters or plot tend to be. Jude Deveraux is obviously an exception to this rule. She writes three moving novelas who's characters move you. You end up rooting for them shortly after starting each story. Ms. Deveraux is an accomplished writer as is obvious when reading the novelas in The Invitation. She shows a great imagination that will have yours working overtime as you read. Her discription is marvelous as you can picture the characters and places clearly. If you pick up this book, don't plan on putting it down. You won't be dissapointed.

I have read a number of Jude's books and I loved this one the most. The Invitation was my absolute favorite. It was so sweet that William waited so long to get Jackie back. The second part was also very good. Cale and Kane do make a very good couple. I did not like the third one. Dorie was too strong at some points, but too weak in the others.

Let me begin my saying that I usually love novellas because they are not as complicated as full length romances. Let's face it: not everyone that falls in love has so many obstacles as some characters in romance novels have. In the first novella, William Montgomery captured my heart. He was so certain that Jackie was the woman for him, and I felt something akin to envy when Jackie finally got together with William. In the second novella, I adored Cale's spunkiness and cynicism. I loved Cale's views on Ruth and the cowboy Kane Taggert. I loved the fact that Cale did not sob over Kane's defection like so many sappy heroines would have. In the third and last novella, I especially like Apollodoria. Her attitude reminds me of so many friends I have. She is blunt with Cole, and does not lie to him to get what she wants.All three were great novellas, and I would recommend them to anyone.

I usually prefer length novels to short storyies but this one was just oh-so delicious! I don't know if it's because authors have more freedom to experiment on new things in short stories or what, but this book is filled with some delightful surprises. And on top of the list lies Cale, our heroine from second story. She is just so... different,refreshing, and unforgattable. She is full of spunk and adorable cynicism and sharp edgy wits that it's hard not to fall for her. She is one of a kind and we really need more heroines like her(I mean really!). There would be nothing better to have a lengthy novel with a character like her-we must insist Ms.Deveraux! (OK,I'm getting too excited,but really.) Buy it, read it, indulge yourself. Oh, and if you liked Cale try some of Joan Wolfe's writing, it has similar taste.