Kane

February 2, 1998
In the first book of Blake's (Garden of Scandal) new series set in the small fictional town of Turn-Coupe, La., lawyer Kane Benedict has taken on Berry Associations, an unethical funeral service company bent on forcing small funeral homes out of business by price gouging. When Kane's grandfather, owner of Compton's Funeral Home, decides to fight back, Berry sends his "cousin" Regina to dig up dirt on the Benedicts. Regina only agreed to help because she feels she owes Berry for his generosity years before, but by the time she finds her spine, Berry's holding her young son hostage. Unfortunately, a dependent, male-dominated heroine, a dearth of romantic chemistry and a fatuous courtroom scene in the final pages, are millstones that weigh this entry down.

February 15, 1998
Locking himself in a coffin with an unsuspecting woman is hardly the best way to begin a relationship. But attorney Kane Benedict just knows New York jewelry expert Regina Dalton is up to no good and he decides that this is just the thing to frighten it out of her. It doesn't work, of course, but this startling opening scene neatly sets the stage for a pair of wary protagonists and the highly charged romance that follows. Treachery, blackmail, and greed lace a plot that is made all the more intriguing by Blake's trademark overlay of sultry, deep-South charm. Promising to introduce a "new breed of Southern gentleman," this is the first in a projected series of romances set in Turn-Coupe, Louisiana. Vetern romance writer Blake (Garden of Scandal, Mira, 1997) lives in Quitman, Louisiana.