Escape Not My Love

Coffman ( My Enemy, My Love ) contrives an irksome series of chase scenes in this aimless romance set in 1880s Texas. A father worried about the safety of his headstrong daughter Jenny, who has gone to Mexico to start a school, hires Jay, a gunslinger of questionable repute, to retrieve her. Jay falls in love with Jenny from a picture and vows to bed as well as deliver her. He wastes no time, forcing her to disrobe at gunpoint at their first encounter. This scantily motivated act sets up the pattern for the rest of the book. Jenny is endangered; Jay rescues her; Jay makes advances; Jenny is aroused but also infuriated, and tries to flee his custody. Coffman attempts to relieve the tedium by introducing a tragic past for Jay and a daffy maiden aunt for Jenny, but her lewd tale is beyond salvation. Author tour. (Mar.)