cover image Wildest Hearts

Wildest Hearts

Jayne Ann Krentz. Pocket Books, $7.99 (400pp) ISBN 978-0-671-72857-1

Krentz ( Perfect Partners ) has turned out yet another satisfactory foray into the commingled worlds of business and romance, though its hero, Oliver Rain, is created from a patchwork of cliches: a ``dangerous predator'' with ``iron-clad self-control'' and a fortune that is ``the stuff of legend.'' Daniel Lyncroft disappeared when his private plane went down. His sister, Annie, instinctively knows he isn't dead; determined to keep his electronics firm intact, she proposes a temporary marriage of convenience to Oliver, a financial whiz who can keep Daniel's creditors at bay. When they first met, at Daniel's engagement party, Oliver had already mentally picked Annie as the woman he would like to marry, so the marriage scheme appeals to him. Since Oliver and Annie are attracted to each other, they quickly find that one-on-one, at least, they have no problem mixing business with pleasure. However, Oliver, who as head of the family is accustomed to managing his siblings' and stepmother's lives with executive efficiency, soon discovers that in bringing home his good-intentioned but meddling bride he has introduced a loose cannon into his well-ordered life. (Apr.)