Finding Ian

A beautiful lady housepainter, a handsome television psychologist and a sad, 13-year-old boy find love and redemption in a small village near Cornwall in Cameron's (Glass Houses, Key West) latest romantic novel. Dr. Byron Frazer is America's leading expert on family therapy. His San Francisco-based TV program has garnered the 34-year-old bachelor critical success and fame. But Frazer is hiding a secret from his overbearing agent and his fans: 13 years ago, after his young wife died in childbirth, he gave up their son for adoption. Frazer has had a private detective watching over the boy, named Ian Spring by his adoptive parents in Minnesota. When Frazer learns that the couple has died and the boy has been sent to live with his adoptive mother's sister, Muriel Cawden, in the tiny village of Boddinick, near Cornwall, England, he travels to Boddinick under the pretense of renting a house for the summer. He soon meets Jade Perron, 32, a housepainter, interior decorator and mother of five-year-old Rose. Perron and Frazer become romantically involved, but Jade has her own problems. Her father is encouraging her to return to her abusive ex-husband and to stop trying to prove she is ""as good as any man."" When Frazer decides to publicly stake his claim to Ian, whom he believes is being neglected by codgerish Aunt Muriel, it seems the entire village is pitted against him. Cameron's love scenes induce blushes not for their eroticism, but for their hackneyed ardor. Her myriad plot twists may keep readers turning pages, however. (Jan. 4)