Tempting Fate

Headstrong, impassioned and independent, Dani Pembroke is nobody's fool. Left virtually parentless at age nine when her mother inexplicably vanished and her father abdicated responsibility for her upbringing to her grandmother, Dani is at 34 a successful entrepreneur. The granddaughter of two wealthy scions from Saratoga, N.Y., a town known for its extravagance and flamboyance, Dani has tried to forge her own identity amid the allure of old money and the unpleasantness of old feuds. Then Zeke Cutler, aloof, handsome and self-employed as a sort of private detective, arrives in Saratoga at the height of its racing season to resolve the same mystery Dani is pursuing: the circumstances surrounding her mother's disappearance. She joins forces with him although she doesn't completely trust him. When the consequences of past events threaten her business--a mineral water bottling plant and spa--Zeke offers the combination of bravado and stability that Dani needs to make peace with her past. Neggers's ( That Stubborn Yankee ) engaging romantic mystery neatly blends fiction with authentic detail . (Mar.)