Wildest Dreams

Following Joy and Anger , Blake moves to the perfume industry as the background for her latest novel, a competent mix of romance, history and intrigue. When Joletta Caresse inherits her family's perfume shop in New Orleans, she also becomes heir to the mystery that surrounds the firm's most important fragrance, Le Jardin de Courstet . The formula for the perfume, discovered during the 19th century by an ancestress named Violet, is lost when the only person who knows the secret dies suddenly without divulging it. Armed with Violet's diary, Joletta sets off for Europe to retrace the trip during which Violet originally discovered the perfume--and also shared a love affair with an artist named Allain. Before she leaves New Orleans, however, Joletta meets courtly, enigmatic Tyrone Kingsley Stuart Adamson IV--or Rone, as he calls himself--who both attracts and alarms her. Rone follows her abroad and though he saves her from death several times, she questions his motives. Entwining Violet and Allain's love story with that of their 20th-century counterparts, Blake also provides interesting material on the history of perfume. (June)