The Invitation

In the three novellas collected here, bestselling romancer Deveraux ( Sweet Liar ) explores some of the limits of the genre she knows so well, indicating she may be as spunky as her heroines. In 1934, Jackie O'Neill returns to her hometown of Chandler, Colo., an accomplished pilot and a lonely widow. Developing her air transport business can keep her happy as a pilot, and her new partner, William Montgomery, promises to make very cozy company--until Jackie realizes he is the same little Billy she babysat for many years ago. In the second story, Kane Taggert, who reluctantly agrees to guide four New York City women on a Colorado trail ride, may be enchanted by Ruth Edwards, a calculatingly charming widow, if only he can make it through the two-week trip without throttling Ruth's friend, bestselling author Cale Anderson. Experiments in shifting perspective and an outrageous soliloquy by Cale give the traditional plot some pizzazz. The last story, a historical piece, finds Dorie Latham enlisting Cole Hunter, ``an aging gunslinger with no visible means of support and the beginnings of a paunch,'' to play husband and help her elude her sister's matchmaking scheme. (Jan.)