Silken Betrayal

Jordan Hamilton, founder and CEO of the largest black-owned electronic and telecommunications business in the country, would seem to be handsome enough, charming enough and rich enough to attract any woman. But not Lauren Bennett. Lauren's past has made her leery of any involvements. Her marriage to David Strickland ended after a few days, when he and her mother died in a car crash. Her disapproving in-laws then ran Lauren out of town, little suspecting she was pregnant. But the conniving Strickland pere also destroyed Jordan's father, and now, six years later, Jordan has traced Lauren in the belief that she can help him bring the elder Strickland down. Of course Lauren is beautiful and Jordan is intrigued. Ray (Forever Yours) writes smoothly, and her description of Jordan's all-out courtship is the root and leaf of romance. There is, however, a big basic problem: Why Lauren? So she's pretty; so what? Her allure seems to lie in her reticence and her fear of elevators, both of which bring out Jordan's protective instincts. But sheer bullying possessiveness (""Think about that the next time you try to frighten a defenseless woman, especially if that woman belongs to me"") is not love. (Aug.)