Sultry

Aptly named, Baxter's latest novel boasts sensuality as its strongest feature--the attraction between the hero and heroine sparks fire from the first and keeps on burning hot throughout. Modern-day Southern belle Lindsay Newman hopelessly falls for Mitch Rawlins, the caretaker of her father's estate, and their forbidden affair is at the center of this drama. Lindsay, emotionally cold since the day she found her mother dead from suicide, strengthens and blossoms under Mitch's attention; however, her ultradomineering father has hand-picked a husband for her, and his discovery of her less-than-suitable lover launches a vicious tug-of-war for control over Lindsay's life. With her success at developing both a women's shelter and Mitch's devotion, Lindsay discovers the strength to finally stand up to her father and gain emancipation from his tyranny. Despite several steamy love scenes and some tantalizing plot twists, Baxter's (Hard Candy) flat dialogue and one-dimensional characters detract from the excitement in this familiar wrong-side-of-the-tracks romance. (June)