August Publications

Wit, charm and a winning cast of characters make Robin Wells's latest (after Baby, Oh Baby!) an irresistible read. Jaded Hollywood movie director Zack Jackson has one last chance to save his swiftly sinking reputation, and its name is Ooh, La La!, an Oscar-worthy script ostensibly based on real events. Zack intends to turn it into an action-packed blockbuster even if he has to distort the facts a little, but his prim and pesky technical advisor, Kate Matthews, is determined that the movie be historically accurate in every way. After all, her reputation as a professor and as the authority on New Orleans' old red-light district is on the line. A delightfully humorous and heartfelt romance develops between the two as Kate learns to let down her guard and loosen up, and Zack realizes that commitment and compromise aren't such scary concepts. (Dorchester, $5.99 384p ISBN 0-505-52503-8)

A familiar formula—alpha male revisits the small town he scorned and the high school sweetheart he abandoned in order to seek redemption—fuels Lauren Bach's (Lone Rider) Slow Hands, a pedestrian offering that substitutes sex for romance. Special agent Alec Dempsey has been sent to his hometown to protect his first love, Keira Morgan, from a convicted felon recently released from prison who's convinced she's responsible for the deaths of his brothers. Alec and Keira clash early on, but it isn't long before the arrogant alpha angles his way back into her heart and her bed. With its egocentric hero, weak-willed heroine and profusion of romance clichés ("His voice was a caress"; "Her heart stopped"), this tepid offering isn't likely to turn many heads. (Warner, $6.99 368p ISBN 0-446-61115-8)

Catherine Maury, a woman of passion, determination and joie de vivre, lights up the pages of A Perilous Attraction, Patricia Rowell's promising Regency-era debut. At the start of the book, Catherine's guardian announces that he has frittered away her fortune and sold her in marriage to Charles, the seemingly cold but considerate earl of Calbeck. Left with no other options, Catherine proceeds with the nuptials and, while teaching her stoic husband how to embrace life, she slowly grows to love him. The only obstacle they must overcome is a maniacal killer who is determined to terrorize Catherine. This outlandish subplot is one of the book's weaknesses, as is Charles, who doesn't come into focus until midway through the novel. Still, Rowell has drawn a memorable heroine who succeeds in capturing the hero's heart as well as the reader's. (Harlequin, $4.99 296p ISBN 0-373-29221-X)