A classic case of seduction

Seduction By Design
by Sandra Brown
Warner Books
212 pages
Available at Goodwill Bookstore

In the world of "boy meets girl" no other romance, perhaps, is as simple as this one. Hailey Ashton is career-driven, efficient, and is as no-nonsense as a 28-year-old virgin can be. Tyler Scott, a perfect 10 years her senior, is wealthy, self-assured and as overbearing as someone who has always gotten his way can be. And, as an added touch of classic love story tension, he happens to be her boss. The only apparent element for conflict is not even a cause of conflict at all: Tyler is divorced and a recent widower, and has a young daughter who is absolutely crazy about Hailey.

New York Times bestselling author Sandra Brown spared none of the formula in fashioning the story of Hailey and Tyler. They clash instantaneously the first time they meet; she nurses a secret inferiority complex traceable to her having a gorgeous younger sister (who is as blond, blue-eyed, voluptuous and dumb as classic competition can get); and he is challenged by the ice queen facade she maintains even as she obviously melts under his piercing gaze.

Brown – who started writing romances before successfully moving on to general fiction – shares in a personalized preface to the reader that Seduction by Design was first published over 20 years ago. This fact notwithstanding, the romance novel still manages to soar with the universality of its theme and the simplicity of its love story.

What makes this book deserving of shelf space among the classics in its genre is Brown’s apparent talent for build-up. Very few romance novelists can maintain the tension between two characters as well as she has, and very few romance novels have merged chastity, passion and romance as pleasantly as in Seduction by Design.

Hailey Ashton is cast in a mold most women can relate with: The real conflict is actually her own inner agony against what was initially unwarranted attention from someone so persistent in dealing it, and how she, out of love, finally allows herself to surrender to it. Tyler Scott, on the other hand, is a classic romance novel hero — but men can do well to take this tip from him: Unwavering persistence (stated as such for additional emphasis) is the secret to a well-designed seduction. At least in a storybook romance.

A sure-fire page-turner, with pages that only get more heated by the turn, this book is a recommended read for those who are in the mood for the month of love. – Althea Lauren Ricardo