Seduction by Design by Sandra Brown

Seduction by Design is a fast, light read. It's an old story, circa 1983, that has now been reprinted in hardback (2002), told on CD, and retold by Kindle. It's not a bad story at all. On the other hand it's not great either. It is a good, straightforward category romance from the days when that was all that Sandra Brown wrote. The author's talent for story telling and gentle hand shines through the character development and story pacing from the first chapter. The story has some quirks that left me scratching my head. The standard romance formula that begins with two distinctly different people who first meet and dislike each other - gets flipped on its head from the next chapter forward - when the man, amusement park owner Tyler Scott, tells the perky heroine and amusement park manager, Hailey Ashton, that he will seduce her. Of course, it's a romance story so he will accomplish that. He will also fall in love with her as she will with him. The genre requires an optimistic, happy ending and we aren't disappointed. There are some times in the story when the dialogue is not believable, even seeming to be inappropriate or offensive to present day sensibilities. There are some steamy moments in the story, but none that would require a rating beyond PG-13. It's a good story and worth a read if there isn't something more pressing on the bookshelf.