"Queen of Hearts" was my first Jayne Ann Krentz book from the MacFadden series. Although some of the things done in the book were "dated", it was classic JAK, trust, loyalty and integrity were much emphasized between her hero and heroine, and yes, you could the CLICK between Janna and Adam (She has a thing about different-sounding names).

Janna Courtney was just helping out her friend Nat Halleck, by pretending to be his fiancee. Nat has begged her to help him out, because he was afraid his older brother, Adam, would not let him and his real fiancee, Lucy get married. So to put Adam off the trail, Nat told Adam that Janna was his fiancee, a state of affairs that Adam definitely did not like. Adam had decided that he wants Janna for himself and tells her in no uncertain terms. Janna however, has decided that she wants to get involved with someone of a more academic bent. After rushing to his brother's wedding to stop Janna and Nat from marrying and finding out about their ruse, Adam decides that Janna needs to be taught a lesson and tell her that he will have her surrender to him. This of course does not sit well with Janna who in defiance of him, goes out to a faculty party later that night. Adam in retaliation kidnaps Janna to his home near Carmel. Of course in the end Janna does surrender, Adam tells her he loves her and they end up married.

I have to say that despite that many of the things that Adam did to Janna, today would have him in jail, I found the book to be just what I expect from Jayne Ann Krentz: a story about two strong-willed people who fall in love. I liked the book, in that even though it was from 1979, it was not like other books from that era. There was no rape, violence or general man handling of the heroine by the hero (except for the scene where Adam carried Janna out of the faculty party over his shoulder). The heroine was not always sitting there wringing her hands, waiting for the hero, in fact most of the time, the hero was running after her.

It was a true JAK book in the fact that loyalty, honesty, trust, and truth were heavily valued by both Adam and Janna. My second favorite line is where Adam and Janna are sitting in front of his fireplace and Adams says to Janna,"Isn't it nice to be able to trust someone completely?" That seems to be the message of this book.

Overall, it was just like her series romances, except there was never was a complete sex scene in this novel. However the conflict between Adam and Janna, as well and the witty repartee made up for the lack. This is definitely a book worth the read if you can find it.