As a long-time reader of JAK, being able to read TURNING TOWARDS HOME was
a real treat. (Thanks Carole. I really appreciate you lending me the
book!) Knowing that TTH was a very early novel, my initial expectations
were somewhat low - I expected to see JAK style & themes, but perhaps less
well developed characters or less fluid plot devices employed. I was
pleasantly surprised to find TTH not only stands out as a mile-marker
within an incredible writing career as an early sale, but the book reaches
out & grabs the reader from page one. Amanda Chase is a heroine with an
independent streak a mile wide with more courage than sense sometimes, and
Rafe MacIntyre simply makes the reader drool. What more could one ask
for?
This book is typical of MacFadden Romances & quite similar to Silhouette
Romance or Harlequin Presents - not much sex, plenty of character
development, some angst thrown in for flavor, & a "career woman" plot.
Nevertheless, JAK is able to breathe life into a novel that could, in
lesser talent's hands, be predictable & flat. TTH is nothing, if not a
fun read!
There are several issues within TTH that would be considered dated & trite
in the romance industry today, but readers must consider the 1979
publication date & realize that without long term commitment to romance,
we would still be reading the Bronte sisters! Rafe is an alpha hero that
could be upheld as their role model. Amanda battles the stifling
restrictions of society's expectations of a career woman. Rafe
manipulates Amanda in a manner that would be unheard of in the 1990s. All
of these factors could detract from TTH, if not for the trademark JAK
style & wit that move the plot along nicely.
Amanda's growth as a woman is a tribute to today's heroine as well as her
role in 1979. Rafe's single-minded pursuit of Amanda makes readers long
to find a mate with as much strength & focus. The couple's success in
making their relationship work after a rocky start lends credence to
"happily ever after." Thanks, Jayne, for another fine read.
Danyelle Warden
Amanda is a career woman who see's herself totally devoted to her
job, to being independent and having her personal freedom. She's wary of the demands of the typical marriage and is very wary about having children. She knows children would limit the freedom she doesn't want to surrender...
Rafe is a man who knows what he wants. Amanda!
Amanda Chase is attending a convention related to her work. She has a duel
purpose in attending the convention, in that she was to rendezvous with her
co-worker Kirk Sheldon, whom she thought to surprise by getting to the
convention a day early. Unfortunately (or fortunately)she interrupts the man she thought she would marry while he was occupied with a
blond....hmm...enter our cowboy to the rescue, Senior Rafael Diego Esqueda
MacIntyre, 50% Spanish, 50% Scottish and 100% MAN.
Amanda asks Rafe to dance with her to keep her away from Kirk, whom she has
avoided like the Black Plague. Our cowboy is happy to be used...but for a
price. He pretends to be the man who can be Amanda's partner and in a
whirlwind week of romance and slight of hand, he gets his prize...marriage.
Our cowboy doesn't take NO for an answer and flat out lies in order to get
our heroine into his clutches and onto his Arizona ranch to mother his two
orphaned nieces.
He's lied about having kids or family, he lied about giving up his ranch to
stay with Amanda in San Diego where her job is at, and he got rid of
Amanda's job behind her back. If that's not enough, Amanda doesn't like
horses and Rafe's ranch is an Arabian Horse Farm! Poor Amanda...impetuous
Amanda...she's thinking her luck with men has gone from bad to worse...who
can a girl trust?...
This story is fraught with tensions and conflicts. Rafe is convinced Amanda
loves him and goes about convincing her in a heavy-handed, possessive and
determined way. Amanda only knows the city life and is not happy about
horses, a ready made family and no job. The tensions in the book are
centered on the very important issues that woman today have to face
everyday: how to balance or even if you can balance a life that includes
raising children and a career outside of the home. Amanda is well aware that in most marriages, it's the woman who has to compromise and she has to
decide whether or not the life Rafe is offering is what she wants (something totally new and outside her experience) or if she should go back to what she knows (her life in San Diego). Rafe doesn't care what she decides...she's his wife and that's that!
I enjoyed the book very much. It was a glimpse into how later JAK's feminine characters evolved to handle the same issues that Amanda faces. I was very happy to see a strong, spirited woman facing the business world and men as an equal and on her own terms. This doesn't seem to be typical of romances of this time (late 70's). The overriding theme to this book is a concept that is dear to my heart...HONOR. Do you honor your word or do you just pay lip service? Can you trust in someone's word or are you unworthy? These are questions that everyone faces in different aspects of their life. Overall I give this book 4.5 stars out of 5.
Naomi Sinor
Turning Towards Home is one of Jayne Ann Krentz's earlier novels, written
under the pen name of Jayne Bentley. In style and character perspective, to
me it was reminiscent of the approach she took in A Passionate Business
which she wrote under her Stephanie James pen name. As she did in that
book, in TTH, the hero and heroine did not actually have sex until the final
pages of the book. Also similar in both books, the sexual tension was such
throughout the book that it worked out fine to save the admittedly
less-graphic-than-her-normal sex scene until the end.
Her heroine, Amanda Chase, is a city girl, holding down a job in San Diego.
She is in Tucson at a convention when she meets the hero, Rafe MacIntyre, a
cowboy. At first glance, though, it's clear he's not just any old cowboy
but a man to be reckoned with.
Amanda starts the conference out by coming early and finding the man she
planned to marry in bed with another woman. Amanda is a woman with high
expectations and this man's lack of honor is unacceptable to her. In order
to avoid having to talk with her former boyfriend, Amanda singles Rafe out
in the crowd in the lounge and asks him to dance. Little does she know what
she's getting into! Rafe has already marked her as his.
Determined to make her his and not frighten her with his domineering ways,
Rafe spends the week of the convention letting Amanda see his more pliable
side (such as it is), but when the end of the week comes, he puts his plan
in gear. At its successful conclusion, she finds herself married!
Here is where Rafe's deception becomes even more obvious. On their wedding
night, while Rafe is in the shower, a call comes in. On the other end of
the line is Rafe's family - his two aunts and his two children. Amanda is
stunned. Not only has she made it clear that she's a city girl, but also
that children were not on her agenda. With this news, it's clear that Rafe
had no plans to follow her to her home and life as she thought.
Read this story to find out how Rafe manages to redeem his honor in Amanda's
eyes and how the two of them find that they are each other's future. I
recommend this book.
Carole Coonrod
