Bronze Mystique

by Barbara Delinsky

Book Overview

Writer Sasha Blake met him by accident--literally. She crashed her motorcycle into his sports car. But she must have hit her head harder than she thought, because he looked exactly like the hero from her latest novel. Handsome, kind and caring--Doug Donohue was just too good to be true. There had to be a catch. He wasn't a hero from one of her novels. How could he possibly live up to her expectations?

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0373832524
• ISBN13: 9780373832521
• Release Date: June 1992
• Publisher: Harlequin Books
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 4.4" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

Doug Donohue is a dreamboat

I hope that I can meet a man like Doug one day. He is my true fantasy. What a great book!

Bronze Mystique & Secrets in Silence

Harlequin's latest 2-in-1 collection is a combination of a 1984 Harlequin Temptation, "Bronze Mystique," by Barbara Delinsky and a new Harlequin Intrigue by Gayle Wilson, "Secrets in Silence." I'm always skeptical of these collections. They usually exploit the better selling author, in this case Delinsky, by reprinting one of her older books that is dated and nothing like the books she's writing now, while drawing attention to the newer author who might not get it otherwise. Since the newer author's book is more contemporary and suited to today's readers, it comes off better than the reprint and makes the old favorite look weaker. That was the case in the last one of these 2-in-1 Intrigue collections, with Delinsky's "Threats and Promises" and the then-new "Her Secret Past" by Amanda Stevens. The difference is more noticeable here since "Bronze Mystique" was not even an Intrigue. Why not reprint an actual Intrigue in an Intrigue collection? Nora Roberts's "Night Moves" seems a perfect fit with this book. Anne Stuart's "Catspaw" fits even better, with her Wilson collaboration on a new "Catspaw" sequel coming out next month. Wilson's book is so good only something like those books would have been able to withstand direct comparison in a collection like this. I found the book inexplicably chosen instead, Delinsky's "Bronze Mystique," to be a solid read. Anyone reading it in 1984 might like it even more. But the series romance novels of 1984 were very different than most of what we see today and I don't think it's fair to completely judge it in today's terms. Readers may want to keep in mind that the book is seventeen years old and does read like it. Those more familiar with Delinsky's current work and bestsellers will find something far different here. The romance is good, though the story is very slowly paced and the subplot takes a while to develop. Ironically, that would normally make it a perfect companion for a Wilson story. Wilson's "Secrets in Silence," though, is nearly worth the price of the collection by itself. I've had a wide range of responses to this author's Intrigues over the years. One thing has remained the same for all of them: I've never understood why her books were Intrigues and not Intimate Moments. None of her Intrigues have been plot heavy or mystery oriented whodunits, the two elements that typically separate Intrigues from Intimate Moments. I've never been able to tell the difference between her brand of romantic suspense and the Intimate Moments version. "Secrets in Silence" is a first. For me, it's the first Wilson contemporary that is unmistakably an Intrigue and doesn't feel like it could be an Intimate Moments. Most of her books to feature a whodunit ("Echoes in the Dark," the Home to Texas books, "Her Private Bodyguard," "Never Let Her Go," "Heart of the Night") failed as mysteries because there were too few suspects and so few developed secondary characters that it was too obvious who the v

One of Ms. Delinsky's best

I throughly enjoyed this story. An earlier Delinsky, and less complex than her bigger books perhaps, but one of her best romances.