I thought I was finished with Joan Elliot Pickart. But the box of books delivered by my brother were, alas, not my beloved Loveswepts. I had high hopes for a reread of Iris Johansen’s Return to Santa Flores. But instead the box was filled with 1970s Harlequins. Stay tuned. In the mean time, we’ve got more Joan, because I won 20 on ebay.

Kaleidoscope. Loveswept #179  (Feb 1987)

Meetup: Slapstick. Aging mothers share a creative project that gets them into trouble, and the H/H must bail their respective mothers out of jail in the wee hours.

Conflict: He’s a divorce lawyer who doesn’t want to get married. The heroine loves kids enough to open a childcare center, and her biological clock is ticking. (She’s 29.)

80s standouts: Lunch. Avocados stuffed with shrimp. Shrimp in an avocado. However you say it, it seems wrong. But people are making it.

His fashion: Brown suit and tie with a pale yellow shirt.

The Penetration Station: “Without hesitation she opened herself to him, and he entered her with a thrust that stole her breath away” (p. 159).

Survey Says: This book has a well-written beginning. Great banter throughout. Likeable hero. Likeable heroine. Nice tension. Cute.