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As a long-time reader of Jayne Ann Krentz and all her pseudonyms, I've often seen reviews that mentioned Family Man as being among her best books. And I'd say that it lives up to that reputation. This story contained a lot of the things that I like in JAK's books and very few of the things that I don't.

Despite this being an older book, Luke had none of the arrogant, abusive, alpha male tendencies that a lot of older romance novel heroes have. He was strong and assertive when the occasion called for it but he never treated the heroine, Katy, as anything less than an equal who deserved his respect. And it wasn't long before Katy's unfailingly positive attitude started wearing away the few rough edges he did possess. Theirs was the kind of relationship that romance stories SHOULD be about. Two people who make each other strive to be the best versions of themselves. Who know each other inside and out and love and trust each other unfailingly. Too often in romance novels we're handed an entirely one-sided relationship where one half commands, belittles and disrespects the other half, who in turn cowers and submits, changing everything about themselves to please the dominant half. Then we're expected to consider the result "true love". It's sick. Katy and Luke's romance was a believable partnership and I could see them actually living happily ever after for the rest of their lives.

The basic premise is that Katy works for Luke's estranged family, the Gilchrists. Luke's father caused a big scandal 37 years ago when he stood a woman up at the altar to run off with his secretary, Luke's mother. The family, and especially the matriarch, Luke's grandmother, Justine, was left humiliated by the scandal and subsequently disowned Luke's parents and any children they might have. The rift was never mended and Luke's parents and his wife were killed in a plane crash three years before the book began. The Gilchrist empire has started to decline in recent years because Justine is getting on in age and none of her remaining children or grandchildren have shown any real business acumen. She's pinned her hopes on bringing the business-savvy Luke back into the family's fold and turning the company over to him. Katy, who happens to be the orphaned daughter of the woman Luke's father left at the altar, has been tasked with convincing Luke to return and he's dead-set against it.

After a face-to-face meeting, however, Luke is drawn to Katy and realizes that returning to the family is the only way he'll have a chance to woo her. He comes back and makes the stipulation that Katy will have to become his personal assistant for the next six months or he won't agree to save the company. The rest of the book is spent with Luke ferreting out all the reasons the company is doing so poorly while also convincing Katy to have an affair with him. It was originally only supposed to last the six months of their agreed time together, but obviously that plan goes right out the window when their feelings for each other quickly grow to more. It isn't long before Luke realizes he can't live without Katy and the sense of peace she brings to his life, and Katy is equally in love with Luke. All of the challenges to their relationship come from outside evil-doers. There are never any Big Misunderstandings or situations where the couple are too stubborn to just have a conversation with each other. They're a team and always on the same side, even if they have differing opinions on the best way to achieve their goal.

I liked Katy as the heroine. She was good, loyal and had a positive, level-headed outlook on life and her rather melodramatic employers. And thankfully her open-mindedness rarely strayed into TSTL territory. The only time I had to raise an eyebrow at her attitude was when she was attacked on the beach by a former coworker. He'd been one of the ones who had been hurting the company for his own gain and Luke had fired him. Then the man attacks Katy on the beach, admits what he was doing, and tries to blackmail her into helping him complete his dastardly plans. After Luke swoops in and saves the day, Katy's still trying to give the man the benefit of the doubt. Saying that maybe he had his reasons for doing what he did. Seriously? He just tried to blackmail you into committing industrial espionage! But thankfully that was the only time her "see the best in people" attitude made her seem a little overly naive. And it's never used to successfully manipulate her into doing something stupid because she's smart enough to know to go straight to Luke with her problems, rather than trying to sneak around and handle them on her own.

All in all is was a sweet story about a healthy relationship and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

This one of her older books but wow what a awesomely wonderful read!!!! I have five stars because it is humorous in some areas serious in other areas !!! it has mystery intrigue suspense romance and plenty of plot twists every time I thought the mystery had been solved another plot twist turns up!!!! I recommend this to those who like suspense intrigue mystery romance and humor and plenty of plot twists!!!! ????????

I LOVED THIS BOOK...IT'S ONE OF THOSE THAT WHEN YOUR JUST NOT SURE WHAT YOU WANT TO READ YOU'LL PICK IT UP (AFTER READING IT MANY TIMES ALREADY)AND READ IT AGAIN. IT'S ONE OF THOSE THAT EVEN KNOWING WHATS GOING TO HAPPEN YOU HAVE A HARD TIME PUTTING IT DOWN TO GO AND TAKE CARE OF SOMETHING THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE. AND THOUGH I'D LOVE TO IMMORTALIZE THIS BOOK ON MY KINDLE I WILL NOT PURCHASE IT AT $15.00. THIS BOOK IS 20 YEARS OLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!IT WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1992.....THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO REASON TO CHARGE THAT AMOUNT OF MONEY TO MAKE IT INTO A KINDLE BOOK. IN FACT AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED MOST OF THESE BOOKS ARE OVER PRICED, BUT IF YOU LOOK YOU'LL SEE ""PUTMAN/POCKET""PUBLISHERS OVER PRICE ALL THEIR BOOKS. YOU'D THINK THAT AFTER 20 YEARS THEY'VE MADE THEIR MONEY OVER, OVER, AND OVER....OH YEAH THE AUTHORS DON'T MAKE ANY MONEY ON THESE BOOKS UNLESS IN THEIR PREVIOUS CONTRACTS IT'S STIPULATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SO ONCE AGAIN WHERE IS ALL THE MONEY GOING THAT THESE PUBLISHERS FEEL THE NEED TO CHARGE SO MUCH.. WHEN THEY RE-DO/REPRINT ISSUES OF PAPERBOOKS AT LEAST THEY CHARGE THE GOING RATE AT THAT TIME BUT IF YOU NOTICE ON THE KINDLE/BOOK NOOK/EBOOKS PERIOD THERE'S NO CONSISTANCEY. FAMILY MAN MAY BE $15.00 BUT BOOKS LIKE ""LIGHT IN SHADOWS AND TRUTH OR DARE"" KINDLE COPY IS ONLY $7.99 LIKE A NEW PAPERBACK. WELL UNTIL THE PRICE GOES DOWN ON THIS BOOK I'LL JUST CONTINUE TO HOLD MY HARDCOVER (WHICH I GOT FOR LESS THAN THIS EBOOK) ...........................

I WILL COMMENT AGAIN ***AN EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, BOOK*** A MUST READ................................................THIS REVIEW IS ATTACHED TO THE KINDLE BOOK

I've been a big fan of Jayne Krentz for many years and have a special fondness for her older books. This book is one of Mrs. Krentz's best books, old and new. I'm primarily a romance reader, and this book had the perfect combination of a great romance, an interesting mystery, and great characters, including a dog (which Mrs. Krentz always writes great - remember Winston?). I love how Mrs. Krentz fits healthy cooking into a lot of her books. I've often wished that she would one day write a cookbook with all the interesting dishes that she has incorporated into her books over the years. This book may have been written in the 90's, but it wasn't the least bit dated.

I wasn't sure if the book warranted five stars but then it depends on what your looking for. Not an excellent write but it was a fun read with good character building. The characters were very likeable and I found myself reading every line. That in itself was the determining fact for five stars. The last several books I've read demanded I skip pages and sometimes even chapters because of the unimportant jabber of the author. Krentz gives her characters intelligence, humor and heart. The love scenes are quite descriptive but not offensive to most. I would recommend this book to friends.

This book is really Jayne Ann Krentz at her best! The dialogue is good, humorous, witty and sexy (without going overboard). I have recently been going back and reading all of her books and discovered I did not have this one on my Kindle. I immediately ordered it and thoroughly enjoyed reading it again. I have been a huge fan of JAK for many years and enjoy all of her books, whether it's contemporary under JAK, historical as Amanda Quick or her futuristic books as Jayne Castle. They are all well written, some better than others, but all really enjoyable reading!