Finding love on library shelves

Didn’t get your fix of romance on Valentine’s Day? With 363 days left

before Feb. 14, 2004, rolls around, there’s plenty of time to find

virtual love in library stacks.

Some of the most satisfying is in the pages of the Romance Writers

of America’s “Top Ten Favorite Books of 2002.” Near the top of the

list is “Breathing Room,” the latest from perennial favorite Susan

Elizabeth Phillips.

On center stage is self-help guru Isabel Favor, whose life comes

crashing down after she loses her money to an unscrupulous

accountant, her fiance to an older woman and her reputation to

headlines denouncing her as a fraud. Escaping to Tuscany to rethink

her future, she succumbs to the wiles of a Hollywood bad boy who

turns out to be her landlord. The ensuing romp is wacky and

insightful--a great read for anyone who’s ever dreamed of reforming a

devilish suitor.

A less contemporary setting is the backdrop for Virginia Ellis’

“The Wedding Dress,” next among the Romance Writers’ 2002 favorites.

In post Civil War Virginia, two widowed sisters express their hope

for the future by sewing a wedding dress for their younger sibling.

While there’s no groom in sight, the optimistic gesture sends a

beacon of faith that heralds sunnier tomorrows.

Family bonds also provide solace for Jewel Sabatino, 40-year-old

heroine of Barbara Samuel’s “No Place Like Home.” After running off

to Colorado on the back of a musician’s motorcycle at age 17, Jewel

returns to New York with her teenage son and terminally ill best

friend. While Dad’s still not speaking to her, she finds welcoming

arms elsewhere, in a touching story of love and loss.

The action moves to North Carolina in Stephanie Bond’s “I Think I

Love You.” In this comic mystery, three sisters torn apart by a man

meet up years later, ostensibly to make amends. In a fast-moving

plot, the trio outsmarts a murderer, avenges the cad who betrayed

them and musters the patience to reunite their parents.

The Romance Writers included Jennifer Crusie on their list. In

“Faking It,” her newest caper, everyone’s pretending to be someone

else--including vodka-swilling matriarch Gwen, split personality

sister Eve, and art forger Tilda, the youngest daughter, whose chance

encounter in a closet with a sexy con man leads to madcap mayhem in a

laugh-out-loud read.

When all this breathless romance leaves you ready to cultivate

something real, check out Judith Viorst’s “Grown-Up Marriage.” In her

newest volume, the best-selling author provides a synthesis of

research, case studies and personal counsel about everything nuptial.

As insurance that you make it to your next anniversary, this could be

the best addition to your “must read” list.

* CHECK IT OUT is written by the staff of the Newport Beach

Public Library. This week’s column is by Melissa Adams in

collaboration with Claudia Peterman. All titles may be reserved from

home or office computers by accessing the catalog at

www.newportbeachlibrary.org.