High Stakes by Dana Warren Smith

High Stakes Dana Warren Smith (Lisa G. Brown) Romance novel    Silhouette  11/1989 Rating: B

High Stakes was released back in November of 1989, almost twenty years ago.  Has it been that long?  That was during my first semester of college, and I can recall quite clearly the classes I was taking, the papers I was writing, and some of the books I was reading (not this one - then).  I even remember some of the songs on the radio ("We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel, for one; my roommate listened to this album over and over). I wonder if the author remembers November 1989 as clearly as I do.  Maybe not.  That first year of college is pretty memorable.

So, enough of the stroll down Memory Lane.  High Stakes is a good book with a pretty lame plot line.  Jamie Logan, our heroine, a beautiful girl from a rich family, is dared at a party by Beth, a woman she doesn't like, to find an "ordinary man" and seduce him only with her personal charms. She isn't to use her money or connections, just herself - and get him to spend the night with her. Since she's gorgeous, this isn't exactly a tall order, but the challenge is that she really doesn't want to sleep with any ordinary guy, just make it look like she did.  And she doesn't get to choose the man except from a short list of men Beth draws up.  Her motivation for taking the dare is that if she wins, Beth will give her a letter her sister wrote before dying, one that might explain some of the mysterious elements of her death.  Jamie is convinced that Beth had something to do with her sister's death, and reading that letter is the only way she will find out.

The man she picks from that short list, Ren Garrett, is a regular joe, the manager of a farm supply store, and not particularly attractive. He's got an ordinary face, but he's strong and a hard worker as well as a nice guy, liked and respected by his neighbors. Jamie changes her name, finds a job in his town, and targets him.  She basically throws everything she's got at him, flirting with him, putting her charms front and center and dropping every possible hint that she's interested.  It's not hard to predict what happens.  Ren falls for Jamie hard, and Jamie succeeds in every goal, but when she leaves Ren, she leaves part of herself behind too.

High Stakes is only readable if you can get past two things.  First is the unbelievable plot set-up.  Jamie has money and influence.  She could easily hire a private investigator to dig up the dirt about her sister.  Or indulge in a little daytime B&E while Beth is at work, if she prefers a more direct route.  Going to a different town, setting up an alias, working a new job - it's all much more complicated than it has to be.  Unless you've got this plot to work out and you've got to get your heroine to said small town without anyone suspecting what she's up to. 

Second, besides being unbelievable, Jamie's actions are downright reprehensible.  She uses Ren, plain and simple.  She sets Ren and all of his friends and neighbors up, romancing them all with her charm and beauty.  Then when she's got what she came for, she waltzes out and doesn't look back.  That's not just chilly, that's cold.  Yes, this is an Across the Tracks romance.  Jamie and Ren aren't socially equal.  But they're not Romeo and Juliet either.  Nothing truly unsurmountable is keeping them from being a couple.  And to add insult to injury, Jamie when she's seducing Ren, has a boyfriend back home.  A conveniently sleazy boyfriend (it's later revealed), but still - she's cheating.  And she doesn't hesitate, either to cheat or to play Machiavellian games with other people.  

So, there you go - silly plot, bitchy heroine.  But somehow it works anyway.  Jamie is likable, and she does question constantly what she is doing.  And she is in deep grief over her sister's recent death, so perhaps she's a little emotionally unstable when she makes these decisions.  Also, she does suffer for what she does.   Smith put her through the wringer in the second half of the book.  Ren, she realizes too late is both of better quality and stronger resolve than she originally suspects.  He's always looked at her interest in him with a bit of suspicion.  When it becomes clear that she humiliated him, he hardens toward her and she has to suffer knowing she threw away her best hope for happiness.  I'm not really partial to groveling, but clearly in this book it has to happen, and the author handles it well.  I actually would have liked to see Ren be more aggressively vengeful, but you can't have everything, especially when the hero is such a nice guy.

I've read High Stakes twice now, and it's held up for me over time.  The scenes when things between Jamie and Ren slip out her control are very touching and sweet and make up for most of the angst.  The book's rural setting has a lovely feel, and one of the secondary characters, a crotchety old lady makes for some entertainment.  Lisa G. Brown is the author's (slightly) more recognizable name, but this Dana Warren Smith title is worth a read as well.  Do pick it up if you find a copy somewhere.   Or snap it up here at Amazon for a penny (+ shipping).  

tags: books  romance novels  lisa g brown