Intimate

Jill Fleming, the beautiful seducer of men and women; Leslie Chamberlain, a successful advertising executive; and Jordan Lazarus, the head of a vast business empire, join together in the ultimate sexual plot

Gage's (A Glimpse of Stocking) new novel is a hyperactive rags-to-riches story of three people caught in a web of ambition, passion, deceit and revenge. Having escaped a childhood of poverty to become the head of a business empire and the richest man in America, Jordan Lazarus has everything money can buy?which doesn't include love. Leslie Chamberlain overcomes her provincial, small-town roots through education and becomes a top-flight advertising executive until her career is cut short?by love. Jill Flemming, who has run away from a nightmarish childhood, determined to become someone?anyone?else, is a master chameleon who ruthlessly seduces both men and women in her pathological quest?for love. Destiny and panting prose bring these three characters together in a complex triangle that will eventually kill one of them. The book is so overplotted and saturated with characters that, by the time Gage finally gets the principals together, readers are likely to be exhausted.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gage's newest novel features three young people with rather dismal starts in life and traces their climb to success and disaster. Her characters have an uncanny depth, despite their easy successes, and a startling impact on one another's lives. Jordan Lazarus leaves behind the grinding poverty of his large family to eventually buy and sell multimillion-dollar corporations. His eye is caught by Leslie Chamberlain, a woman with classic beauty and a conventional secret in her past. Jill Fleming is one of several characters scarred by parental abuse who fail to surface from that anguish to emotionally match the success of their outward persona. The fates of these three are woven into cleverly crafted circumstances, making this a compelling work of contemporary fiction. Denise Perry Donavin

Gage (Taboo, LJ 3/15/93) spins a tale of romance, obsession, betrayal, and revenge. Spanning five decades, the story follows the lives of three people who are gradually drawn together by fate. They remain unaware of just how much their lives have become entangled until events take an explosive, tragic turn. Gage's characters have potential but for the most part remain superficially drawn. For instance, Jordan, who is described as the richest man in America, is unrealistically naive and trusting. Although his mantra is "never trust a woman," he allows himself to become a pawn of two manipulative and destructive women. The book is entertaining despite these flaws, however, and should be popular with readers who enjoy the travails of the rich and famous.
--Barbara E. Kemp, Albany Univ. Lib., N.Y.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.