The Soft Touch by Betina Krahn

This one was in my trade pile, but I pulled it out and gave it a try. It wasn't bad, but I wouldn't have been heartbroken if it had ended up at the UBS.

The Soft Touch by Betina Krahn
(1999, Victorian) 11/4/08
Grade: 3.5

Baltimore heiress Diamond Wingate has a reputation for being a “soft touch”. She gives away millions to causes and inventors, but her inability to say “no” has left her with three fiancées. Bear McQuaid is hoping to persuade Diamond to invest in his Montana railroad, but he discovers there’s more to her than her millions...

Although the characters were sympathetic and the style was pleasant, this book offered few surprises. It just didn’t have the zest of Krahn’s earlier books (or some of her later ones). There were hints that Diamond had more psychological reasons for giving away her money, but they weren’t given a lot of attention. (And the name was a bit much - Diamond?) I enjoyed the first half of the book, when Diamond was in Baltimore and trying to give away her money, more than the second half, which was a pretty typical Western romance. However, the book was enjoyable and easy to read, just not very memorable. It just didn’t rise above its predictable plot.

I read a lot of Betina Krahn's books in my early days of romance (before I started keeping my database). I have fond memories of them, but it's hard to remember without my records to jog my memory. I wish I'd started my reading record a few years earlier!