Roberts returns with the customary combo of romance and intrigue in Homeport, the tale of a lovelorn Ph.D. trying to save her reputation as well as her life. Dr. Miranda Jones, who specializes in authenticating Renaissance art, is called to Italy to verify The Dark Lady, a statue that may have been created by Michelangelo. When the sculpture turns out to be a fake, she is determined to find the original and gains the help of sexy art thief Ryan Boldari--who has plans to steal a bronze via Jones. However, his manipulative designs go awry when he falls for the brainy redhead and a dangerous killer begins to stalk them.

From Library Journal
Roberts will certainly continue her prolific track record of best sellers with this newest work. Employing just the right combination of romance, humor, and suspense, her heroine, Miranda, finally finds love and, perhaps more important, success and validation in her career. Miranda's Institute houses some of the most valuable and renowned art pieces in the world. Ryan, who is a thief, albeit a totally charming and captivating one, plans to steal a particularly special item with which Miranda is having her own problems. How these two characters meet, reveal the truth to each other, and then conspire to outwit the true bad guy (or should we say gal) is an irresistible page turner. Add an alcoholic younger brother, an amazingly varied cast of family characters, and a cliff hanger (literally) of an ending and you're on the way to the best sellers lists. Sure to please Roberts's legions of fans, this is essential for all public libraries.?Margaret Ann Hanes, Sterling Heights P.L., Mich.Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Dr. Miranda Jones, an art authenticator specializing in bronzes, is summoned by her mother to Italy to verify a bronze called The Dark Lady after a courtesan of the de Medici court. A leak to the Italian press is immediately blamed on Miranda, and under threat of dismissal from the family's entire operation, she returns home to Maine seething at the injustice. The international media call her findings fraudulent, and so does Ryan Boldari, a handsome art thief who stole a bronze from Miranda's museum only to discover that it was a fake. His confrontation with Miranda sets them on the trail of a shadowy figure determined to hide The Dark Lady and destroy Miranda's reputation at all costs. Sparks fly personally and professionally between Ryan and Miranda as they close in on the killer stalking her--a killer who is either a close friend, coworker, or member of her family. Homeport provides a satisfying read with strong characters and a cohesive plot that should please Roberts' fans, yet it lacks the suspense and sense of hidden evil found in previous best-sellers Montana Sky (1996) and Sanctuary (1997). Roberts has also just finished a trilogy, The Stars of Mithra, for Silhouette and is starting a new trilogy in paperback with Sea Swept. Recommended for all collections. Melanie Duncan

From Kirkus Reviews
To her usual mix of love, mystery, and passion, Roberts (Sanctuary, 1997, etc.)--author of 115 romancers in some 17 years--adds Renaissance art and a decidedly Medici-like family: the Joneses of Maine. Dr. Miranda Jones, nearly six feet with flaming red hair and a glacial reserve, is an archeometrist who specializes in the analyzing and dating of Renaissance bronze sculpture. Miranda hopes to secure a world-class reputation for herself by authenticating a 15th-century statue of the ``Dark Lady,'' one of the mistresses of Lorenzo the Magnificent, as the undiscovered work of a young Michelangelo. Miranda's mother, Dr. Elizabeth Standford-Jones, the emotionally remote director of the Standjo art lab in Florence, has summoned her daughter from the family's Victorian cliffside home in Jones Point, Maine, to test the statue. Meanwhile, Miranda's father, equally remote, is an archaeologist who spends more time at his digs than at home. In fact, no one in the Jones family has made a ``successful run at marriage,'' a failure that Miranda and her alcoholic brother Andrew call the ``Jones curse.'' As for the statue, when it's discovered to be a fake, Miranda sets out to prove that someone stole the original. In this she's helped by gorgeous art thief Ryan Boldari (half-Italian, half-Irish), who's come to Jones Point to steal yet another bronze, which also turns out to be a forgery. Ryan's plan had been to use Miranda as a pawn, but now, naturally, he finds himself falling hard for her. While the two search for bronzes, a standard-issue romance-novel psychotic is stalking them. Most readers will twig to the killer's identity: Here, as always, Roberts's sexual tension is more compelling than her suspense. Perhaps it's time to take a sabbatical from the pink sweatshop and turn her considerable wit and narrative skills to a more original piece of work. (First printing of 250,000; Literary Guild main selection; $250,000 ad/promo; author tour) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Book Description
The unseen assailant attacked Dr. Miranda Jones outside her Maine home as she returned from a busy lecture tour. After terrorizing her with a knife held to her throat, he stole her purse, slashed her tires, and disappeared. Shaken and bruised, Miranda was determined to put the assault out of her mind, and welcomed the distraction offered by a summons to Italy to verify the authenticity of a Renaissance bronze of a Medici courtesan known as The Dark Lady. However, instead of cementing Miranda's reputation as a leading authority in her field, the bronze nearly destroys it when her professional judgment is called into question and the bronze is declared a hoax.

Desperate to restore her credibility and prove The Dark Lady is really a previously unknown work of Michelangelo, Miranda turns to Ryan Boldari, a seductive - and supposedly reformed - art thief. For Miranda, forced to rely on herself and a partner with his own hidden agenda, the only way home is filled with treachery, deception, and a danger that threatens everything she loves.

Download Description
The right balance of romance and humor makes this sexy novel a Roberts classic

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The Maine air is bitterly cold when Dr. Miranda Jones arrives at the family home after a busy lecture tour. But her blood turns to ice when she suddenly feels the knife against her throat. The unseen assailant steals her bags, slashes her tires, and disappears. Deeply shaken, Miranda is determined to put the experience behind her. Distraction comes when she is summoned to Italy - to verify the authenticity of a Renaissance bronze of a Medici courtesan known as The Dark Lady. But instead of cementing Miranda's position as the leading expert in the field, the job nearly destroys it when her professional judgment is called into question. Emotionally estranged from her mother, with a brother immersed in his own troubles, Miranda has no one to turn to...except Ryan Boldari, a seductive art thief whose own agenda forces them into a reluctant alliance. Now it becomes clear that the incident in Maine was not a simple mugging - and that The Dark Lady may possess as many secrets as its beautiful namesake once did. For Miranda, forced to rely on herself - and a partner who offers her both unnerving suspicion and intoxicating passion - the only way home is filled with deception, treachery, and a danger that threatens them all.

SYNOPSIS

The Maine air was bitter cold and frigid as Dr. Miranda Jones returned to the family home after a busy lecture tour. But her blood turned to ice when, out of nowhere, she felt a knife held against her throat. The unseen assailant stole her bags, slashed her tires . . . and disappeared. Shaken and bruised, Miranda was nonetheless determined to put the assault quickly out of her mind. Then comes a welcome distraction: a summons to Italy to verify the authenticity of a valuable Renaissance bronze of a Medici courtesan known as "The Dark Lady." But it soon becomes frighteningly clear that the incident that day in Maine was not a simple mugging, and that "The Dark Lady" may possess as many secrets as its beautiful namesake once did. For Miranda, forced to rely on herself—and an enigmatic partner who offers her suspicion and an intoxicating passion—the only way home is filled with treachery, deception, and a danger that threatens them all.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal - Margaret Ann Hanes, Sterling Heights P.L., Mich.

Roberts will certainly continue her prolific track record of best sellers with this newest work. Employing just the right combination of romance, humor, and suspense, her heroine, Miranda, finally finds love and, perhaps more important, success and validation in her career. Miranda's Institute houses some of the most valuable and renowned art pieces in the world. Ryan, who is a thief, albeit a totally charming and captivating one, plans to steal a particularly special item with which Miranda is having her own problems. How these two characters meet, reveal the truth to each other, and then conspire to outwit the true bad guy (or should we say gal) is an irresistible page turner. Add an alcoholic younger brother, an amazingly varied cast of family characters, and a cliff hanger (literally) of an ending and you're on the way to the best sellers lists. Sure to please Roberts's legions of fans.

Kirkus Reviews

To her usual mix of love, mystery, and passion, Roberts (Sanctuary.)—author of 115 romancers in some 17 years—adds Renaissance art and a decidedly Medici-like family: the Joneses of Maine. Dr. Miranda Jones, nearly six feet with flaming red hair and a glacial reserve, is an archeometrist who specializes in the analyzing and dating of Renaissance bronze sculpture. Miranda hopes to secure a world-class reputation for herself by authenticating a 15th-century statue of the "Dark Lady," one of the mistresses of Lorenzo the Magnificent, as the undiscovered work of a young Michelangelo. Miranda's mother, Dr. Elizabeth Standford-Jones, the emotionally remote director of the Standjo art lab in Florence, has summoned her daughter from the family's Victorian cliffside home in Jones Point, Maine, to test the statue. Meanwhile, Miranda's father, equally remote, is an archaeologist who spends more time at his digs than at home. In fact, no one in the Jones family has made a "successful run at marriage," a failure that Miranda and her alcoholic brother Andrew call the "Jones curse." As for the statue, when it's discovered to be a fake, Miranda sets out to prove that someone stole the original. In this she's helped by gorgeous art thief Ryan Boldari (half-Italian, half-Irish), who's come to Jones Point to steal yet another bronze, which also turns out to be a forgery. Ryan's plan had been to use Miranda as a pawn, but now, naturally, he finds himself falling hard for her. While the two search for bronzes, a standard-issue romance-novel psychotic is stalking them. Most readers will twig to the killer's identity: Here, as always, Roberts's sexual tension is more compelling than hersuspense. Perhaps it's time to take a sabbatical from the pink sweatshop and turn her considerable wit and narrative skills to a more original piece of work.