You did it! We figured this one out! It is a truth universally acknowledged (by me for certain) that the Bitchery pretty much knows everything, and really, it's true. Scroll down to see the solution for this HaBO - and many thanks!
This HaBO comes from Amanda Weaver, who wants to find this romance from the 80s:
Okay, I scammed this book from my mom back in the mid-80s, so we’re going back a ways. I was totally obsessed with it when I was 15, and I’m hoping it still exists in the world.
It was definitely Harlequin, the classic white cover/burgundy banner/circular artwork. Thinking about the plot, it actually might have been classified as romantic suspense, but I just remember it as romance.
It was set in New Orleans. The heroine and hero were both newspaper reporters. She’s from a wealthy family prominent in local politics. He’s from a bad home, went to college on scholarship, and was her older brother’s roommate. He’s been secretly in love with her since he met her back then. Now they work together and they’re adversaries.
There was definitely some sort of murder mystery plot they were trying to solve and at the end, one of her political parents might have been behind it? I think she gets kidnapped at the end and dragged out to a swamp and he rescues her.
I definitely remember the first time they had sex. It was in his apartment, I think, in the French Quarter. It described the sunset coming through the wooden shutters and someone outside playing jazz. Yeah…that scene stuck with me.
She had long black hair. He was blond and I remember her complaining about his surfer boy looks.
Also, there’s a scene where she shows up at his place drunk and offers to make him beignets.
Surely someone out there remembers this?
I’d never say no to some drunken beignet making.
Well, that took no time at all! Someone on twitter just ID’d it for me when I retweeted the link. It’s Worth the Risk by Nora Roberts. Did she ever write category romance for Harlequin? I swear I remember it having that Harlequin cover, but the current version on Amazon is different.
Bit of a whoops on my part, it’s actually Nora Roberts’ Partners. It looks like it was republished with another title as Worth the Risk? Looks like she wrote mostly for Silhouette, not Harlequin.
is this the cover you remember?
http://www.fictiondb.com/author/nora-roberts~partners~31581~b.htm
That’s the one! Memory is a funny thing. I could swear I remembered it having that classic Harlequin cover, but the second I saw that one, I remembered it clearly. Guess the Harlequin cover was some other book I stole from my mom! I found a used copy with the original cover on Amazon. I cannot wait! I was a little worried that if I found it and re-read it, it would disappoint. I mean, I was fifteen. But now that I know it’s Nora Roberts, I know it’ll be good!
I came here to yell “NORA ROBERTS”! But you were all ahead of me. 🙂
Aren’t beignets deep fried? That sounds like an unwise thing to do while drunk.
The first HABO I’ve ever actually known! It was recently re-released on Kindle (and by recently I think maybe a few years ago)
Nora Roberts, Partners. I know, I’m the gazillionth and oneth person to do this, but I never know these and finally I did. So I had to post this even though it is completely redundant.
@lostshadows I know someone who burned down an apt building because she drunkenly decided she wanted onion rings. Kitchen got super smokey, but the building had some sort of automatic sprinkler system in case of fire – which actually caused a massive grease fire.
Damnit! Now I want beignets. But I’ll get drunk AFTER I make them (as @kkw & @lostshadows have pointed out).
Also, this book sounds awesome. And as I don’t think I’ve actually read a Nora Roberts novel (*wincing* don’t crucify me – I’m fairly new to romance!), I’m adding this to my “to read” list.
@Angelle Conant: I don’t think I’ve ever read one, either, despite having several on my Kindle. (I’ve read a handful of the JD Robb books, tho.) But this is a forgiving crowd here so I think we’re both safe from the romance mob with flaming torches chasing us down. 🙂
LOL over the drunken onion ring fire – when I was a kid, I had baked potatoes catch fire in the oven (I think I put the cheese on them before I baked them? I don’t know, but seriously, I opened the oven door and the potatoes were flaming.)
So I got the fire extinguisher and filled the oven with the spray.
My mom – oh holy crap was that bad when she got home.
Guess I was supposed to close the oven door and turn it off instead.
@Susan: *sigh of relief* I had a feeling this community was full of awesome people. 😉
Oh geez, kitchen fires… and I don’t even have the excuse of having been drunk because I was 15.
One Rosh Hashanah, in the days before cell phones, my mum went out for 10 minutes to get something, and as she left, she told me “Don’t let the duck burn.” Oh, my mum, so funny. I eyerolled.
Of course, as soon as she was gone, I looked in the oven, and: FLAMES. I freaked, turned off the oven, and phoned the next door neighbour – who arrived just ahead of the firefighters she’d called, soon followed by my mum. She was not amused to arrive home to be greeted by fire trucks at her house.
By the time everyone trooped in to inspect the oven, the flames were out (some fat had apparently popped & hit the element, so turning off the oven killed the problem), so all there was left was my massive embarrassment in the face of half a dozen snickering firefighters. 30 years on, and I’ve still never roasted a duck.
@ CS:
I’m right there with you. I feel tremendously satisfied each time I read a HaBO and actually know the answer! In this case, I saw the phrase “reporters in New Orleans” and guessed right, but I recently reread a number of Nora Roberts’ old silhouette titles to cheer myself up (including this one), so that helped. 😉
@ cayenne:
I once had a quiche catch fire in my family’s oven. I hadn’t put a baking sheet under the pie pan, and some of the quiche must have bubbled over the side. As soon as I saw the flames I ran and got the fire extinguisher, opened the oven door, and blasted the poor quiche. Fortunately no firefighters were needed, but boy was that quiche/fire-extinguisher-goo mixture hard to clean out of the oven!! I still retain the dubious distinction of being the only member of my family to actually use a fire extinguisher…