A TOAST TO LOVE
By
Paige Avalon, Ph.D., granddaughter of the great jazz-pianist Andriette Brandon, is just as independent as grandma was: she refuses to give up her academic career for marriage (and relocation to the Middle East) with engineer Stephen. Instead, Paige enthusiastically takes a position as research assistant to Afro-American history expert Nathan Buchanan at Huston-Tillotson College in Texas. . . and is promptly smitten by Nathan's nephew Kyle, a lawyer/legislator who ""looked like a black panther."" Kyle, however, foolishly suspects Paige of having designs on middle-aged scholar Nathan, who, in fact, secretly loves his housekeeper Magda. (Nathan's other secret: he's suffering from ""essential blepharospasm."") Likewise, Paige fears that Kyle is involved with fellow Texas politician Janet DuBois. So there'll be the usual misunderstandings and tiffs before Paige and Kyle team up passionately--and before Nathan seems scheduled for a medical miracle. Bland, inoffensive romance, with some extra interest in the black cast-of-characters and the Austin, Texas, setting.