Златният шанс

by Jayne Ann Krentz, Джейн Ан Кренц, Константин Колев (Translator)

Потънала в обърканите си емоции и отдадена на страстното си увлечение, Филаделфия Фокс прави избора на своя живот. Такава шеметна любов досега не я е спохождала и ако иска да я съхрани, ще трябва да повярва не само на своенравния чаровник Ник, но и на неговото невъзможно семейство. Защото може би никога повече няма да има този златен шанс.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Fiction, Romantic Suspense, Mystery, Audiobook

335 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

The author of over 50 consecutive New York Times bestsellers, JAYNE ANN KRENTZ writes romantic-suspense in three different worlds: Contemporary (as Jayne Ann Krentz), historical (as Amanda Quick) and futuristic (as Jayne Castle). There are over 30 million copies of her books in print.

She earned a B.A. in History from the University of California at Santa Cruz and went on to obtain a Masters degree in Library Science from San Jose State University in California. Before she began writing full time she worked as a librarian in both academic and corporate libraries.

Reviews

[Diane ~Firefly~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

JAK is my favorite author and this is one of my favorites. Nick is estranged from his family and when he brings Phila into the fold, somehow she reminds the family that Nick is really an upright guy (standard JAK plot). Phila is great fun with her love of wild colors and great people sense. The characters are fun and re-reading this book is like wrapping up in a comfy blanket on a cold morning.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book never really grabbed me. I didn't hate it the way I have some of JAK's older books, I just never got hooked. I read the first half of Golden Chance on a plane and while it passed the time en-route well enough, once I got home I set the half-read book down and didn't pick it up again for over a month. That pretty much says it all right there.


So the premise of the story is that Philadelphia Fox has just inherited a chunk of shares in a company called C&L from her friend, Crissie. The two women were in foster care together and formed a strong bond through that rough experience. While Phila was in foster care because she was an orphan, Crissie knew she had a long lost father out there somewhere and dreamed of tracking him down and finding him to be rich and handsome. And guess what? Her dreams came true! Crissie's biological father is a member of one of the two families that founded C&L; the Castletons and Lightfoots. He's delighted that Crissie has found him but not for any altruistic reasons. As it turns out, he's a first class jerk who likes screwing people over. Crissie was conceived during one of his MANY extramarital affairs and the reason he's happy to see her is because it sets the whole family on their ear. Crissie, for her part, has grown up to be willful and outrageous, a real chip off the old block, and her father delights in watching her wind the snobbish family up with her crass and in-your-face comments. As a final "screw you" to the families, he leaves his shares of C&L to Crissie, instead of his legitimately born son.

Soon after her father's death, Crissie suddenly dies as well, leaving the shares to her best friend, Phila. Phila is suspicious of the circumstances surrounding Crissie's death-by-solo-car-accident and while a private investigator proves that it was, indeed, an accident, Phila still feels that the families are in some way responsible. Crissie told Phila all about how nasty everyone in the families were to her and Phila feels that they must have some how driven Crissie to over-indulge in alcohol before allowing her to get behind the wheel. She wants answers about what really happened that night and knows that the C&L shares Crissie left her, which the families are desperate to get back, are her only bargaining chip.

Enter Nick Lightfoot. He's been sent by the family matriarch to persuade Phila to give up the shares by any means necessary. Nick has been estranged from the families for 3 years following a mysterious incident involving his then wife, Hilary. He sees Phila's shares as his ticket back into the family fold and he's determined to get them. He shows up on Phila's doorstep and convinces her to accompany him to the family estate. He says its so she can investigate what happened the night Crissie died and give the families a chance to tell their side of the story, but really all he cares about is getting the shares back.

The romance aspect of this story never made sense to me. There didn't seem to be any chemistry between Phila and Nick at all. Their first night at the family estate, Nick gets into a fight with his father and shows up on Phila's doorstep to drown his sorrows. She's not particularly happy to see him and tells him to find some place else to sleep for the night....and then suddenly she's on fire with alleged passion and they have sex. Er, what? It came out of nowhere with no build up of sexual tension and it just wasn't believable. This performance gets repeated multiple times throughout the book. The two characters never show any real longing for each other and frequently get into fights before suddenly jumping in bed. It just felt artificial and I never could bring myself to care about the relationship.

Meanwhile, the fact that Nick is shamelessly using Phila for his own ulterior motives is hanging over the whole thing. He wants Phila's shares for himself, rather than the families. Phila seems to be of the mind that they belong to Crissie's half-brother, who would have inherited them if not for the father's final screw-you to the families. Nick tries at every turn to convince Phila to give the shares to him and, barring that, insists that she hang onto them until after an upcoming board meeting so he can use her and her shares to try to manipulate the other members of the family into voting a certain way at the meeting. It was all so cold and unromantic that he was straight up using her in this way. And when Phila calls him on this fact, he waves it away by insisting that she used him too, to investigate the circumstances of Crissie's death. That was complete BS since it had been Nick's idea in the first place that she come to meet the families and he'd only done it to try to get his hands on Phila's shares, but that's an early JAK "hero" for you; completely incapable of admitting that he's doing something despicable.

Aside from the unsatisfactory romance, I found the whole business with the two families to be tedious and unbelievable. We spend almost the whole book hearing about how the family believes Nick did something terrible 3 years ago when he divorced Hilary, but when the something is finally revealed I couldn't believe anyone fell for it. Hilary was a complete cold fish in the marriage bed, (because she was unknowingly gay) and after 18 months of loveless nights Nick finally decided to give up and divorce her. Right around that same time, Hilary suddenly turned up pregnant. Nick knew the baby wasn't his, so it didn't stop him from leaving, but Hilary told everyone in the families that Nick had raped her and then turned his back on her and the baby.....and everyone totally believed her.

The details of how all this went down are really vague. First of all, did Nick not KNOW that his whole family thought he was a rapist? Because if he knew, I can't understand why he wouldn't have stuck around to clear his name. Run a paternity test on the baby or something, etc. It's never made clear whether Nick knew what his family thought him guilty of or not. Second of all, how could his entire family believe the word of the ice queen wife, who had only married into the family for their money and who was about to be cut off from the cash cow, over their own son???? Did they seriously just think Nick was capable of raping a woman and then abandoning his unborn child without a second thought? Yes, apparently they did think that. Nick's own father was so completely convinced of Nick's guilt that he stepped in and married Hilary himself so that she and the baby would be "taken care of". And then when she lost the baby, he handed over the reins of C&L to her to "cheer her up". Wow. Just wow. And what I really don't get is why Hilary lied and said Nick raped her in the first place. The truth was that Hilary had started an affair with Crissie's father when she saw that her marriage with Nick wasn't going to last. Then he died leaving her pregnant. I can see why she wouldn't want to admit to her affair with him since he was still married to the family matriarch at the time and she to Nick, but why didn't she just claim that HE'd raped her? He was a known cheater thanks to Crissie's appearance so it wouldn't have been much of a stretch for the family to believe he could stoop to rape. And since he was dead, he couldn't prove her wrong! It makes no sense that she would instead try to claim Nick, who had never in his life done anything even remotely wrong and was not a philandering bastard, had suddenly become a crazed rapist and expect the family to believe her! Especially when her lie would have been easily disproven if the baby had lived and had a paternity test run. Nothing about the whole thing makes any sense. Not Hilary's actions or the family's belief in her crazy story.

Aside from that, the rest of the story had issues too. Phila was annoying in her over-the-top left-wing preaching and it was tedious to slog through her constant lectures. I also thought it was completely unbelievable that it was allegedly this very aspect of her personality that endeared her to the extremely right-wing men of the family. Overall people seemed to change their well-established opinions in a lightning-quick off-screen epiphany without any justification. For example, when Phila first arrives at the family estate, she's bound and determined to blame the families for Crissie's death. She knows that they treated Crissie horribly, but doesn't know to what extent. No one in the family denies that they didn't get along with Crissie but all say that Crissie deserved what she got because she "caused a lot of trouble" while she was there. No one ever, EVER gives any specifics about what they mean by that. Was just her illegitimate, low-born presence in their rich and snobby midst enough to constitute "trouble"? Or was she running from room to room smashing the china and flipping over antique chairs? No one ever says. And somehow, after hearing this complete lack of explanation or regret, Phila decides that the families were not to blame for Crissie's death and that her quest for answers and vengeance is over. Huh?

Phila even has one heated argument with the family matriarch where the woman constantly refers to Crissie as a trouble-making slut far beneath the family's illustrious station in society. Phila gets mad and points out that Crissie's cheating father, the matriarch's late husband, is the one to blame for Crissie being a "stain" on the family honor, not Crissie herself. A fair point in my mind. But afterward Phila feels awful for forcing the nasty old bitch to face the fact that her husband was a cheater. Why? It's the truth. And if she's going to go around trashing other people she ought to be able to take a little hard talk back her way. But everyone in the story seems to agree that Phila was over the line for saying it.

After this encounter with the matriarch, she and Phila never speak again, except for one polite sentence at a party...and yet when a villain from Phila's past tracks her down at the very end of the book, this woman is suddenly behaving like Phila is a member of the family and worrying over her safety. Er, what?? Why? When did this great shift in their relationship occur? And that same inexplicable shift happens with everyone in the book. After believing Nick guilty of rape for 3 years, all it takes is Phila saying "seriously, do you really think Nick would do that?" to his father and brother and they're both suddenly on Nick's side. Really? Just like that? Even the matriarch changes her tune about Nick in the blink of an eye. After believing 100% in Hilary's version of the events 3 years ago, when the great vote at the board meeting occurs, the matriarch suddenly throws her lot in with Nick, seemingly just because the rest of the family is now on his side as well. None of it seemed justified. After believing the worst about Nick and the best about Hilary for the last 3 years, they pull a total 180 just because Phila said "come on you guys, think about it." Riiiiiight.

I found it hard to get invested in Nick's quest to save the family company from Hilary. She has been secretly plotting to bring the company down from within for the last three years and is poised to deliver the final blow. Despite being gone the whole time, Nick has figured this out but conveniently there's not a shred of proof, and with him being estranged, he doesn't think anyone will believe him. Thus, rather than just telling the family what's going on, he has to do things the sneaky way by using Phila and her shares. I understand the reasoning but I just didn't care enough about the company to be willing to accept it as justification for the damage Nick's actions were doing to his romance with Phila.

The company hardly featured in the book at all and Hilary's dastardly plan isn't even introduced until about 2/3 of the way through so I didn't feel the least bit invested in saving C&L. Especially when everyone in the two families are nasty, snobbish people who are all apparently too stupid to realize anything bad is happening with their one source of income. Nick has his own very successful company that he's been running for the last three years so if C&L crashed and burned, it wouldn't have effected him at all; just the snobby rich people who chose to excommunicate him from the family based on the outlandish claims of his ex-wife. Gee, what a shame that would be. Not to mention that, ever since Nick's mother died, the families have completely ceased all charitable contributions and gone back to hording all their wealth like Scrooge McDuck while not doing any work themselves. Heck, the whole reason Hilary is able to enact this plan to bring them down is because literally no one in the family is paying the least bit of attention to the company. Nick's father just plays golf all day. The matriarch never worked a day in her life and spends all her time looking down her nose at anyone not from "old money", and Crissie's brother has political aspirations and focuses all his attention on his upcoming campaign. If Hilary hadn't been running the company these last three years, it would have gone bankrupt all by itself!

So I just didn't give two licks about the future of the company or preserving the flow of money so these nasty, snobby people could continue to be rich and lazy. And since that was the sole justification for Nick's mistreatment of Phila, it just didn't work for me. When the big vote at the board meeting happened, I couldn't have cared less that Nick had saved the day. I think JAK realized that the company business was too weak to serve as a climax for the book, hence why the villain from Phila's past showed up in the 11th hour to threaten her life. But even that was anticlimactic because it was so obvious. It was telegraphed all throughout the book that Phila was worried about this guy coming after her so it's hardly a surprise when he does show up. And the whole scene is over in just a few paragraphs so there wasn't even any time to question whether she'd make it out alive.

All in all it wasn't a terrible story, it just wasn't a good story either. Try it if you want but I can't say I recommend it.

[fleurette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a bit more than I have expected.

Philadelphia's friend dies and leaves her some shares in Castleton & Lighfoot Industries. Nick Lighfoot, practically banished from the family three years ago, is asked to get those shares back. He convinces Phila to spend some time with his family before she decides to destroy the family business as a revenge for her best friend death.

The story was written in 1990 but it feels quite modern. I didn't have any problems with it being outdated. That applies also to the characters. Phila is quite strong-minded and independent heroine, not as silly or naive as many other female characters in Jayne Ann Krentz books. And Nick is not a totally caveman alpha hero. They make a good couple together.

The plot is nice though it completely lacks any suspense part. But I mention it only because I generally prefer some suspense in my books. And this is just a contemporary romance.

It was a quick and nice read which I will probably not remember after few days. Still, quite entertaining mostly because of the likeable characters.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Krentz is one of my fave writers. i thought i'd read all of her books but i missed this one. it's always a treat when you think there's nothing more to read by a fave & then you find a missed book.

Great story & characters. a few surprises towards the end.
Phila & Nick have good chemistry.

So i'm not really a superficial/vain person, i think you like who you like. Being a girl who wears glasses, it's not a big deal. But we all know, that in our fantasies, nobody is wearing glasses!
I mention this b/c i liked that the lead Hero wore glasses. He was still tall, dark, tough & handsome even though he occasionally had to take them off to clean w/a cloth. I really appreciated that. (it's not common for the tough guy to wear glasses in romances)

[Vannessa Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Golden Chance was one of Jayne Ann Krentz’s better books!

Nick Lightfoot, after learning that Philadelphia Fox helds a large chunk of shares in his family’s company, goes after Philadelphia Fox intending to get the shares back by any means. Philadelphia Fox’s best friend left the shares to Philadelphia in her Will and whom Philadelphia believes died by the hands of a Lightfoot. Philadelphia, determined to avenge her friend’s death, finds a way into the family through Nick.

Although The Golden Chance was released in 1997, the story mirrored today’s politics. Patrick Lawlor and Franette Liebow performances as storytellers were great.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes! Jayne Ann Krentz never disappoints! I adored this book. Phila and Nick r soooo cute!!! I was hoping this book would be similar to her Eclipse Bay series and it was!! Not too similar, but just enough.

[Jessi · Rating 3 out of 5]

An older Krentz novel that mostly holds up.
Philadelphia Fox's best friend has died and left her shares of the Lightfoot family company. Best friend Chrissie had recently reconnected with her father Burke (the Lightfoot partner) and when he died, he left her the shares, offending not only his son but the wife who had turned a blind eye to his many indiscretions, until this rather obvious evidence of an affair showed up on their doorstep.
Phila and Chrissie had grown up together in the foster care system which had created a tight bond between the two. Which is why Phila is determined to keep a hold on the shares, even in the face of the devastatingly handsome Nick Lightfoot. Nick hasn't kept in touch with the family for about two years, when his father married Nick's ex-wife. But he's back, and determined to get the family shares back from Phila so that he can take over the family firm. But Phila is determined to make sure that she does the right thing, even for this family that she's sure drove her friend to driving drunk in the accident that killed her.
Lots of left-wing, right-wing political discussions and a great subplot including Nicks cousin and the cousin's wife who have been not quite separated for a few years but still love each other.

[Lara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoy the audiobook version of this book and have listened to it multiple times. The heroine is a social worker who grew up in foster care after being orphaned and losing her grandmother as a child. Recently her best friend died and left her shares in a family-owned corporation. The two families that own the company want the shares back and have sent one of their own to convince her to let them go. There is history between the hero and the families that Philadelphia manages to tease out of everyone. She is kind but unwavering, and advocate for the downtrodden and unafraid to stand up to those with more power then her. There are a lot of uncomfortable, even cruel, conversations that occur yet the tone of the book never devolves into drama for the sake of it.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is my all time favorite Krentz. I love heroines who "fix" things plus the rottweilers were a wonderful addition. The dynamics between Tec and Phila are alone worth the price of the book, and Jordan's "soundtrack" problems are priceless. Put a liberal social worker (Philadelphia Fox) together with a right-wing military family (of which Nicodemus Lightfoot is a member) and you get a recipe for humor and political commentary which Krentz then mixes with suspense and pathos to create an outstanding reading experience, one I enjoy over and over.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. There are so many layers, an illegitimate daughter who creates havoc, a woman who married the wrong man, a son thrown out of the family for a terrible misunderstanding, a father who won't admit to his mistake. And best of all, Philadelphia Fox, a woman with her own secret who has a sense of right and wrong that she will stick to even if it jeopardizes the future of the man she loves. Venus fly-traps and guard dogs who aren't very guard dog at all and marital spats and power struggles and all, truly worth rereading - and I have.

[Ligia Moisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Inițial mi s-a părut clișeică, dar descoperind poveștile de viață ale personajelor am devenit captivată. Familii disfuncționale găsești la fiecare pas, și uneori ai nevoie doar de o persoană din exterior care să vadă lucrurile dintr-o altă perspectivă.
Amanda Quick ne prezintă realitatea dură în care trăim, punând mare accent și pe ce am putea face ca să schimbăm lucrurile. Și toate astea într-un superb roman de dragoste așa cum ne-a obișnuit.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lost a star for excessive use of baby, lady, sweetheart, honey!

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Golden Chance
4 Stars

Published in 1990, this older work by JAK is definitely a product of its time, touching on some of the era's predominant issues including the clash between conservatives and liberals as well as women's continued struggle for sexual liberation and professional recognition. These concerns are reflected not only in the dynamics between the hero, Nick Lightfoot, the scion of a powerful conservative family, and the heroine, Philadelphia, a left-wing liberal social worker, but also in the actions and interactions of the secondary characters.

Nevertheless, the story is first and foremost a romance, and in this regard, it has withstood the test of time. Nick and Phila are a delightful couple despite his arrogant and somewhat patronizing attitude and her quirky, free-spirited approach to life. They have great chemistry, and it is clear that their feelings for one another are based on true caring and mutual respect irrespective of their clashing personalities.

The rest of the plot focusing on the conflicts within the Lightfoot-Castleton families is reminiscent of the prime time soaps so common in the late 80s and early 90s particularly Dynasty, Dallas and Falcon's Crest. It is easy very easy to picture J.R. Ewing, Blake Carrington and Angela Channing in JAK's characters.

All in all, a light and entertaining read with just the right mix of romance, suspense and intrigue.

[Althea Talib · Rating 4 out of 5]

This woman called Philadelphia Fox lost the bestfriend she ever had because of the fabulously rich and powerful Lightfoot family of Washington state.Now she's got her friend's controlling shares in Lightfoot industries. Which is an inheritance that brings Nick, the extremely and notorious son knocking at her door. Read the book to know more !

This book is definitely my cup of tea. For people who love corny and dramatic love story between the poor girl and the rich man. This book is definitely your cup of tea. I will recommend it to my friends because i find this book have a different type of stroyline

[Kaitlyn Dunnett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another enjoyable re-read. These older romance and romantic suspense novels are set in the year they were written. To anyone reading one today, they aren't quite in the historical category, but they do reflect a time that was very different from the present day. I suspect that's why I find them so ideal as escapist reading. I can reflect on how things have changed for the better and temporarily ignore the ways things have gotten worse.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was fascinating, but sometimes it was fascinating in that "I can't take my eyes off that train wreck" kind of way. I loved that the plot and characters were much more complex and interesting than in many romances. JAK manages to make you feel sympathy even for the people you didn't want to like. There was a lot of great, emotional dialog. In fact, the interactions between the large cast of characters propels the plot, and JAK handles those conversations very well.

Unfortunately, I never truly warmed up to Philadelphia, the female lead. The Golden Chance was published in 1990, but the heroine sounded more like someone from the 1960's and 70's, spouting cliched lines about corporate greed and equating all military contracts with financing "death machines." She was rude and confrontational on and off throughout the book. Even so, the book's complexity was compelling, and I couldn't wait to see various mysteries and motives being unraveled.

The narration by Patrick G. Lawlor and Franette Liebow was spotty, imo. Lawlor voice was fine, but he sounds like he's trying too hard. Liebow had a better reading voice, but several of her character voices didn't fit for me. I've never listened to dual narration before, so that was an adjustment, too. I'm not sure if I like it as much as a good single narrator, but I'm open for more books done this way.

My last impression of the book wasn't a good one. The reader learns something late in the book that I found intolerable. We find out Phila resorted to being a vigilante to secure an arrest in a case of child abuse. No matter what the motive, our country's justice system is founded on truth, and framing someone in order to arrest them is wrong. It completely sunk my opinion of the heroine, and lowered my opinion of the author.

4* for complex plot minus 1* for dated feel and the late revelation about what the heroine is hiding. 3* overall.

3* for narration.

[Kate McMurry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic romance from 1990

JAK had been publishing romance novels around 12 years when this book came out, but it definitely has the tone of many of her earliest books from the 80s. Her writing has massively improved over the years. If you've never read a JAK novel, I would not recommend starting with this one.

Some years ago an audiobook recording of this novel existed which employed duet narrators: a male voice talent performing all of the male characters, and a female voice talent performing all of the female characters. It was far, far better than the current recording on offer. It's truly a shame that the previous recording is no longer available and this current recording is all that can be purchased. Unfortunately, the current female narrator has an unnatural, plodding style that is very irritating to listen to.

I rate the novel as 3 stars and the recording as 2 stars, an average of 2.5 stars that I have rounded to 3 stars.

[ReadKnitHoard · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite feel-good 90s JAK contemporaries. Quirky heroine, bumfuzzled but charmed hero, opinionated family.

Not old skool, but last century contemporary JAK. Delightful for its time, but the world has moved on. (It was quite discombobulating that the hero couldn't just search for information on his computer/phone, but had to have an assistant call another town and have a newspaper article faxed over. Mind. Blown!)(More mind-fucking was the Republican-Liberal Democrat h/h pairing that was played as no big deal. Because it wasn't in the last millennium! Ah, those innocent pre-2016 times when I couldn't tell the US political parties apart.)

[May Mostly Romance · Rating 5 out of 5]

ของเจนย์ แอนด์ ครานซ์

นี่เป็นหนังสือที่แม็กซ์บอกได้ว่าเป็นเล่มที่เรารักมาก และหยิบมาอ่านหลายรอบแล้วล่ะ อ่านขนาดที่ว่า แม็กซ์สามารถเล่าเรื่องราวในเล่มนี้ได้เป็นฉาก ๆ โดยที่ไม่ต้องหยิบตัวเล่มมาเปิดเพื่อทบทวนความทรงจำเลยแม้แต่นิดเดียว

ฟิลาเดลเฟีย ฟ็อกซ์เป็นตั๋วกลับบ้านของนิค ไลท์ฟุต หญิงสาวที่เป็นคนนอกและแทรกเข้าไปตรงกลางในความสัมพันธ์ที่ซับซ้อนของตระกู ลไลท์ฟุต และ แคสเซิลตัน หญิงสาวที่หลายคนเชื่อว่าจะทำลายทุกอย่างที่ตระกูลทั้งสองสร้างขึ้น

เป็นเวลาหลายปีแล้วที่นิคโดนเนรเทศออกจากกิจการของตระกูล เขาถูกมองว่าเป็นคนเลวที่เดินจากคู่หมั้นผู้เพียงพร้อมไป คู่หมั้นคนที่เขาปฏิเสธไม่ยอมแต่งงานด้วย ทั้งที่เธอกำลังตั้งท้อง จนพ่อของเขาต้องแสดงสปิิริตด้วยการรับผิดชอบแทนนิค ดังนั้นเมื่อเขาทราบเรื่องของฟิล่าว่า เธอรับมรดกเป็นหุ้นในบริษัทที่ก่อตั้งขึ้นโดยตระกูลไลท์ฟุต และแคสเซิลตัน เขาก็รู้ว่า เธอก็คือกุญแจสำคัญในการกลับคืนสู่บริษัทของตระกูลของเขา

นิคเกลี้ยกล่อมให้ฟิล่ายอมไปเยือนบ้านเกิดของเขา เพื่อให้เธอรู้จักคนในตระกูลทั้งสองดีขึ้น ในขณะเดียวกันเขาก็เตรียมแผนการที่จะเอาชนะการโหวตเพื่อเลือกผู้บริหารใน บริษัทที่กำลังจะมาถึง ทั้งสองต่างมีแผนบางอย่าง และทั้งสองก็เห็นว่าอีกฝ่ายคือคนที่จะทำให้แผนของพวกเขาสำเร็จ

สำหรับนิค ฟิล่าคือคนที่จะทำให้เขาพิสูจน์ตัวเองว่ามีค่าพอ เขาถูกขับไล่ออกจากบ้านอย่างไร้เกียรติในความผิดที่เขาไม่ได้ทำ นิคหยิ่งในศักดิ์ศรีเกินกว่าจะอธิบาย เขามองเห็นว่า การกลับมาอย่างยิ่งใหญ่ของเขาในการช่วยเหลือบริษัทเอาไว้เป็นสิ่งที่พิสูจน์ ตัวตนของเขา ในขณะที่ฟิล่าเองก็ยังสับสนและเสียใจกับการตายของเพื่อนสนิท คริสซี่ มาสเตอร์เป็นเพื่อนที่เธอรักที่สุด ชีวิตของคริสซี่ก็เหมือนฟิล่าที่ทั้งคู่เป็นเด็กที่เติบโตมาในสถานรับเลี้ยง เด็กกำพร้า แต่คริสซี่ค้นพบพ่อที่แท้จริงของเธอ เขาคือบอยด์ แคสเซิลตัน ซึ่งเป็นหุ้นส่วนกับพ่อของนิคในการก่อตั้งบริษัท เมื่อบอยด์เสียชีวิต เขาทำให้ทุกคนในครอบครัวช็อคที่ทิ้งมรดกเป็นหุ้นไว้ให้คริสซี่ ซึ่งเมื่อคริสซี่เสียชีวิตอีกคน หุ้นนั้นก็ตกมาอยู่ในมือของคนนอกอย่างฟิล่า

คนนอกที่ดูเหมือนไม่มีใครต้องการ แต่การมาถึงของฟิล่า เปลี่ยนแปลงความเข้าใจ และความคิดทั้งหมดของคนในตระกูลไลท์ฟุต และแคสเซิลตัน

นี่เป็นพล็อตเรื่องที่เจนย์ แอนด์ ครานซ์เขียนได้ดีที่สุด เธอนำคนนอกเข้ามาในสถานการณ์ที่ดูเหมือนปกติ เพียงเพื่อจะทำให้พวกเขาตระหนักว่า ชีวิตของพวกเขาห่างไกลจากคำว่าปกติ และคนคนนั้นก็เปลี่ยนแปลงชีวิตพวกเขาไปตลอดกาล

ฟิล่าทำให้ทุกคนในครอบครัวมองนิคด้วยสายตาที่เปลี่ยนไป ทำให้ทุกคนเริ่มตั้งคำถามถึงสิ่งที่เกิดขึ้นในอดีต และเธอทำให้ทุกคนเห็นว่า สิ่งที่สำคัญที่สุดก็คือครอบครัว

หนังสือเล่มนี้มีองค์ประกอบหลายอย่างของโซปโอเปร่านะคะ แต่ไม่มีช่วงไหนเลยที่ทำให้แม็กซ์รู้สึกอย่างนั้น นั่นเพราะการเขียนของเจนย์ลงตัว และฉลาด เธอสร้างสถานการณ์น้ำเน่าขึ้นมา แล้วใส่ตัวละครที่สดใหม่ (อย่างฟิล่า) ลงไป และทำให้มันกลายเป็นความสวยงาม

แม็กซ์ชอบฟิล่าเพราะเธอเป็นนางเอกที่เราไม่เคยเจอ (ในสมัยที่อ่านครั้งแรก) เธอเฉลียวฉลาด ซื่อสัตย์ และมองโลกด้วยสายตาของคนเจนโลก แต่ไม่เคยทำให้มันเปลี่ยนเธอเป็นคนที่กร้านโลก คนที่อ่านงานของเจนย์ แอนด์ ครานซ์คงจะคุ้นเคยกับบุคลิคของฟิล่าที่แม็กซ์พูดไป เพราะนี่คือจุดเด่นที่สุดในการเขียนเรื่องของเธอ

ในขณะที่นิค เขาอาจต้องการใช้ฟิล่าเป็นเครื่องมือ แต่เขาก็ตรงไปตรงมาอย่างยิ่ง ซึ่งนั่นทำให้เขาได้ใจของแม็กซ์ไปเต็ม ๆ

มีหลายฉากมากที่เรารักในเรื่องนี้ ซึ่งถ้าว่ากันตามตรง เรารักทุกอย่างที่ประกอบกันขึ้นเป็นหนังสือเล่มนี้ ทุกองค์ประกอบเล็ก ๆ ตั้งแต่ฉากที่ฟิล่ากินข้าวกับพ่อของนิค และทำให้เขาเริ่มตั้งคำถามกับความเข้าใจของตัวเองที่คิดว่า นิคเป็นคนผิดที่ทิ้งคู่หมั้นของตัวเองไป ไปจนถึงฉากสุดท้ายที่การโหวตให้ห้องประชุมเพื่อเลือกผู้บริหารคนใหม่

หนังสือเล่มนี้แนะนำให้แม็กซ์ได้รู้จักกับโรแมนซ์ในอีกรูปแบบนึง และเป็นจุดเริ่มต้นของความสัมพันธ์รักระหว่างเราและนิยายโรแมนซ์มาจนถึงทุก วันนี้

คะแนนที่ 97

[DJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! I don't know how I missed this in 1990! This is a MUST READ for all Jayne Ann Krentz fans!

"The Golden Chance" by Jayne Ann Krentz is a "MUST READ" for any fan of Romance Suspense genre but especially for those of us who love Jayne Ann Krentz! "Golden Chance" is Jayne Ann Krentz at her best. With more twists and turns than the largest roller coaster, edge of your seat action, and her usual array of characters so well-developed they zoom into your life as though they were real, you will get absorbed in the story and never want it to end! I guarantee you will be thrilled and entertained, completely mesmerized by Jayne Ann Krentz's masterful storytelling.

"The Golden Chance" is an easy read, and so captivating you will no doubt finish the novel in less than a day. Then if you are like me, you will bemoan the fact you read it so quickly and now are forced to say goodbye to new book friends! If I had my way I would move to Seattle and move into a condo next door to Phila Fox and Nick Lightfoot. ( Philadelphia Fox and Nicodemus Lightfoot- you have to love the names she uses for her memorable characters! They just ZING!)

Just a note- This is the first time that "Golden Chance" has appeared in e-book format. It was originally published March 6, 1990.

[Janet Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good early Jayne Ann Krentz romance novel. While well written, it is lacking in some areas. The setting just okay and some of her characters are somewhat predictable.
Nevertheless, the main ones do shine in this book. When Nick Lightfoot goes to a small eastern Washington town to wrangle shares of his family's company stock from an outsider, he doesn't count on instant sexual attraction.
But social worker Philadelphia Fox is no average female. At 26, the young woman is cleverer than Nick anticipated...and more intriguing.
So, Nick decides to adapt to the situation and invite her to a summer family gathering on the state's west coast.
There the plot thickens when the family meets and, one by one, each tries to coerce the shares from Phila. Once Nick seduces Phila, the story becomes even more intriguing.
And then a dangerous criminal from Phila's past arrives to further complicate matters.
Will the family pull together to save Phila, or will they abandon her to a horrible fate?
Read and find out.

[Maren · Rating 4 out of 5]

And romance of course. I am a little unsure how I feel about this book. The story centers around what happens to the share of an inheritance to a successful american family business. This family is highly dysfunctional and there's a lot of internal fighting, betrayal, intrigue, drama associated with it. The book is well written, it's well paced, if a little formulaic what with the final showdown. ALL the characters are flawed which made me oscillate constantly between liking the honesty and authenticity of their personalities and disliking them for their ethical and personal shortcomings. This contrast also shows in the romance. Both main characters definitely have their faults. I had problems to connect with Philadelphia, the fmc, all throughout, made worse by the interpretation of the narrator (I listened to the audiobook). Nevertheless, their journey is interesting. Maybe because of it. And there's no doubt that the intimate scenes were hot.

[Olga Godim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite of this writer. She wrote her best romance novels in the 1990s, but this one feels like a transitional piece from her earlier stories, which I never liked, because I didn’t like the male protagonists in them. I didn’t like him in this one either.
Nick is too manipulative, too calculating. The heroine, Phila, is useful to him, so he coldly seduces her and starts an affair with her. That he falls in love with her along the way is coincidental, while Phila, kind but idealistic, trusts him and loves him unconditionally almost from the beginning. I don’t see a happy marriage for this mismatched couple a few years down the road.
Still, it was a diversion and a nice summer read.

[Alina Geambasu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mi-a placut foarte mult cartea! Pentru ca de aceasta data, personajul masculin nu mai este un barbat batos, obisnuit cu ordinea si disciplina, ci un om foarte dragastos, amuzant si dornic de iubire. Nu ii este teama sau nu se jeneaza sa-i ceara ajutorul Philei ( referitor la actiunile detinute de ea). Phila, de pe alta parte, este atat de exploziva, agitata...face totul cu o viteza de 200 km/h ( vorba lui Nick) si a preferat sa renunte la razbunare si sa faca in asa fel incat sa ii impace pe toti Lightfootii si Castletonii. Cum sa nu o ador?

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

An oldie but a goodie. I’m a big fan of Krentz/Castle/Quick’s work so I rarely am disappointed in anything she writes. I thought this was a well written, character driven story that had more than a few surprises in its plot.
I loved watching feisty Phila hold her own against the family, but I will admit that I never truly warmed to Nick. His unwillingness/inability to sound the least bit guilty when he admitted to using Phila for his own agenda knocked him down a peg as a worthy hero, in my opinion.
Nevertheless, I very much enjoyed reading this book.

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

So much family drama!! But it made for a very interesting read. It was also good to get the POV's from some of the other family members, I think it ramped up the suspense to be teased with those little tid bits. I'm still not sure how Phila didn't loose her mind and cut her losses earlier. Nick was such an interesting character in the sense that he had no problem letting Phila take the lead in most situations but you still knew he was quietly in control of the relationship.

[Diane Morrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know how I missed this one? I really enjoyed this story, the characters and the plot. Philadelphia and Nick were perfect for each other. What an adventure! Had me laughing, mostly, but also wondering what had happened in the past, for both these characters and the families. Everything is explained and ends well in the end. Looking forward to reading more from this talented storyteller.

[Mattie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. Their chemistry was ok. I did like the banter between hero and heroine and that hero clearly liked heroine from the beginning, even with all her quirkiness. I also liked that hero wasn't a manwhore.

What I wasn't a big fan of was the heroine's political leanings and just there being any political talk at all in the story, I read to escape all that.

Also I didn't like that hero's ex wife was so present in the story (she married his father) and that at the end heroine softened on her and wanted hero to sell his family's company to her. P.

[Ahgase · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7
จะว่าสนุกก็สนุกดี แต่เอื่อยเล็กน้อย
แถมประโยคที่2ครอบครัวพูดนี่มีแต่แรงๆ ทั้งนั้น
เป็นกุคือมุงไม่ต้องเอาค่ะหุ้น
ไม่กุก็โก่งราคาแบบสุดแน่
มีการมาว่าพ่อแม่อีก กุคลั่งแน่ คุมอารมณ์ไม่ได้
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พระเอกก็ไม่ค่อยน่าไว้ใจ ดีที่แบบทันกัน
กุรู้นะมึงหลอก / เอออ กุหลอกจริง
ชอบตรงนี้ดี ส่วน nc ก็มีแบบหลายครั้งแต่นิดๆ
บรรยายนิดๆ พอร้อนรุ่ม
ดีที่มันเกลียดเมียเก่า
และกุทึ้งมากที่นางเอกเป็นคนไม่คิดมากเท่าไหร่
มีเหตุผลจนทึ่ง

[Jessica Kaminski Funk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably my least favorite book so far by this author and I’m not sure why exactly. I think it’s because I’ve read some of her more recent books and this was a bit older. More romance than mystery. I had a difficult time getting into it and set it down three or four times before being able to get through.