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A Century of American Romance/Dreams
A> Loverboy
"I crave your body." Seeing this message on her computer screen, Lucy Beckwith wondered if she'd finally gone mad. It had to be a mistake; at the very least, someone's idea of a bad joke.
"I want you, Lucy Beckwith." Her admirer certainly knew who she was—but when Lucy asked for his identity, all he said was, "Call me Loverboy.''
"I dreamed you were in my bed. " Erotic messages ... homespun poetry... outrageous flattery—Lucy couldn't help but fall for Loverboy's brand of old-fashioned romance.
"My heart is yours." Lucy couldn't believe two people could fall in love when they'd never even seen each other. But at the dawn of the twenty-first century, anything is possible... .
"I want you, Lucy Beckwith." Her admirer certainly knew who she was—but when Lucy asked for his identity, all he said was, "Call me Loverboy.''
"I dreamed you were in my bed. " Erotic messages ... homespun poetry... outrageous flattery—Lucy couldn't help but fall for Loverboy's brand of old-fashioned romance.
"My heart is yours." Lucy couldn't believe two people could fall in love when they'd never even seen each other. But at the dawn of the twenty-first century, anything is possible... .
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
35 people want to read
About the author
Judith Arnold
183 books173 followersBarbara Keiler
aka Ariel Berk, Thea Frederick, Judith Arnold
Barbara Keiler was born on April 7th. She started telling stories before shecould write. She was four when her sister, Carolyn, stuffed a crayon intoher hand and taught her the alphabet, and she's been writing ever since.
Barbara is a graduate of Smith College, where she learned to aim for thestars, and she received a master's degree in creative writing from BrownUniversity, where she took aim at a good-looking graduate student in thechemistry department and wound up marrying him. She says: "Before myhusband and I were married, I had a job in California and he was working onhis Ph.D. in Rhode Island. I became ill, and he hopped on a plane and flewacross the country to be with me. Neither of us had any money, but he saidhe simply couldn't concentrate on his research, knowing I was three thousandmiles away and facing a serious health problem all by myself. He stayed fortwo weeks, until I was pretty well recovered. That he would just drop whathe was doing, put his life on hold and race to my side told me how much heloved me. After that, I knew this was the man I wanted to marry."
Barbara has received writing fellowships from the Shubert Foundation and theNational Endowment for the Arts, and has taught at colleges and universitiesaround the country. She has also written several plays that have beenprofessionally staged at regional theaters in San Francisco, Washington, D.C.,Connecticut and off-off-Broadway.
Since her first romance novel's publication in 1983 as Ariel Berk. Shewrote one novel as Thea Frederick, and since 1985 she writes asJudith Arnold. Barbara has sold more than 70 novels, with eight millioncopies in print worldwide. She has recently signed a contract with MIRABooks. Her first MIRA novel will appear in 2001. She has received severalawards from Romantic Times Magazine, including awards for the Best HarlequinAmerican Romance of the Year, Best Harlequin Superromance of the Year, BestSeries Romantic Novel of the Year and a Lifetime Achievement Certificate ofMerit for Innovative Series Romance. She has also been a finalist for theGolden Medallion Award and the RITA Award for Romance Writer of America. Hernovel Barefoot in the Grass has appeared on the recommended reading listsdistributed by cancer support services at several hospitals.
Barbara lives in a small town not far from Boston, Massachusetts, New England with her husband, two teenage sons, and a guinea pig named Wilbur. Her sister Carolyn died of breast cancer in 1998.
aka Ariel Berk, Thea Frederick, Judith Arnold
Barbara Keiler was born on April 7th. She started telling stories before shecould write. She was four when her sister, Carolyn, stuffed a crayon intoher hand and taught her the alphabet, and she's been writing ever since.
Barbara is a graduate of Smith College, where she learned to aim for thestars, and she received a master's degree in creative writing from BrownUniversity, where she took aim at a good-looking graduate student in thechemistry department and wound up marrying him. She says: "Before myhusband and I were married, I had a job in California and he was working onhis Ph.D. in Rhode Island. I became ill, and he hopped on a plane and flewacross the country to be with me. Neither of us had any money, but he saidhe simply couldn't concentrate on his research, knowing I was three thousandmiles away and facing a serious health problem all by myself. He stayed fortwo weeks, until I was pretty well recovered. That he would just drop whathe was doing, put his life on hold and race to my side told me how much heloved me. After that, I knew this was the man I wanted to marry."
Barbara has received writing fellowships from the Shubert Foundation and theNational Endowment for the Arts, and has taught at colleges and universitiesaround the country. She has also written several plays that have beenprofessionally staged at regional theaters in San Francisco, Washington, D.C.,Connecticut and off-off-Broadway.
Since her first romance novel's publication in 1983 as Ariel Berk. Shewrote one novel as Thea Frederick, and since 1985 she writes asJudith Arnold. Barbara has sold more than 70 novels, with eight millioncopies in print worldwide. She has recently signed a contract with MIRABooks. Her first MIRA novel will appear in 2001. She has received severalawards from Romantic Times Magazine, including awards for the Best HarlequinAmerican Romance of the Year, Best Harlequin Superromance of the Year, BestSeries Romantic Novel of the Year and a Lifetime Achievement Certificate ofMerit for Innovative Series Romance. She has also been a finalist for theGolden Medallion Award and the RITA Award for Romance Writer of America. Hernovel Barefoot in the Grass has appeared on the recommended reading listsdistributed by cancer support services at several hospitals.
Barbara lives in a small town not far from Boston, Massachusetts, New England with her husband, two teenage sons, and a guinea pig named Wilbur. Her sister Carolyn died of breast cancer in 1998.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 13, 2021
Published in 1991, Judith Arnold's A>Loverboy is the final installment in the Harlequin American Romance line "A Century of Romance" series. There were ten books in the series, each one focusing on a decade in the 20th century. Even though they were published through a category romance line, all the books could be considered "historical" romances. All, that is, except A>Loverboy, which is definitely historical fantasy.
Or speculative fiction. Take your pick. Because instead of taking place in 1991, it's set near the end of the decade and of the century--the end of the millennium, in fact.
A> Loverboy is a humorous romance about two coworkers falling in for each other in an unusual way. Before there was "You've Got Mail" with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, there was this book.
Lucy Beckwith is an uptight divorcee working in tech. (You can tell I know nothing about computers because of the phrasing I use). Back in the 1980s, Jim Kazan was a young prodigy who'd hacked into the Pentagon, I think. This brought him notoriety, instant fame and put him on the covers of every major magazine.
Years later, he's still working in computers, this time in the "new Silicon Valley" of Kansas. In this reality, "The Big One" had finally hit California in the early part of the 1990s, disrupting its economy and causing many businesses to move out of state.
Lucy doesn't think much of Jim, except to find him an egoist who lives off his hacker reputation.
One night Lucy starts getting mysterious messages on her work computer.
"A> I crave your body."
Why would anyone crave her body? Lucy wonders. Her ex-husband hadn't thought much of her shape. Her breasts were the size of lemons, for goodness sake!
"A> I want you, Lucy Beckwith." The messages continued. Rather than being disgusted, Lucy was intrigued. Who was this mysterious admirer?
"A> Call me Loverboy.'' The glowing words on her screen stated.
It's no surprise that the man behind the messages is the arrogant big-shot Lucy can't stand, Jim Kazan. Jim tries his best to woo her online and in real life. In time, Lucy finds herself melting for both suitors. Jim's confidence isn't so off-putting once she gets to know him. And being desired by a secret admirer is working wonders on her own confidence.
This book was witty and quirky. Although it has aged oddly. It's funny to see what Arnold's ideas of the future entailed and see what she got right or got wrong. Reading A> Loverboy was akin to watching movies from the 1980s that predicted aliens and hovercars by the year 2020. I mean, sure, the aliens are here, just hiding in plain sight, as lizard people are wont to do.
But we were promised hovercars, too, dammit! People in 1999 wore special jackets to block out the UV rays. In the Current Year, almost everybody wears a minimum of SPF 55 sunblock when they step into the sunlight. I remember when sunblock with an SPF of 10 was a big deal. And PABA-free! (Does any modern sunscreen contain that anymore?)
Arnold did predict reality tv right. Or at least, "The Bachelor"-like programs where people "find love" in front of cameras and millions of viewers.
There's a subplot about a teenage girl, Dara Lyn, who believes that Jim is her father, as she's the result of an IVF pregnancy to a single mom. Jim supposedly donated a specimen to a fertility clinic years ago, and she's connected the dots to him.
But the subplot is a minor one and takes backstage to the main love story. Jim is a charming rogue, an Alpha nerd who is determined to get the woman he wants. He desires Lucy not only for her body but her brains as well.
What will happen when Lucy realizes the man who's won her heart like a cyber Cyrano de Bergerac is, in reality, the smartass, know-it-all whose superior airs and sexy smile drive her crazy?
Despite not being an accurate representation of the 1990s, I really enjoyed this engaging little romance. Lucy was a very realistic depiction of an insecure woman who flourished under some much-deserved adoration. Jim was a cute, witty hero. Arnold's humorous handling of this romance left me smiling.
4 stars
Or speculative fiction. Take your pick. Because instead of taking place in 1991, it's set near the end of the decade and of the century--the end of the millennium, in fact.
A> Loverboy is a humorous romance about two coworkers falling in for each other in an unusual way. Before there was "You've Got Mail" with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, there was this book.
Lucy Beckwith is an uptight divorcee working in tech. (You can tell I know nothing about computers because of the phrasing I use). Back in the 1980s, Jim Kazan was a young prodigy who'd hacked into the Pentagon, I think. This brought him notoriety, instant fame and put him on the covers of every major magazine.
Years later, he's still working in computers, this time in the "new Silicon Valley" of Kansas. In this reality, "The Big One" had finally hit California in the early part of the 1990s, disrupting its economy and causing many businesses to move out of state.
Lucy doesn't think much of Jim, except to find him an egoist who lives off his hacker reputation.
One night Lucy starts getting mysterious messages on her work computer.
"A> I crave your body."
Why would anyone crave her body? Lucy wonders. Her ex-husband hadn't thought much of her shape. Her breasts were the size of lemons, for goodness sake!
"A> I want you, Lucy Beckwith." The messages continued. Rather than being disgusted, Lucy was intrigued. Who was this mysterious admirer?
"A> Call me Loverboy.'' The glowing words on her screen stated.
It's no surprise that the man behind the messages is the arrogant big-shot Lucy can't stand, Jim Kazan. Jim tries his best to woo her online and in real life. In time, Lucy finds herself melting for both suitors. Jim's confidence isn't so off-putting once she gets to know him. And being desired by a secret admirer is working wonders on her own confidence.
This book was witty and quirky. Although it has aged oddly. It's funny to see what Arnold's ideas of the future entailed and see what she got right or got wrong. Reading A> Loverboy was akin to watching movies from the 1980s that predicted aliens and hovercars by the year 2020. I mean, sure, the aliens are here, just hiding in plain sight, as lizard people are wont to do.
But we were promised hovercars, too, dammit! People in 1999 wore special jackets to block out the UV rays. In the Current Year, almost everybody wears a minimum of SPF 55 sunblock when they step into the sunlight. I remember when sunblock with an SPF of 10 was a big deal. And PABA-free! (Does any modern sunscreen contain that anymore?)
Arnold did predict reality tv right. Or at least, "The Bachelor"-like programs where people "find love" in front of cameras and millions of viewers.
There's a subplot about a teenage girl, Dara Lyn, who believes that Jim is her father, as she's the result of an IVF pregnancy to a single mom. Jim supposedly donated a specimen to a fertility clinic years ago, and she's connected the dots to him.
But the subplot is a minor one and takes backstage to the main love story. Jim is a charming rogue, an Alpha nerd who is determined to get the woman he wants. He desires Lucy not only for her body but her brains as well.
What will happen when Lucy realizes the man who's won her heart like a cyber Cyrano de Bergerac is, in reality, the smartass, know-it-all whose superior airs and sexy smile drive her crazy?
Despite not being an accurate representation of the 1990s, I really enjoyed this engaging little romance. Lucy was a very realistic depiction of an insecure woman who flourished under some much-deserved adoration. Jim was a cute, witty hero. Arnold's humorous handling of this romance left me smiling.
4 stars
July 21, 2018
3.25 stars
This was just okay! The hero came across as very cocky and immature. H/h have been co-workers for two years but she doesn't like him while he has the hots for her. So, he manages to get himself assigned to her project & starts messaging her as loverboy. I just didn't find it very romancey!
This was just okay! The hero came across as very cocky and immature. H/h have been co-workers for two years but she doesn't like him while he has the hots for her. So, he manages to get himself assigned to her project & starts messaging her as loverboy. I just didn't find it very romancey!
June 11, 2012
Judith Arnold and I connected on Twitter and I asked her about this book. I had read it many years ago. It was fun, futuristic for it's time (1991), and showed a bad boy hero who was already reformed and desperately in love with a uber smart, unique heroine. It talked about news being sent electronically, wearing protection from the sun's UV rays, reality TV shows (book mentions something called "The Love Channel"), and many other "futuristic" things that have since come to pass in some manner. The author note in the beginning of the re-released version that it was a "century" novel line submission intended to project what life would be like by the year 2000. Well, she did a very good job of guessing. LOL
After years of my tastes in romances changing, partly because I'm an author myself now, this was still a really good read. It was just as enticing for me to see James Kazan playing with his "retro" slinky and trying to figure out how to seduce Lucy who he loved for her amazing brain. A reader could make the argument that Jim is a beta hero if they don't pick up that he uses his brain in very alpha hero ways to win her. Ala "Shop Around The Corner" and "You Got Mail", Jim woos Lucy with two identities. Her reactions to each are still delightfully surprising. Personally, I believe the hero in this older novel is very timely for 2012. Jim is a good example of the new geeky, sexy male and why he appeals to females.
I encourage you to ignore the cover in this list and read this book regardless. The old cover does not in any way do the story justice, as was the case with many category romances. The new cover on my ebook version shows a laptop and is much better, more fitting.
Kudos for this wonderful story Ms. Arnold. Thanks for a pleasant weekend read and a walk down memory lane that I'm glad I took.
After years of my tastes in romances changing, partly because I'm an author myself now, this was still a really good read. It was just as enticing for me to see James Kazan playing with his "retro" slinky and trying to figure out how to seduce Lucy who he loved for her amazing brain. A reader could make the argument that Jim is a beta hero if they don't pick up that he uses his brain in very alpha hero ways to win her. Ala "Shop Around The Corner" and "You Got Mail", Jim woos Lucy with two identities. Her reactions to each are still delightfully surprising. Personally, I believe the hero in this older novel is very timely for 2012. Jim is a good example of the new geeky, sexy male and why he appeals to females.
I encourage you to ignore the cover in this list and read this book regardless. The old cover does not in any way do the story justice, as was the case with many category romances. The new cover on my ebook version shows a laptop and is much better, more fitting.
Kudos for this wonderful story Ms. Arnold. Thanks for a pleasant weekend read and a walk down memory lane that I'm glad I took.
October 10, 2015
Enough sweetness for right-side eater
Judith Arnold’s A> Loverboy says in her Author Note that the story was written in 1989 under a Harlequin project called “A Century of Romance”. Her story is set on the eve of the year 2000 in a world where a massive earthquake has hit California (The Big One), transplanting Silicon Valley to Kansas where we meet Dr. Lucy Beckwith. Lucy moved to Kansas after her divorce and is a software programmer designing a model city called “Smart-Town” when another programmer, Dr. James Kazan, expresses an interest in her project. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem, but Jim has a reputation for high-jacking projects, showing off, and leaving when he gets bored.
Lucy has ignored Jim’s professional and personal interest, content to focus on her work, until she begins to receive secret notes from another programmer calling himself, “Loverboy”.
Who is Loverboy?
There were so many things I loved about Arnold’s book. The writing and world-building was superb with small details that made the ‘future’ very believable. Lucy and Jim were both very complex characters. I loved that Lucy was a software programmer, a professional woman working for a high-profile company and negotiating office conflict with Jim. I loved that she was the serious one in the relationship, perhaps frozen and unable to move forward because of her divorce. Jim, on the other hand, seemed more of the extrovert, but there were things he kept private, allowing only Lucy close enough to know the real him.
My favorite and most unique pieces of her book were the geeky romantic touches that made me sigh out loud. Only in a geek romance would the hero write poetry or develop code showing a graphic of two hearts beating as one. My greatest appreciation for her book is the message: Romance is in the heart of the beholder. What one person thinks as romantic could be something entirely different for someone else. And geek love is something truly unique (just attend a comic con if you want more examples). And seeing the romantic gestures Jim bestowed upon Lucy under the guise of “A> Loverboy” enabled them to connect at ‘safe’ place Lucy where didn’t feel as vulnerable.
If I had any quibbles with “A> Loverboy” it was the plot progressed rather predictably. I wasn’t surprised at the “dark moment” or the “resolution”. Some readers might be used to a higher heat level, but that wouldn’t fit in with the Harlequins of the time period.
Judith Arnold’s A> Loverboy says in her Author Note that the story was written in 1989 under a Harlequin project called “A Century of Romance”. Her story is set on the eve of the year 2000 in a world where a massive earthquake has hit California (The Big One), transplanting Silicon Valley to Kansas where we meet Dr. Lucy Beckwith. Lucy moved to Kansas after her divorce and is a software programmer designing a model city called “Smart-Town” when another programmer, Dr. James Kazan, expresses an interest in her project. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem, but Jim has a reputation for high-jacking projects, showing off, and leaving when he gets bored.
Lucy has ignored Jim’s professional and personal interest, content to focus on her work, until she begins to receive secret notes from another programmer calling himself, “Loverboy”.
Who is Loverboy?
There were so many things I loved about Arnold’s book. The writing and world-building was superb with small details that made the ‘future’ very believable. Lucy and Jim were both very complex characters. I loved that Lucy was a software programmer, a professional woman working for a high-profile company and negotiating office conflict with Jim. I loved that she was the serious one in the relationship, perhaps frozen and unable to move forward because of her divorce. Jim, on the other hand, seemed more of the extrovert, but there were things he kept private, allowing only Lucy close enough to know the real him.
My favorite and most unique pieces of her book were the geeky romantic touches that made me sigh out loud. Only in a geek romance would the hero write poetry or develop code showing a graphic of two hearts beating as one. My greatest appreciation for her book is the message: Romance is in the heart of the beholder. What one person thinks as romantic could be something entirely different for someone else. And geek love is something truly unique (just attend a comic con if you want more examples). And seeing the romantic gestures Jim bestowed upon Lucy under the guise of “A> Loverboy” enabled them to connect at ‘safe’ place Lucy where didn’t feel as vulnerable.
If I had any quibbles with “A> Loverboy” it was the plot progressed rather predictably. I wasn’t surprised at the “dark moment” or the “resolution”. Some readers might be used to a higher heat level, but that wouldn’t fit in with the Harlequins of the time period.
May 18, 2014
This may be a dated story, but some of it still comes across as very futuristic. The romance in the story is cute, somewhat unique, and extremely enjoyable! Jim is a very over the top character, but his feelings are genuine. Lucy portrays the "Ice Queen" quite well, but I wonder if it covers more hurt than just the situation with her ex. This is one of my go-to comfort reads when things really aren't going that great, and it is still as relevant as when it was written.
July 23, 2007
OK, but very dated.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews