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One On One
It was an explosive combination...
Scientist Julie Stites arrived in Hawaii intending to study volcanic activity there. Little did she know most of the fireworks would take place in her own private villa....
Sharing her romantic hideaway was none other than Julie's childhood nemesis, Rand Maxwell. But Rand was no longer a gawky adolescent. He had, Julie decided, turned out very well indeed. And the powerful attraction was mutal...
Scientist Julie Stites arrived in Hawaii intending to study volcanic activity there. Little did she know most of the fireworks would take place in her own private villa....
Sharing her romantic hideaway was none other than Julie's childhood nemesis, Rand Maxwell. But Rand was no longer a gawky adolescent. He had, Julie decided, turned out very well indeed. And the powerful attraction was mutal...
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 1, 1985
About the author
Jenna Lee Joyce
9 books2 followersJenna Lee Joyce is a pen name for two friends who live eight blocks apart in Columbus, OH. They have collaborated on sixteen romances and can't conceive of a time when they'll stop working together.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 8, 2026
No reviews for this novel? Why? I love it so much, it has accompanied me for the last twenty years and I have reread it so many times that I know the lines by heart. It is fun, sexy, with spectacular settings and in some ways even instructive. There are so many things I got hooked on because a Harlequin character I read (several Shakespeare plays for example) liked them. In the specific case it is about volcanism and the story of the Polynesian goddess Pele.
Let's get to the story: Julie and Randall, both twenty-eight old, meet by chance after about 15 years of separation. Their mothers are a close-knit duo of authors of historical love stories written by two hands and published under a pseudonym. Best friends from college, incurable romantics, they decided that their children would be married from their birth. Julie and Randall then grew up together, and sparks were sparking between them… of rivalry. Julie was a tall, thin girl who regularly beat skinny Randall in basketball and other sports. He was pestiferous and teased her by calling her "Stilts", and she promptly renamed him "Skeeter". Their relationship evolved this way until adolescence, when Randall began to look at Julie differently and ends up giving her first kiss after a disastrous junior school prom. Unfortunately, life has taken its toll: Randall's father dies and his mother, unable to manage a hyperactive boy who reacted to pain by becoming even more terrible, was forced to enroll him in a military school.
Julie and Randall's paths split, their mothers casually keep them informed of how each other is doing, but nothing more, they never meet again on their respective home visits and get on with their lives. Julie is pursuing a PhD in volcanology, Randall has become a college professor at Columbia and is involved in sports support groups for difficult kids. Until the two Cupid mothers put a hand in it, much to the concern of Julie's father, serious and poised university professor of history, who just can't stop the unstoppable duo.
So Rand and Julie, unaware of everything, after a brief meeting in Honolulu, find themselves sharing a bungalow in Maui. And the old sparks are rekindled, because obviously both of them have grown up, beautiful, intelligent and interesting, and can't resist each other's attraction. Randall is smitten with her and would like to start a relationship right away, Julie, cautious, stubborn and independent, wants to wait until they get to know each other better as adults. Between passionate encounters and bickering, things don't seem to get going. The reaction of the mothers is hilarious:
“I can’t understand it,” Angela lowered her chin into her hands and emitted an unhappy sigh. “Real people are so unreliable. Everytime we set up an arranged marriage in our books, it tourns out so well. All the handsome hero has to do is set eyes on the beautiful maiden and he’s a goner. What’s wrong whit those two? Can’t they see that they’re meant for each other?”
The question went unanswered for so long that Angela was sure her partner felt too despondent to respond. Therefore, she jumped almost an inch off her chair when Sylvia let out a loud, joyous yelp. “Not to worry, my dear,” she advised breezily. “The course of true love never runs smooth. We’ve forgotten the scenario and we’re the ones who wrote it.”
At Angela perplexed look, she went on. “Don’t you see? This was inevitable. Do our heroes ever admit straight off that they’ve fallen head over heels in love with our lovely heroine? Of course, they don’t. The hero makes life miserable for the heroine until he’s reached the point of desperation, then he swallows his male pride and admits he can’t go on without her. Patience old friend. There’s still plenty of time for that to happen.”
Randall decides to play by Julie's rules and begins the courtship which results in the inevitable cloud of passion. But will love resist real life? Is their story destined to last the time of a vacation? Julie cares a lot about her career, they live practically on the other side of USA, and Rand always feels that he is the one who invests the most in their relationship.
The eruption of a volcano on an island in Hawaii, with Julie determined to study it and Rand rescuing her in Alpha caveman style, puts their relationship in serious danger and the two separate. They meet again after months at home for Thanksgiving. Each of them is too proud and saddened to take the first step. A basketball challenge one on one, like in the old days, will unlock the situation.
Julie, who in the meantime has taken her Ph.D, is now determined to pursue an academic career in Randall's same university, so as to inspire other young people to devote themselves to science and to allow him to continue working with difficult kids. The two happily join for their HEA and the irresistible duo of mothers are ready to make plans for the wedding and the grandchildren.
Let's get to the story: Julie and Randall, both twenty-eight old, meet by chance after about 15 years of separation. Their mothers are a close-knit duo of authors of historical love stories written by two hands and published under a pseudonym. Best friends from college, incurable romantics, they decided that their children would be married from their birth. Julie and Randall then grew up together, and sparks were sparking between them… of rivalry. Julie was a tall, thin girl who regularly beat skinny Randall in basketball and other sports. He was pestiferous and teased her by calling her "Stilts", and she promptly renamed him "Skeeter". Their relationship evolved this way until adolescence, when Randall began to look at Julie differently and ends up giving her first kiss after a disastrous junior school prom. Unfortunately, life has taken its toll: Randall's father dies and his mother, unable to manage a hyperactive boy who reacted to pain by becoming even more terrible, was forced to enroll him in a military school.
Julie and Randall's paths split, their mothers casually keep them informed of how each other is doing, but nothing more, they never meet again on their respective home visits and get on with their lives. Julie is pursuing a PhD in volcanology, Randall has become a college professor at Columbia and is involved in sports support groups for difficult kids. Until the two Cupid mothers put a hand in it, much to the concern of Julie's father, serious and poised university professor of history, who just can't stop the unstoppable duo.
So Rand and Julie, unaware of everything, after a brief meeting in Honolulu, find themselves sharing a bungalow in Maui. And the old sparks are rekindled, because obviously both of them have grown up, beautiful, intelligent and interesting, and can't resist each other's attraction. Randall is smitten with her and would like to start a relationship right away, Julie, cautious, stubborn and independent, wants to wait until they get to know each other better as adults. Between passionate encounters and bickering, things don't seem to get going. The reaction of the mothers is hilarious:
“I can’t understand it,” Angela lowered her chin into her hands and emitted an unhappy sigh. “Real people are so unreliable. Everytime we set up an arranged marriage in our books, it tourns out so well. All the handsome hero has to do is set eyes on the beautiful maiden and he’s a goner. What’s wrong whit those two? Can’t they see that they’re meant for each other?”
The question went unanswered for so long that Angela was sure her partner felt too despondent to respond. Therefore, she jumped almost an inch off her chair when Sylvia let out a loud, joyous yelp. “Not to worry, my dear,” she advised breezily. “The course of true love never runs smooth. We’ve forgotten the scenario and we’re the ones who wrote it.”
At Angela perplexed look, she went on. “Don’t you see? This was inevitable. Do our heroes ever admit straight off that they’ve fallen head over heels in love with our lovely heroine? Of course, they don’t. The hero makes life miserable for the heroine until he’s reached the point of desperation, then he swallows his male pride and admits he can’t go on without her. Patience old friend. There’s still plenty of time for that to happen.”
Randall decides to play by Julie's rules and begins the courtship which results in the inevitable cloud of passion. But will love resist real life? Is their story destined to last the time of a vacation? Julie cares a lot about her career, they live practically on the other side of USA, and Rand always feels that he is the one who invests the most in their relationship.
The eruption of a volcano on an island in Hawaii, with Julie determined to study it and Rand rescuing her in Alpha caveman style, puts their relationship in serious danger and the two separate. They meet again after months at home for Thanksgiving. Each of them is too proud and saddened to take the first step. A basketball challenge one on one, like in the old days, will unlock the situation.
Julie, who in the meantime has taken her Ph.D, is now determined to pursue an academic career in Randall's same university, so as to inspire other young people to devote themselves to science and to allow him to continue working with difficult kids. The two happily join for their HEA and the irresistible duo of mothers are ready to make plans for the wedding and the grandchildren.
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