The dust jacket of In A Class By Itself says, “classic Sandra Brown,” and for once the dust jacket tells the truth. It was originally released as part of the Loveswept series of contemporary romances in 1984, and for those of us who enjoy Brown’s old Loveswepts, it’s a happy discovery.

Their ten-year high school reunion is a tense one for Dani Quinn and Logan Webster. They were more than just teenage sweethearts; they were deeply in love and committed to a future together. They ran away and got married, but before the union could be consummated, Dani’s snobbish parents whisked Dani away and had the marriage annulled.

Logan has never stopped loving Dani, nor has he ever forgotten the rage and despair he experienced when she left him. Dani, on the other hand, has changed a lot. No longer the school’s timid rich girl, she is now dedicated to a cause that has driven her to confront Logan again after all this time. She needs a favor from him, and she’s willing to face his scorn and bitterness if it will benefit her cause. She’s relieved when Logan agrees to grant her favor. What she doesn’t expect is for him to ask for something in return – one long-delayed wedding night.

In A Class By Itself is a good example of all the things I like about Sandra Brown’s series romances. It is a short book, only one hundred and ninety six pages long, but it’s nicely paced. The premise is set up perfectly at the high school reunion dance, and there are quite a few unexpected twists and turns before we get to the satisfyingly happy ending.

Character development is largely left by the wayside, and Dani in particular is sometimes inconsistent and hard to understand. Brown concentrates on chemistry instead, and the tension between our protagonists develops into several spicy love scenes. Brown hadn’t yet acquired her knack for knocking my socks off, and some of her descriptions are a little silly: “He enjoyed [her kiss] as one would the juicy, succulent, nectar-filled center of the tastiest fruit.” In spite of occasional awkwardnesses like these, this is a sexy, fun read, the kind that can be polished off in a few pleasant hours.

There has been some debate among AAR reviewers over whether we ought to let a book’s price affect the review. Normally I avoid doing so, but due to the fact that the publisher has chosen to package this book to look like something it isn’t, I make an exception here.

I give this book a B- grade because it is a good example of its kind: a mid-80s series romance, less than two hundred pages of light, unchallenging entertainment. But this year Bantam has reissued In A Class By Itself as a hardback, with a glossy dust jacket and a staggering price tag. I want to make clear that, although I do think that this book is worth reading, I do not recommend that you pay $18.95 for it unless you are a Sandra Brown collector.

In A Class By Itself starts with an interesting premise, and its journey to the inevitable conclusion is entertaining and not without a twist or two. It is the kind of book you would get as a pleasant surprise in your mailbox with your series subscription. But I would not dream of shelling out twenty bucks for it.