Sara Jackson enjoys the challenge of working for an exciting San Francisco law firm, but she also wants time to herself. Sara has vowed never to love a man blinded by ambition, but she questions whether she isn't falling into the ambition trap herself. Having grown up in a bad neighborhood, Lorenzo Duran knows exactly what he wants - power, money, and prestige. And the first step on the road to success is joining a law firm like Davis & MacGregor. The immediate attraction between Sara and Lorenzo quickly turns into a battle of wills, and their cultural differences set the stage for both confusion and commotion. What they have most in common, independence and strength of character, may be just what keeps them apart.

Joyce Marlow grew up as a military brat, and learned early on to enjoy facing new challenges. Until a few years ago, she was a legal administrator in the San Francisco Bay Area, managing a program for law students much like the one described in Perfect Partners. In 1992, Joyce moved to the beautiful Columbia Gorge in south central Washington. She lives on a farm, raises champion sheep, and teaches classes on fleece selection, picking and carding wool, felting, hand spinning, and knitting. She is also executive director of the Windward Center, working with people in transition. Her first two books, A Basket of Lilies and Maggie's Man, both placed in the finals of the Romance Writers of America national writing contest and are available from Avalon.

Perfect Partners is Joyce's third Avalon career romance.