Upon receiving a Notice to Quit Premises from her landlord, Veronica Jones takes stock of her life.  Facing her 30^th birthday with no sign of a love interest and instead having the obligatory cat in her life, she decides to take that last step in embracing her spinsterhood.  That’s right, single woman home ownership it is.  Little does our librarian know that this path will threaten her unwanted status. 

Scott Davis has watched all of his pals finding love and marrying.  He is heartily sick of being alone in his house, his business, and his life.  As he is lazing in his hammock out in the yard with these grim thoughts for company, he spies a vision in the window of his new neighbor’s house.  All that he is yearning for seems within his grasp and a plan of action is formed. 

This is a sweetly seductive romance that has Ms. Teglia’s trademark wit and humor.  The ferocious feline in Veronica’s life is a scene stealer and the conversations Sebastian’s owner tries to have with him will have one giggling.  One wishes that Sebastian had featured more in the story than he actually did. 

The hero of the tale really did seem to be the stuff of dreams.  He owned his own carpentry business, had hobbies of gardening and gourmet cooking, loved jazz, and was generally built like a hero.  Scott’s offer to teach his neighbor how to cook made for incredibly romantic opportunities, what with beautiful roses from his garden gracing the table and lovely music in the background.  This hero truly stimulated all of the senses. 

Several of us will relate well with the book-loving coffee-addicted heroine.  She is quirky, intelligent, and has a sense of humor.  Veronica and Scott’s first encounter involves her desperation for a fix of Java.  The path to love has never been so caffeine dependant. 

With all of the good things there was in this romance, there were some things that did not work.  One’s impression is that the hero is lonely and catching sight of an unknown woman somewhat undressed, he fixates upon her and is determined to bring her around to marriage.  Many of the scenes are heart tuggingly romantic but with an underlying tone of a calculated onslaught upon Veronica’s defenses.  The conflict when it comes has the hero going too far in his actions in order to win back the heroine.  Readers may find that the boundary of acceptable behavior is crossed and be even more surprised by the heroine’s reaction to it. 

All in all, Catalyst was a fun and sensuous diversion if one were not to take things too seriously. 

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