“Sizzle,” by Julie Garwood; Ballantine Books (2009), 320 pages, $26 (hardcover)

Julie Garwood fans have to wait a year or so for her to produce her books these days, but they’re definitely worth the wait.

Garwood, who once wrote about the tough and rugged men of the Scottish Highlands and the powerful and hunky lords of the English realm in historical novels, now creates modern-day stories — with tough and rugged, powerful and hunky modern-day men.

“Sizzle” features Sam in that role, and delightfully — even though Garwood doesn’t spell it out — he seems to be a descendent of Alec Kincaid, the tough and rugged Scottish laird in Garwood’s beloved novel “The Bride.”

Sam is an FBI agent who saved Alec Buchanan’s life. The Buchanans are the modern-day family with ties to Garwood’s latest books (certainly descendants of Brodick Buchanan of “Ransom”).

Sam becomes Lyra’s bodyguard, as a favor to Alec. Lyra is Sidney Buchanan’s friend and roommate, and when a couple of thugs come looking for Lyra, Sidney calls the calvary — her law enforcement brothers and brother-in-law (remember Noah Clayborne, descendent of the Mary Rose and her brothers in “For the Roses” and those spinoffs).

Since Sam is nearby, Alec tags him to help.

Sam is a hunk, and Lyra is a beauty. Sparks begin to sizzle. (Pun intended.)

Both try to resist their attraction, but it’s a useless endeavor. Of course, they succumb to the passion and love sizzling (pun intended again) between them and end up with a very nice happily-ever-after.But to get there, they have to navigate a few threats, thugs, bombs, mysteries and, of course, their own stubbornness.

One imagines Garwood painstakingly agonizing over every sentence in her book, making sure everything is perfect. Mostly because that’s how her writing comes across — perfect. The story flows well, the plot is intriguing and the characters are likable and real. The only bad part about reading one of Garwood’s books is knowing that when it ends, you have to wait another year to reunite with whichever characters she revives.

And with the Buchanans — and their in-laws and friends, and their families — she has plenty of options for future books.

How it stacks up
Overall rating: 5 of 5. If a book has Julie Garwood’s name on it, it’s guaranteed to be a meticulously written, well thought-out and thoroughly engaging story. No true romance reader could ever regret reading one of Garwood’s stories.

Hunk appeal: 10-plus. Sam is a prime specimen of the tough and rugged, competent and attentive, strong and hunky romance hero. He takes good care of Lyra.

Steamy scene grade: XXXX. Very good care.

Happily-ever-after: Very good, even though the surprise ending probably won’t be very surprising. If there is one almost-criticism of the book, it’s that many readers will figure out the “surprise” very early in the book — which makes you wonder why Sam and Lyra don’t. But that in no way takes away from the enjoyment of the captivating characters and engaging story.

Lezlie Patterson is a former columnist for The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C. Readers may send her e-mail at lpattersonsc.rr.com. To read more of her romance reviews, go to http://lezlie-romance.blogspot.com.