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A Twist of Fate
They didn't trust each other . . . and couldn't resist each other.
When Kane Webster buys First Puget Bank, he knows he is buying trouble. Someone is embezzling funds, and the evidence points to Erin O'Toole. Kane is determined to see her incriminated -- until he meets her. He never expected to feel such an intense attraction to Erin -- or to fall in love with her.
After her divorce, Erin has no desire to get involved with anyone -- especially not her new boss. But she can't resist Kane Webster . . . even if she doesn't always understand his mysterious manner. Before she can help it, she's swept into a passionate affair with a man she barely knows . . . a man she already loves. But when she discovers Kane's suspicions, she must decide -- can she stay with a man who suspects her of criminal intent?
362 pages, Unknown Binding
First published September 1, 1983
99 people are currently reading
645 people want to read
About the author
Lisa Jackson
274 books9,744 followersLisa Jackson is the number-one New York Times bestselling author of over ninety-five novels, including the Rick Bentz and Reuben Montoya Series, the Pescoli and Alvarez Series, the Savannah series, and numerous stand alone novels. She also is the co-author of One Last Breath, Last Girl Standing, and the Colony Series, written with her sister and bestselling author Nancy Bush, as well as the collaborative novels Sinister and Ominous, written with Nancy Bush and Rosalind Noonan. There are over thirty million copies of her novels in print and her writing has been translated into twenty languages.
Before she became a nationally bestselling author, she was a mother struggling to keep food on the table by writing novels, hoping against hope that someone would pay her for them. Today, neck deep in murder, her books appear on The New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly national bestseller lists.
With dozens of bestsellers to her name, Lisa Jackson is a master of taking readers to the edge of sanity—and back—in novels that buzz with dangerous secrets and deadly passions. She continues to be fascinated by the minds and motives of both her killers and their pursuers—the personal, the professional, and the downright twisted. As she builds the puzzle of relationships, actions, clues, lies, and personal histories that haunt her protagonists, she must also confront the fear and terror faced by her victims and the harsh and enduring truth that, in the real world, terror and madness touch far too many lives and families.
Visit http://www.LisaJackson.com where you can find a Media Kit with photos and more information.
Before she became a nationally bestselling author, she was a mother struggling to keep food on the table by writing novels, hoping against hope that someone would pay her for them. Today, neck deep in murder, her books appear on The New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly national bestseller lists.
With dozens of bestsellers to her name, Lisa Jackson is a master of taking readers to the edge of sanity—and back—in novels that buzz with dangerous secrets and deadly passions. She continues to be fascinated by the minds and motives of both her killers and their pursuers—the personal, the professional, and the downright twisted. As she builds the puzzle of relationships, actions, clues, lies, and personal histories that haunt her protagonists, she must also confront the fear and terror faced by her victims and the harsh and enduring truth that, in the real world, terror and madness touch far too many lives and families.
Visit http://www.LisaJackson.com where you can find a Media Kit with photos and more information.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
March 31, 2021
Eieiei - bloß Hände weg von diesem Buch. Auf dem Cover steht zwar Thriller, aber den sucht man hier vergeblich.
Auch die Liebesgeschichte der beiden kann man wirklich nicht abnehmen 😬 war alles ziemlich unrealistisch.
Auch die Liebesgeschichte der beiden kann man wirklich nicht abnehmen 😬 war alles ziemlich unrealistisch.
July 15, 2010
Typical non-suspense contemporary romance from Jackson. You want to throttle both the H and the h at one time or another throughout the book.
June 22, 2024
Right on the heels of Scruples and sandwiched in with A Woman of Substance, which I am slogging through, I sped-read Lisa Jackson's debut novel A Twist of Fate. I had read something from her a while back and it was a bit silly but heavy on suspense and didn't shove purple, turgid prose into my eyeballs. This one, well... I don't want to rip it to shreds because again, first novel, the writer is feeling her way into the genre, but I'll keep it short. Underneath this terrible book is something interesting. The constraints of the romance genre force the poor writer to have to insert overblown scenes of meet-cute, foreboding, a bull-in-a-China shop of a man so dripping with testosterone he could farm an entire country with a touch of his magic wand and piercing eyes. Add to this, a heroine so mushy, so flimsy she makes Jane Bennett in Pride and Prejudice seem like Furiosa in Mad Max, and villains so in the periphery but they're also, too noisy to not be seen.
But by worst, is the pacing. In Chapter One, the Hero buys out the bank and gets incriminating info on its golden boy, who is like the Bernie Madoff of the 80s. He is, without any investigation that we are privy to other than a throwaway scene, convinced that there was an accomplice. Not just an accomplice but a female one.
So you know where this is headed.
By Chapter Two, he meets the simp of the heroine. By chapter three, the hero has muscled his way into her life and will not let go because, nope. He is an invasive species, and the woman will suffer him whether she likes it or not. By page 96, however, the female is head over heels in love. Say what?
And then it went all downhill for me. Every other chapter is about these two people who spar at each other with swords so blunt they may as well be cardboard. Emotions are plastic and shrill -- I kept getting Jim Steinman flashbacks of overproduced drama sung by the likes of Bonnie Tyler, Meatloaf, and Celine.
Why does romance keep two people locked together in a dance? And it must, why can its writers produce compelling characters that spout lines pregnant with innuendo? It's possible and it's been done -- every hard-boiled noir was written by a woman back in the 30s and 40s. And for all the "investigation", it's all so barely touched you wonder if the writer even knows what a procedural is, and how investigations take place. And yes, you can have steam in the middle of an investigation, and duplicitous characters, and twists of fate.
Just not this one. But it was her first. It's still a one-star.
But by worst, is the pacing. In Chapter One, the Hero buys out the bank and gets incriminating info on its golden boy, who is like the Bernie Madoff of the 80s. He is, without any investigation that we are privy to other than a throwaway scene, convinced that there was an accomplice. Not just an accomplice but a female one.
So you know where this is headed.
By Chapter Two, he meets the simp of the heroine. By chapter three, the hero has muscled his way into her life and will not let go because, nope. He is an invasive species, and the woman will suffer him whether she likes it or not. By page 96, however, the female is head over heels in love. Say what?
And then it went all downhill for me. Every other chapter is about these two people who spar at each other with swords so blunt they may as well be cardboard. Emotions are plastic and shrill -- I kept getting Jim Steinman flashbacks of overproduced drama sung by the likes of Bonnie Tyler, Meatloaf, and Celine.
Why does romance keep two people locked together in a dance? And it must, why can its writers produce compelling characters that spout lines pregnant with innuendo? It's possible and it's been done -- every hard-boiled noir was written by a woman back in the 30s and 40s. And for all the "investigation", it's all so barely touched you wonder if the writer even knows what a procedural is, and how investigations take place. And yes, you can have steam in the middle of an investigation, and duplicitous characters, and twists of fate.
Just not this one. But it was her first. It's still a one-star.
November 17, 2020
I got this book as an audiobook with 2 stories (Suspicions) and didn't realize the books were from the 1980s or I would have passed. The romances from that time seem to love to portray doormat heroines and adults who can't ever talk to each other about anything important and then they magically forgive all hurts for a HEA.
This one fell right in that genre. Erin was a complete doormat to everyone in her life - her ex-husband, ex-boss, co-workers, boyfriend. She & Kane never discussed anything of importance. And the stupidity of Kane was unreal - they suspected the crook had a female partner but they didn't look at all women in the bank or even in the legal dept & instead zeroed in on Erin; extremely dumb & frustrating. How could Kane supposedly fall in love with a woman who he believes is a liar and a thief? Typical 1980s "romance" but not for me.
This one fell right in that genre. Erin was a complete doormat to everyone in her life - her ex-husband, ex-boss, co-workers, boyfriend. She & Kane never discussed anything of importance. And the stupidity of Kane was unreal - they suspected the crook had a female partner but they didn't look at all women in the bank or even in the legal dept & instead zeroed in on Erin; extremely dumb & frustrating. How could Kane supposedly fall in love with a woman who he believes is a liar and a thief? Typical 1980s "romance" but not for me.
February 27, 2018
This is according to another website the debut novel of Lisa Jackson, and is in what is called the romantic-suspense genre.
Truthfully there was about as much suspense as well as when you are waiting for McDonalds to deliver your order - not that much and the romance wasn't that great either.
This has been done in similar fashion better by others, but bearing in mind this is book #1 for Lisa Jackson and she may improve.
We shall see.
This was an entry in the J challenge.
Truthfully there was about as much suspense as well as when you are waiting for McDonalds to deliver your order - not that much and the romance wasn't that great either.
This has been done in similar fashion better by others, but bearing in mind this is book #1 for Lisa Jackson and she may improve.
We shall see.
This was an entry in the J challenge.
February 24, 2019
Originally published in 1983, it really showed the age of the story but even more of the author.
This must have been one of her first books. It was almost too boring to finish, but I made an effort.
It was not believable at all, the characters were stupid and almost too silly for words. The way the two main characters got together was unbelievable and their story did not make me like them much better. Skip this one...
This must have been one of her first books. It was almost too boring to finish, but I made an effort.
It was not believable at all, the characters were stupid and almost too silly for words. The way the two main characters got together was unbelievable and their story did not make me like them much better. Skip this one...
October 3, 2021
Erin O'Toole works in the legal department of a bank. Kane Webster assumes control of the bank when his company buys it out, even though it's been losing money and one of the members of the legal dept. is suspected of stealing. Erin, too, is suspected. How she could be attracted to Kane when he alternates between coldness and heat is hard to understand, much less accept as realistic, but that is the basis for a relationship that seems far-fetched from beginning to end.
May 29, 2024
3 Stars
This is Ms. Jackson's debut romance and I enjoyed it very much. There is intrigue, betrayal, wrongful accusations. Always to the forefront is the uncertainty of new love, and the heat of a instant attraction. Kane and Erin are soulmates, and Ms. Jackson brought them to their HEA, albeit a rather speedy one.
This is Ms. Jackson's debut romance and I enjoyed it very much. There is intrigue, betrayal, wrongful accusations. Always to the forefront is the uncertainty of new love, and the heat of a instant attraction. Kane and Erin are soulmates, and Ms. Jackson brought them to their HEA, albeit a rather speedy one.
July 14, 2019
A wonderfully romantic tale. Just what is needed in a cold day. Beautifully written and just edgy enough
Not to put down.Can't wait to read more by this contemporary author. An advocate for women's rights. Strong female characters make it all. the more enjoyable.
Not to put down.Can't wait to read more by this contemporary author. An advocate for women's rights. Strong female characters make it all. the more enjoyable.
September 29, 2023
Author's first book -- not a terrible story line. I think it was very rushed and would have made a better story had she taken the time and draw it out a little bit more. The main characters fall in love within 3 days -- which can be reality but it just felt fake in this sense.
February 1, 2025
If you're lactose intolerant, stay away from this one. It's cheesy.
But don't judge the author on this book alone! Many of her other novels have been good reads. Romance novels just might not be my cup of tea.
But don't judge the author on this book alone! Many of her other novels have been good reads. Romance novels just might not be my cup of tea.
July 9, 2017
totally unbelievable. very predictable. disappointed. I usually like this author's books
January 5, 2018
If you like Lisa Jackson, don't bother with this one. Totally implausible, filled with turgid prose.
June 24, 2020
A hallmark story.
If you want to take a break from the mystery or thriller you usually read this is a light easy read love story. Great for a change. enjoyed.
If you want to take a break from the mystery or thriller you usually read this is a light easy read love story. Great for a change. enjoyed.
April 22, 2021
I love Lisa Jackson's books this was a very good book.
July 27, 2021
This is an okay book. Not one I'd read again. However it was fine for a one time read.
February 7, 2022
Surprised but dirty about the routines of this book
July 14, 2024
Not an LJ thriller, but an LJ romance. Wasn’t terrible, but not one i’ll yearn to read again. The romance moved way too quick imo.
February 6, 2017
Okay, I normally just rate books so that they will count toward my reading challenge. I rarely write reviews but I want to raise my hand on this one - is it supposed to be a mystery or a romance? I'm afraid the author didn't convince me on either front. I listened to the book while walking and the "romance" scenes were just embarrassing. No one feels the way these two characters are described. No one, especially not within an hour of meeting one another, and under stressful circumstances at that. So the romance, for me, got in the way of the mystery. I kept listening thinking that the mystery was going to take twists or turns but it never did. There was reference to this embezzlement all through the book and, if the main character wasn't the accomplice, there was only one other person introduced that could have been. There was absolutely no purpose for the ex-husband ... I thought we were going to learn that he had consorted with the main character's old boss while they were still married and had brought her into the scandal unwittingly. But no ... he just kept appearing but had no purpose. So it isn't a romance and it isn't a mystery and it just didn't work for me. I'm always sorry to say that because writing a book takes a piece of one's soul and I hate to be this critical of someone else's work. But I did want to warn others ... it doesn't get better and there are no redeeming qualities at the end. It's just not worthy of your time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 4, 2017
The Romance Gendre is not to my liking. I feel like there is a 50 page story stretch all out of proportion for some reason that does not appeal to me. I find I don't even like the characters and the story seems so canned. I know there are a whole lot of women who read and love these things , but not me.
January 12, 2015
NOT HER BEST
Been reading this author for years. In fact, she is one of my favorites. However, the characters in this story are ridiculous when compared to their professional backgrounds. Added to that, the plot was superficial and predictable. If you are looking for a twisting plot or complex characters, skip this one.
Been reading this author for years. In fact, she is one of my favorites. However, the characters in this story are ridiculous when compared to their professional backgrounds. Added to that, the plot was superficial and predictable. If you are looking for a twisting plot or complex characters, skip this one.
September 22, 2011
This probably is not a fair rating. My mystery book club chose to read her as an author. I was aware that she was both a mystery and a romance novel, but thought this was a mystery. It was not. I am not a huge fan of romance - got through it, but was not impressed.
September 20, 2015
I really liked this book (hence the 5 star rating) I have worked in the banking industry and met good and bad alike.
Good twists and turns as we and the story hero discover who the real bad guy/girl is and how to not get the heroine deeper in the mess than she already is.
Good twists and turns as we and the story hero discover who the real bad guy/girl is and how to not get the heroine deeper in the mess than she already is.
February 18, 2013
I was disappointed. I am not a romance novel-reader so I don't know how this would compare; however, I found it predictable and unbelieveable.
March 26, 2013
A slow start but easy read, but kind of... I don't know...weird. The back of the book says she is the one girl he can't have but that is not depicted at all. It was fun to read tough.
November 21, 2013
I would have given this book one star but I recognize I just do not care for a romance novels. It was categorized as a suspense but really was a dramatic Romance. Too meant sexual cliches for me.
July 19, 2015
That was worth reading for! Great book so far.
April 5, 2015
A nice little romance between the boss and his employee. He thinks she's an embezzler but he loves her anyway. You know it will have a happy ending.
May 30, 2016
Predictable it a fun read.
August 20, 2014
As my rating shows this book was just ok. The book could have had a better ending.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews