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In a Heartbeat
Once she was his secret. Now she is his only hope....
In a New York hospital, a powerful real estate developer lies suspended between life and death while police scramble to solve the mystery of his shooting. With Ed Vincent slipping in and out of consciousness, a detective has one clue to begin his hunt — a name that lingered on Vincent’s lips.
But who is the woman Vincent calls Zelda? Is she his killer — or lover?
When Detective Marco Camelia finds Zelda, and as she begins to tell him an extraordinary story, another series of mysteries of a man who is not what people thought him to be, of the woman he loved, and of the ties that can hold two people together even when so much keeps them apart.
For Detective Camelia, an explosive case is becoming a haunting journey of passion, pain, and awakening, as he struggles to protect an unforgettable woman from everything she knows — and the one thing she doesn’t....
In a New York hospital, a powerful real estate developer lies suspended between life and death while police scramble to solve the mystery of his shooting. With Ed Vincent slipping in and out of consciousness, a detective has one clue to begin his hunt — a name that lingered on Vincent’s lips.
But who is the woman Vincent calls Zelda? Is she his killer — or lover?
When Detective Marco Camelia finds Zelda, and as she begins to tell him an extraordinary story, another series of mysteries of a man who is not what people thought him to be, of the woman he loved, and of the ties that can hold two people together even when so much keeps them apart.
For Detective Camelia, an explosive case is becoming a haunting journey of passion, pain, and awakening, as he struggles to protect an unforgettable woman from everything she knows — and the one thing she doesn’t....
400 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 28, 2000
83 people are currently reading
243 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Adler
66 books592 followersBorn in Yorkshire, North England, Elizabeth Adler met her husband Richard (an American) while both were working in London. They have lived in England, Ireland, France, Brazil, and the United States and have traveled extensively. They have one daughter and live in Palm Springs, California. Her first novel, Private Desires (also titled Leonie), launched an enormously successful writing career, she also wrote as Ariana Scott. She has now written over twenty internationally acclaimed bestsellers.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
March 5, 2013
There was one aspect of this novel that did not ring true. Adler molded a character and then wrote a subplot that was so out of character it just about ruined the whole book for me. It not only made no sense for Detective Camelia to fall deeply in love with Mel, it not only added nothing to the plot ... worse than that, Adler missed the opportunity to weave two love stories together in a meaningful way.
Camelia's character deserved better. His wife deserved better. And Adler's parting shot? "maybe after all, inside each man's heart there was room for more than one woman." Pitiful.
This from a man who married his high school sweetheart??? "... a Puerto Rican beauty who saw him through the distorted eyes of love as a kind of Arnold Schwarzenegger. She adored him" blah blah blah... And from his POV? "And he never dreamed of it [work] at night. No sir, he kept his work life in one compartment and his home life in another. When he got home late, [wife] Claudia would already be sleeping. She would curl herself, spoonlike around him, and he never thought about another thing, except the way she felt, and the way she smelled so sweet of Arpege, his favorite perfume. He was a lucky man."
And for what? Developing a story line that kept bringing Mel [at the bedside of her true love] and the married detective together added nothing to the book and missed the opportunity to run two parallel love stories.
Somebody close to her writing should have given her a big thumbs down when she went down this path.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 8, 2010
Normally I love Elizabeth Adler's books, but this one didn't impress me as much as I expected.
One reason i picked this book over another on my list of hers to read is because two of the main characters were from the south, and T thought that would make things a little more interesting. I think that took part of it away for me.
Also, I didn't like the premise that the happily married detective fell in love with Zelda/Mel and thought that maybe a man could love two women in his life. That is certainly possible, but I don't like reading books about affairs or men who cheat on their wives, and now, men who fall in love with other women.
I also didn't much like the fact that Mel left her daughter in California for a while expecting Harriet to watch her. It just seemed a bit flighty.
I did, as usual, like how she added suspense and intrigue into her plot line to make it more than just a sappy romance novel. I always love how easy it is to read her novels. She has a style of writing that pulls you in and just flows as she tells the story. She does a wonderful job of describing characters and getting you to like them and root for them, or dislike them and want them to be caught.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes love stories.
One reason i picked this book over another on my list of hers to read is because two of the main characters were from the south, and T thought that would make things a little more interesting. I think that took part of it away for me.
Also, I didn't like the premise that the happily married detective fell in love with Zelda/Mel and thought that maybe a man could love two women in his life. That is certainly possible, but I don't like reading books about affairs or men who cheat on their wives, and now, men who fall in love with other women.
I also didn't much like the fact that Mel left her daughter in California for a while expecting Harriet to watch her. It just seemed a bit flighty.
I did, as usual, like how she added suspense and intrigue into her plot line to make it more than just a sappy romance novel. I always love how easy it is to read her novels. She has a style of writing that pulls you in and just flows as she tells the story. She does a wonderful job of describing characters and getting you to like them and root for them, or dislike them and want them to be caught.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes love stories.
June 22, 2017
I have never read a book by Elizabeth Adler, and I probably won't again. I'm a sucker for books left random places with a "free" sticker on them, so this was a completely random book pick-up.
I was reading crap similar to this in middle school (I have a random memory of sneaking better stories from my mother), and I've grown up. Books like this aren't worth my time any more. Not that they were worth it in the first place.
The only "scene" in the book was completely lame, told in tandem between the lovers (one in a coma, the other "retelling" the story to him). A really stupid "love triangle," another case of "she doesn't know she's beautiful" (seriously, people?); and a really bad tie up in the end. Seriously - guy about to get caught, so revengeful, spends the whole book being all sorts of teh evil - and . Lame.
I was reading crap similar to this in middle school (I have a random memory of sneaking better stories from my mother), and I've grown up. Books like this aren't worth my time any more. Not that they were worth it in the first place.
The only "scene" in the book was completely lame, told in tandem between the lovers (one in a coma, the other "retelling" the story to him). A really stupid "love triangle," another case of "she doesn't know she's beautiful" (seriously, people?); and a really bad tie up in the end. Seriously - guy about to get caught, so revengeful, spends the whole book being all sorts of teh evil - and . Lame.
October 31, 2023
I read my first Elizabeth Adler book about 30 years ago and it stands out in my memory as one of my all time favorites. The book was Fortune is a Woman.
Since then I have read three more of her books, including this one, and none of them hold a candle to that first one! This book was on the boring side, with characters that were sappy and didn’t seem real. I finished it, so it gets two stars, but I would have been just as fine stopping mid-way and never finding out what happened.
Since then I have read three more of her books, including this one, and none of them hold a candle to that first one! This book was on the boring side, with characters that were sappy and didn’t seem real. I finished it, so it gets two stars, but I would have been just as fine stopping mid-way and never finding out what happened.
January 8, 2009
everything worked out in the end.....feel good book
October 27, 2016
2,5 stars
I enjoyed reading the first three quarters and then I found it was drawn out too long. Finished it, but thought it a Mills & Boon Plus, entertaining but no recommendation.
I enjoyed reading the first three quarters and then I found it was drawn out too long. Finished it, but thought it a Mills & Boon Plus, entertaining but no recommendation.
December 7, 2016
Not as good as her other books. This book dragged a bit and the story was somewhat predictable. Also did not like the "story" between Camilia and Zelda.
April 2, 2018
Mukavaa hömppää. Helppoa ja kevyttä luettavaa, vaikka muutama murhakin tapahtui.
September 26, 2018
This was a good read!
June 30, 2019
Fun read!
I hadn’t read any Adler books in a while. So glad I discovered this one and will be looking for more from Elizabeth again.
I hadn’t read any Adler books in a while. So glad I discovered this one and will be looking for more from Elizabeth again.
March 24, 2020
it wasn't as good as her other books maybe as it is an older book and style has changed but an ok read
March 27, 2020
Loved it!!
October 31, 2021
Thrilling - great story - hard to put the book down - my kind of story
November 2, 2021
Heartbeate doesnt
Noting like Ms Adlers previous books, which all were classics. Predictable. Enjoyable but not the excellence that is expecd of this author.
Noting like Ms Adlers previous books, which all were classics. Predictable. Enjoyable but not the excellence that is expecd of this author.
February 1, 2022
In a Heartbeat
Love Elizabeth Adler. Holds my interest and can't put book down. This was a great read. Highly recommend everyone else read this book.
Love Elizabeth Adler. Holds my interest and can't put book down. This was a great read. Highly recommend everyone else read this book.
November 6, 2022
Great read
This was a great read. It has all of the elements of a good story with suspense and romance. I would give it five stars.
This was a great read. It has all of the elements of a good story with suspense and romance. I would give it five stars.
September 29, 2023
It was an okay book, written more as a novel than a true mystery
October 4, 2023
thriller that you cannot put down.
Read
December 29, 2024A great read that will have you turning the page wondering what Will happen next.
November 13, 2025
Another great mystery
Love all her books. This one was a page turner! Kept me totally engrossed and on the edge of my seat
Love all her books. This one was a page turner! Kept me totally engrossed and on the edge of my seat
September 12, 2010
The urgent call sent millionaire Ed Vincent flying from Charleston to La Guardia in his Cessna in order to learn the identity of his rival on a property deal. After Ed debarks from his plane, a Sigma automatic greets him. In a coma, he is rushed to the hospital where the emergency staff struggles to save his life. Knowing he is going to die, Ed worries what will happen to his beloved Zelda, who will probably be the next target.
Zelda, who is actually Melba Merrydew, rushes to the hospital because she plans to keep her new found love alive. Zelda meets NYPD detective Marco Camelia who is assigned to the case. A happily married man with four kids, Marco finds himself desiring Melba. As they work together to uncover a killer, someone wants to make Zelda toast.
Zelda, who is actually Melba Merrydew, rushes to the hospital because she plans to keep her new found love alive. Zelda meets NYPD detective Marco Camelia who is assigned to the case. A happily married man with four kids, Marco finds himself desiring Melba. As they work together to uncover a killer, someone wants to make Zelda toast.
January 11, 2016
This turned out to be a great book (I went on vacation just as I finished this so did not get back to review it then.) It is about a man who is critically ill, on life support, but really it is about the people who know him. Some love him, and some hate him. So there is a lot of mystery surrounding just who might have tried to kill him. But even when you think you have an idea of who it was that meant to kill, you find that you have gotten to know those characters quite well and begin to understand why they may have had the motivation to do such a thing. My viewpoint kept changing as I read, which made me feel I really WAS part of the story. And there is a charming young girl involved in the mix, which adds warmth and humor to the tale. It was a great summer read!
June 28, 2010
randomly chosen from my big pile beside the bed.
quotes#790184 from my notebook
"Remember," she said again, "that a thing of beauty is even more beautiful if it has a use." p224
"Hard work is the only answer, son," he told Ed as they descended through the wispy morning fog, splashing through sparkling streams and over polished rocks. Through meadows waist-high with wildflowers, where orange and black butterflies unfurled their wings as the early sun warmed them. Down the rutted lane onto the narrow blacktop road that led into the local town, fifteen miles away. p107
[nothing startling but I like to capture descriptive passages on nature:]
quotes#790184 from my notebook
"Remember," she said again, "that a thing of beauty is even more beautiful if it has a use." p224
"Hard work is the only answer, son," he told Ed as they descended through the wispy morning fog, splashing through sparkling streams and over polished rocks. Through meadows waist-high with wildflowers, where orange and black butterflies unfurled their wings as the early sun warmed them. Down the rutted lane onto the narrow blacktop road that led into the local town, fifteen miles away. p107
[nothing startling but I like to capture descriptive passages on nature:]
August 18, 2016
I enjoyed this book. Mysteries are always fun reads, even if I did know the bad guy pretty early on. It was interesting seeing a good hearted character make good and fall in love, and of course overcome the evil eventually. Just a good read. Well written and fun to read. I really loved it! Not my normal style of book, but its fun to change it up now and then and this is a good one.
I bought this book myself. I was not paid for my review and all opinions are my own.
I bought this book myself. I was not paid for my review and all opinions are my own.
March 6, 2008
My sister gave me this book and I really enjoyed it. This book is about a rich guy who gets shot and of course they have to find the killer before he tries again. The guy who gets shot(Ed)is in a coma. His girlfriend and the cop go traveling to find out more about Ed in hopes that that will help them. This is the first of her books I read and I plan on reading more
August 30, 2016
This book combines a thrilling murder mystery, rife with buried family secrets, with two poignant love stories. Elizabeth Adler leaves the reader's heart aching, for loves realized and loves only discovered, whose embrace, however fleeting, is never forgotten. That the human heart is greater than we imagined is more curse than blessing.
November 13, 2015
I've never read Elizabeth Adler's books, and I haven't read much romance books, but this was fun and interesting enough to enjoy it and I read it quite fast, in a week. I loved how silly it was. It became slightly boring towards the end but it still wasn't bad. I just lose my interest a bit. I loved Mel, a great character. This was a bit too American for my taste though but it didn't matter.
February 26, 2016
a very rich man with a hidden past almost gets nailed after falling for a svelte single mom. A NY cop tries, and solves, the mess. Short chapters, fast moving “who dun-it” that was a perfect vacation read; via KY Unbound; read during Seoul vacation via my Kindle; 5 out of 5 stars; finished Feb. 22, 2016/#14
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews