Linda Howard Book Junkies discussion

Brett Rutland was Carter Engineering's top troubleshooter, so it was only logical for him to be sent to the L.A. office to crack a case of embezzlement.

Brett was a hard man--he had to be--in his line of work, so it hit him like a sledgehammer when he fell in love with Tessa Conway. Half the men in the office had been in love with her for years, but Brett was the first she'd loved in return.

Their love was perfect, too perfect to last. One day Brett found the embezzler and on that day their world came crashing down

It has been years since I have read this book, but looking forward to it.

One of my favorites !😙❤️

Me, too, though I wanted to kick Brett more than once!

Yep. I totally get that.

He's another one of her old school alpholes. Not quite as bad as Rome though. And certainly not as horrifying (at least to me) as the "hero" of All That Glitters.

100% agree. That Greek should have found himself alone when she saw the pink wedding gown!!

Absolutely. Not to mention that horrifying wedding night. But then the "heroine" was a doormat. She may have been the prototype for Sarah.

I'd love to see a total "remake" with Jaine Bright or Jane Hamilton Greer Sullivan take on that arrogant and spoiled Greek!

Oh yes. And wouldn't that be interesting if Tessa in this book had more of either character? Poor Brett wouldn't have stood a chance.

Brett wouldn't have been interested, because he wanted a doormat like Sarah.

I'm afraid you're right.

Earlier in the month when I read the comments that you all made about Brett, I thought that you were really being hard on this guy, but after reading the book, I thought Tessa should have made him walk on hot coals and grovel a whole lot more than he did. I enjoyed the book a lot, but I had a hard time believing that he and Evan did not do more investigating when they discovered the evidence pointing to Tessa. They did not even question that someone had tried to frame her.

my thoughts were why didn't they call Tessa into their office and ask her about it. I mean they didn't even consider their might be a alternative answer. Also, a red flag for me was when Brett thought he wouldn't allow her to be friendly to males if he was married to her (or however he put it). Thank God it was a book and it can have a happy ending. In real life I would be worried if it would

Good points, Dee.

I liked how well LH wrote of Tessa's hurt, betrayal and disbelief of what happened to her...but I wanted Brett to grovel more because what he did to Tessa...he acted too hastily and it was nasty thing to do to someone you [supposedly] love.
Like Dee so rightly asked: why he didn't talk to Tessa first? Okay, their relationship moved on fast. They were basically strangers. He didn't know person behind her lovely looks, yet, when you like/love someone, then you rather believe good things of them than bad things. Or what?

I thought maybe Brett reacted as he did because he somehow felt she had made a fool of him...betrayed him, etc. as you say, they didn't know each other very well yet, and he thought only of himself then, When she refuses the plea bargain or settlement, he suddenly realizes her integrity and honesty.

I just liked Tessa so much in that book .. heart of gold .. and her grieving was so real. LH really got to my emotions with her description of what Tessa went through....

Probably if Tessa wasn't as likable I doubt the book would have been published or if it did. I doubt anyone would have liked the book.