Header PromotionShattered by the CEO by Emilie Rose (Desire #1871) 05/08
Because of their father's will, Rand Kincaid is forced to return to the family business. If he doesn't agree to become CEO of the family cruise line for one year, he and his brother and sister will lose their inheritance. Rand has made his own fortune in the five years that he has been away and does not need his fathers money. He wanted nothing to do with his father after his betrayal and now his father is at it again from the grave. Rand wants to walk away but he feels a responsiblity towards his siblings. Mitch and Nadia would loose what is rightfully theirs if he doesn't keep to his part of the agreement.
There is one part to his fathers plan that almost makes Rand walk away and that is that he must convince Tara Anthony to come work for him as his personal assistant. Their relationship had broken up five years ago because of a betrayal that Rand could not forgive.
Tara is surprised to find Rand on her doorstep. Tara knows that he doesn't understand why she did what she did. But she loves Rand and sees this as an opportunity to get him back. She will agree to come work for Rand for one year on one condition, she and Rand will move in together. Rand has to agree to her terms or everything will be lost.
I love reunions stories and this one was great. I like how Tara decided that she was going to go after Rand's love.
This is an emotional scene where Tara finally gives up on trying to win Rands love.
SPOILER:
Her dream of a future with Rand gave a last gasp and died. She closed her eyes and let her head fall back as she realized her mistake. She hadn't earned his trust now or then. Both times she'd rushed the relationship, counting on the physical bond leading his heart into an emotional commitment. She'd given him everything, her body and her heart, before he was ready to accept them.
He didn't trust her. And he probably never would. Nothing she could say would convince him she hadn't betrayed him.
Feeling exposed, she ducked into the bathroom, snatched her robe off the hook on the back of the door and shoved her arms into the sleeves. Her hands fumbled so badly it took three tries to tie the slippery satiny sash.
Rand stood by the bed when she returned. Naked. Powerful.
"Without trust, Rand, you have nothing. And that's what we have. Nothing." She'd gambled and she'd lost. A sob built in her chest. She fought to contain it, gulping it back, but it only rose again. She forced calming air through her nose and into her lungs, but it hurt. Everything hurt. It hurt to think, to stand here and look at the beautiful bronzed body of the man she'd wanted to share her life, her home and her heart with.
And it nearly crushed her to admit defeat. But this was a battle she couldn't win.
"Get out. Out of my room. Out of my house."
You know, you love reunion
You know, you love reunion stories, me not so much. I hate angsty break ups that hurt. Especially when it comes to moving on and being left behind. Not a good feeling. So books with reunions/separations... I find myself fighting them a bit.
In this case, I really liked this book regardless of that tendency of mine. Great story, great chemistry, great couple.
Still... if I had to pick one of the "Payback Affairs" books as a KEEPER... hands down it's Mitch's story. I just loved that story and hey, it is the only TPA book which started out with a clean slate relationship between the H/h, so that makes the book a painfree read.
Dropping my opinion of "Shattered by the CEO"...
Favourite Scene: “Lost in the moment? You said you loved me, that you wanted to marry me and have my children. You practically named them.” … Her color darkened and her gaze bounced away again. “Um, yeah. Sorry about that. But you’re…really good in bed.” My Review: Mmm! I really really enjoyed this one. Great history between the couple. I loved seeing them reunite after the years apart, the heroine wanted him back in her life and started by bribing him into her bed and home. The hero fought it for a while, insisting on treating her as if he was delivering stud services, but even then he was fighting hard not to show his vulnerability towards her, and eventually he stopped fighting and started forgiving her for her "betrayal" of the past. I loved what his brother and sister had to say about his relationship with Tara, their little moments of interference were casual but had a big impact. There were a lot of tender feelings between them and I was so happy that they made it. Rating: 4.5/5 stars, a very good story, incredible passion and history between the couple.
Janet, I admit that I
Janet,
I admit that I sometimes get in a mood for an angsty story. :)
I agree with you about Mitch. I loved his book better than this one. Loved that fav scene you did for Mitch. I was going to review this one last night but I got sleepy!
I ordered the sister's book and just received it.
I love Emilie's books. One that is a reunion story but isn't angsty, at least I don't remember it being that way at all, is Scandalous Passion. Carter is a sexy hero. Yummy when he is doing laps in the pool.
Margie :)
Well.... I've been
Well.... I've been browsing the library catalogue online tonight... picking up a few older SDs. I'll add that Emilie Rose title to my list, the Scandalous Passion one.
I really should tap into some of the older SDs.... there's hundreds at my library! I'm sure theres a few dozen keepers there if I look hard.
And hey... In October there's a "friends of the library" sale. I'll have to check that out. Never been to one of those sales, but Margie you've talked about going to sales at your library I think.
I used to go to the Friends
I used to go to the Friends sales every month years ago. The library in town didn't do them but the ones in the two neighboring towns had really good ones. I could get the older Har/Sil that I missed and lots of Historcals authors that I loved. All for something like .25 to .50 cents a book and $1.00 for hardcover which were like new.
But a couple of years ago, they stopped putting out the romance!!! So it has been really hard to suppliment my purchases. I am always going to be buying as they come out because I can't wait and don't want to miss books by authors I love but those sales really helped with the budget.
Good luck on your shopping trip. You seem to be really lucky in your area so you will probably get lots of good deals.
Margie :)
My library just has tons of
My library just has tons of Harl/Silh. Tons. And they've had all the paranormal authors I've wanted to read so far too. I'm knocking on wood here and hoping my luck doesn't run out. (and all of a sudden I start running into books I can't find)
I know there's like, 10 libraries in my city and we have access to all the books in each one, via online catalogue we can order from.
I lived in one other city before... Waterloo during Uni... and Waterloo had a shitty library with NO Harl/Silh books (except for some ancient large print M&B from the 70s/80s maybe... those blue covered ones)
So I guess to some degree it's the luck of the draw, city by city?