All That Glitters
When Jessica Stanton refuses to vote on her stock options the way Greek billionaire and bully Nikolas Constantinos wishes, he decides to retaliate, until he meets her. The press bestowed the sobriquet “Black Widow” on Jessica because she married a man old enough to be her grandfather, a man who subsequently died and made her very rich. But Jessica doesn’t want wealth; she wants love, which she believes she’s found in Nikolas. Although why she thinks this, will be a mystery to readers since he all but rapes her time and again. As he hounds her and she repels him, readers will see a textbook case of verbal and physical abuse in a tale that epitomizes the worst of late twentieth-century romance. Alas, even Howard’s facile writing can’t save this story about a cruel man, a purportedly strong but weepy doormat heroine, and a ludicrous plot set in glamorous London and on a Greek island. Although this may be Howard’s worst book, libraries may want it to round out their popular Howard collection as she retains her best-seller status as queen of romantic suspense with such worthy titles as Shadow Woman (2013). --Pat Henshaw