Jennifer LaBrecque, Better than Chocolate

Better than Chocolate

Jennifer LaBrecque

Harlequin Temptation, Sep 2004, $4.50, 217 pp.

ISBN: 0373691920

Top management at Hendley and Wells Advertising informs account execs Jack "The Ripper" LaRoux of the San Francisco office and Eve "The Avenger" Carmichael of the New York office that they are competing for a vice president position. The individual who gains the Bradley account wins the job. The employees of the two offices have placed Jack as 2-1 favorite because Bill Bradley prefers working with men and his firm manufactures farm equipment, considered by many to be a male dominated area.

Independently, Jack and Eve leave on a Friday for Chicago so that they have a weekend of pampering before the gladiatorial contest begins on Monday. At the hotel that both are staying at, they meet and share a heated evening together without knowing the identity of the other. Though both suspect the other once the games begin, they also fall in love. However, it seems as if this is a win-lose situation on the job and a lose-lose in their relationship.

This boardroom romance is an entertaining tale of two combatants falling in love with one another. When each of the antagonists realizes who they are attracted to, they quickly distrust the other's motives and wonder how they could enjoy sleeping with the enemy. The final twist in this take-no-prisoners novel provides a delightful culmination to a fine tale in which these alpha personalities try to trump each other.

Harriet Klausner