Trust Doesn’t Come Easily in Diana Palmer’s ‘Notorious’ [REVIEW]

A family fortune is on the line. She will do anything necessary to protect it, even if that means using subterfuge to do so. But he has a job to do, whether he always likes it or not. When the two cross paths, their relationship can go one of two ways: love or war. Which will it be? Find out in Diana Palmer’s fifty-first novel in her beloved Long, Tall Texans series, Notorious.

Madame Dupont divorced her husband while he was in prison. When Palmer introduces us to her granddaughter, Gaby, she is standing on criminal lawyer Nicholas Chandler’s doorstep. She wants to find out if he plans to represent her grandfather, who is now suing to gain control of all the family assets. Yet Gaby doesn’t think it would be wise to show her cards and reveal her true identity.

Of course, Nick is no dummy. He knows there’s more to Gaby than she is letting on. After all, she’s smart, sweet, and very young, but he also has the nagging suspicion that she’s hiding something. Nevertheless, there’s something about her that draws him to her, and soon he finds himself risking everything to keep her safe. But can he trust her with his heart?

Although Palmer reveals just how cruel and underhanded Gaby’s grandfather is in his pursuit for material gain, I never quite understood why she needed to pretend to be so irritating and insipid. For a character that is as quick witted as she is, it seems like she is unaware of how sharp and hurtful her words can be, and oftentimes, they just seem unwarranted, especially when dealing with Nick’s niece, Jackie. She always manages to get the brunt of Gaby’s forthright, barbed remarks. I couldn’t help but wonder why Gaby needed to be this way, especially since Palmer explains her background with humanity and compassion. Still, as the story unfolds, we as readers do come to terms with the Dupont family dynamic.

As Palmer’s longtime readers will likely be able to tell you, however, she always manages to paint her characters in such a way that we fall for them regardless of their imperfections and idiosyncrasies. The deeper we read into Notorious, the more clear it becomes that true happiness and contentment come from learning to love each person for where they are in the moment and doing so without projecting your personal feelings upon them.

As in life, Notorious is populated with complex characters we have to study a while before we can truly trust their intentions fully. Still, the rewards are great and love always seems to be lingering around the corner for those who are patient enough to obtain it. If you want to escape your own hectic life for a few hours, kick back with Notorious and let the Dupont family take you in.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Diana Palmer is one of the top 10 romance writers in America and the New York Times bestselling author of more than one hundred books, including Unleashed, Unbridled, and Undaunted. She published her first book in 1979 and currently has more than 115 novels in print.

A Georgia native, Palmer lives in Cornelia with her husband, James Kyle. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Piedmont College and continues to work on her master’s degree in history as time permits.

When she isn’t writing, Palmer enjoys gardening, knitting, crocheting, astronomy, archaeology, and animals. (She has dogs, cats, birds and lizards.) Visit her home on the Web at DianaPalmer.com.

NOTORIOUS
By Diana Palmer
320 pp. HQN. $26.99.

Purchase Notorious direct from Jathan & Heather Books or from one of these other fine online retailers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Half Price Books, Harlequin, Hudson Booksellers, Powell’s, Target, or Walmart.