Emerald Fortune (American Romance, No 379)

Rating:
Summary: Edgy!
Review: Mickey Stone had a stimulating and rewarding career in a U.S. intelligence agency until his wife stole a million dollar emerald and disappeared. Mickey was exiled to no-man's land, and he became obssessed with finding the woman and the emerald and winning back his old position. He is living on the edge, barely surviving, one step away from the streets when he learns that someone is looking for information on the emerald.

Laura Marley is the widow of another man whose life was destroyed by the theft of the emerald. Her husband finally committed suicide because he couldn't deal with the situation. Their business, based in London, was nearly brought down by the scandal and the damage to their professional reputations. She has decided it's time to find the emerald, clear her husband's name and put their company back on the strong footing it had once held.

When these two meet, they are both strong opponents. But Laura is the more secure in herself. Mickey is so obssessed that he will do anything, no matter how demeaning or wrong, to retrieve the emerald. The two of them agree to a partnership, which Mickey assumes will be in name only. Laura has other ideas and is perfectly capable of sticking to her guns.

They work together as much as Mickey will allow, although his grudging and growing admiration for Laura makes him more inclined to isolate her for her own protection that to let her more fully into the hunt. Laura is a warm steadfast woman, a woman whose past marriage was more of a friendship and partnership than a passionate love affair. Now, Mickey is awakening the passion inside her, and she's willing to risk being hurt rather than crawl back in her shell.

In spite of the fact that the Mickey comes off as a complete jerk, Ms. Nelson makes us stand in his corner and root for him. Laura is a strong woman and stable, and that's what it takes to get our hero through the maze of red herrings, murder attempts, car chases and to find the real reason for the strong and widespread repercussions from the theft. In the end they manage to accomplish both their goals and change both their lives.

Great book and a far more complex plot than you might expect from a Harlequin American Romance book. I don't know why this ended up in this line, rather than Intrigue, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.