Sandra Brown is my absolute favorite author, but this story just was plain out bad. I did not connect with the characters at all and the story line was a bit unemotional. Most of her short books are filled with so much passion that it leaves you wanting more, however, this book was not like that at all. Save your time and pick up another book!

From the back cover:

Her life is on the line...

Stevie Corbett is in jeopardy of losing everything she's sacrificed and worked so hard for--her career, her future. Her life. She has just two weeks to make a monumental decision, but her fate rides on keeping the truth a secret.

It's Judd Mackie's job to uncover secrets. And he's spent the last few years dogging Stevie, exposing her for the spoiled glamour girl he believe's her to be. Now he has the chance to scoop the story of the year and let the whole world know the truth about Stevie. All he has to do is betray her trust...

And my review:

Sandra Brown has written some good books, but this one (previously published under the pseudonym Erin St. Clare) shows its age. It's obvious that this author got better with practice (as most authors do).

The sexual chemistry is well written, but that's about it. I never really felt like I knew these characters on a deeper level. Stevie is a woman who's life revolves around her career and who may now lose everything she's worked for because she may have cancer. Judd is a jaded rake. That was about it. I wanted to know who these two were; why they should be together. Great sex isn't enough of a reason.

What really didn't make sense was why he would be so quick to protect her, especially after spending years making fun of her in his newspaper column. Keeping the truth of her tumors off-the-record? Okay, maybe I can swallow that. But that he'd sneak her away from the press and spirit her away to the home he inherited from his grandparents? That's a bit much. If it had been later in the book, after he'd started to soften towards her, it might have made more sense. But not when they were still practically enemies.

I just never felt like there was anything but sex between these two. Their constant bickering was a big drawback. And Judd's chauvanistic comments got VERY irritating after a while. I know it's supposed to be a joke, but his constant comments of "cook my breakfeast, woman" or "bring me coffee, woman" were really not funny. Maybe they were in the 80s (this book was originally published in 1989), but they aren't so funny today. It didn't matter that the author kept stating how physically attractive Judd was. His neanderthal attitude made him extremely unattractive as a person, and I just couldn't cheer for the heroine to be with him.

And one other weird thing: the heroine had a strange attraction to the hero's armpits. Seriously. She would notice his armpits and start to get turned on by the sight. This happened more than once. It was very weird. Who finds armpits sexy, anyway? Especially when they're all sweaty from the guy doing manual labor. Reading that was a big turn-off. It was certainly not something to put me in a romantic mood.

The majority of 80s romances don't age well, no matter who the author is. You might enjoy this if you're a hard-core fan of Sandra Brown's and are determined to read her entire backlist. Otherwise, pick up one of her newer books.

I loved this thrilling story and look forward to more books by this thrilling writer in the very near future. Thrilling writer, thrilling book!

Stevie Corbett is a professional tennis player with an emergency health problem that could possibly keep her from playing in the tennis match of a life time- the Wimbledon! She must decide whether to risk her health for the opportunity to play, this being the thing that she has strived for all her life- the ultimate goal to reach. Judd Mackie, sports writer, is out to find out what Stevie is hiding from her fans- to write that article that his editor is hounding him for. Both Stevie and Judd have pasts of hurt that they have not healed from- not allowing themselves to have relationships with others. That's about to change. But they are about to find strong desire for love from each other. Sweet story that will take no longer than an afternoon.

This is the most unrealistic senario I have ever read. A journalist spends a lifetime making fun of a tennis star. Then all of a sudden get a conscience when she has a tumor. Then this same journalist spirited her away from press. Not only is the plot plausible at best. but for the sex scenes this is a very boring book...