CAN'T BUY ME LOVE – Molly O'Keefe
Bantam
ISBN: 978-0-440-42307-2
July 2012
Contemporary Romance

Crooked Creek Ranch, Texas – Present Day

What's a beautiful young woman doing getting engaged to an elderly man who is on the brink of death? Surely it has to be for his money? That is the question hockey star Luc Baker hopes to find an answer to when he and his sister Victoria descend on the ranch of their father, Lyle. There is little love lost between Lyle and his children, and it has kept them from visiting. But no way is Luc or Victoria going to allow a gold digger to sweep in and latch onto their father's money.

Tara Jean Sweet isn't really after Lyle's money. She's doing him a favor by pretending to be engaged to him so that his children would at least pay one visit before Lyle dies. After they arrive, the siblings are hostile towards Tara Jean. In truth, she's trying to hang onto the business she is running for Lyle because it is the one thing she feels she's done right in her life. Luc is contemptuous of Tara Jean, basically calling her a whore, and she doesn't dissuade them from the image. She has self image issues that were created when she was a child raised by a mother who didn't care and continued onward into a relationship with a domineering, abusive man named Dennis. But life hasn't prepared Tara Jean for Luc Baker, a man who is overpoweringly sexy. They're worlds apart, but they're drawn to each other like moths to flame.

In CAN'T BUY ME LOVE, Molly O'Keefe has created a heroine who at first glance isn't a nice person. She dresses as a slut for show-and-tell and hangs all over a rich elderly man. But deep down is an insecure woman who regrets her past bad ways, even as the devil on her shoulder urges to be as slutty as possible. Luc's disapproval spurs her on, but it is a mask she puts on to avoid having to deal with a past that included conning men. With Lyle, she vows to have put her badness behind her, yet all the signals—getting engaged to Lyle, dressing up in tight, leather short skirts—has Tara Jean looking guilty. Going toe to toe against Luc has her hormones revved—and ready to lock lips with him.

Luc has been a star hockey pro for years, but the last hit on the ice has left him with a potential life threatening brain injury that could kill him if he gets knocked out again. Luc feels the younger, more agile players nipping at his heels, and he's trying to prove he can continue to play. Forced to spend a few months on the ranch he hated growing up, Luc gets to know Tara Jean—and soon he wants to do more than be close to her. The sizzling attraction between them is hotter than the Texas sun. But can she be trusted?

Add in the return of Tara Jean's ex, Dennis, who is determined to get back some money he feels she owes him and has her scared. He can expose her illicit secrets. But Dennis's next move is on Luc's sister Victoria, who is already vulnerable after her late husband left her holding the bag after his ponzi scheme was discovered. She's also raising her son Jacob, who just defied death and has her hovering and smothering him. After all of Victoria's recent traumatic events, she's ripe for a cad like Dennis to swoop in and make a further mess of her life. Will Tara Jean or Luc be able to protect Victoria and Jacob from Dennis?

Also part of CAN'T BUY ME LOVE is Luc's mother Celeste, and the ranch foreman, Eli Turnbull. Both are mostly in the background, but Eli appears to be Victoria's hero in the upcoming CAN'T HURRY LOVE. They circle around each other like animals looking for a fight. Will it turn to love?

Tara Jean is looking for security and happiness, while Luc wants to keep his job as a hockey star. Will they find love and a future together in CAN'T BUY ME LOVE? Find out for yourself in this sizzling tale.

Patti Fischer