Heartbreaker

I have a fondness for Diana Palmer's books because they were among the first romances I read and loved. It's more of a nostalgia thing than an active can't-wait-for-her-next-release thing. I picked up Heartbreaker when I saw it at a bookstore.

J.B. Hammock played by his own rules, and rule number one was never settle down. He treated his women well, but with a no-strings detachment they all accepted. But sweet Tellie Maddox hovered about like a gossamer butterfly, always trying to take care of him, always caring about him. It was enough to make a confirmed bachelor take drastic measures.

Then Tellie lost part of her memory. She believed she was J.B.'s faithful sidekick. Even he couldn't be so heartless as to push Tellie aside, and so he played the role of friend . . . until friendship turned to something else, something so much deeper than a heartbreaker like J.B. ever intended. He was hooked.

Then Tellie's memory returned . . .

Heartbreaker is pretty standard Palmer fare: 2.5 out of 5. Older man rebuffs younger woman because she's too naive and innocent to give him what he needs. The story definitely has a sense of familiarity to it, which I found both annoying and oddly comforting. It's hard to explain. I kept thinking, "Just talk to her" at the same time it followed a familiar pattern.

There's a lot of name dropping in this book--references to past characters. I thought there were more details in this regard than there needed to be. I don't object to characters from past stories making an appearance, but I want them to be smoothly incorporated into the story.

I remember reading a blog entry or AAR column. The topic was about a long-time reader of an author enjoying that author's latest book less than a new reader did. That's a bit how I felt about Heartbreaker. Did I enjoy it? Yes. But that enjoyment stems more from remembered reading pleasure than from loving this particular book.