Against the Rules

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AGAINST THE RULES: Black Tie, Inc. Series, Book 2
Natalie Damschroder
ISBN: 1-59080-311-6
September 2004
Echelon Press
Ebook
Contemporary Romance

Against the Rules is a touching, funny and dynamic contemporary romance about a highly successful woman banker named Veronica, and a very, sexy philosophy professor named Nick Trent. Veronica and Nick both have secrets. Secrets that could destroy their very tenuous relationship.

Veronica has had one goal her entire life - to be the president of a bank, specifically First Pennsylvania Bank of Harrisburg. She has put aside all private and family concerns to achieve this goal. She has also sold herself short by engaging in relationships geared towards that goal, by dating men that could help her climb that corporate ladder. Yet a part of her keeps hoping for the “grand passion” that she believes she has seen in her parents. Until now, Veronica has had relationships based on “use” rather than emotion. Veronica's world is turned upside down and causes her to rethink her life and values the day she meets Nicholas Trent.

Nicholas (Nick) is the epitome of the "bad boy" when he appears at the bank to open an account. Scruffy bears, old T-shirt, torn jeans and a motorcycle. The antithesis of what Veronica has told herself she must be with to attain her goal of bank president. Nick has a secret. One that could keep Veronica from committing to him, even if he were to reveal it and change his ways.

To achieve her goal, Veronica has always played by the rules. Dating the right man, doing the right thing and always effecting a professional image at work. That professional image included not dating customers. Yet, when Nick sets his sights on her, slowly but surely, she comes around to seeing what a truly fabulous, interesting and caring man he really is. The emotions Nick brings out in Veronica are totally new to her, and she alternately runs from him and those oh-so-passionate emotions, and then like a moth to a flame flutters back to him.

Nick has been half-heartedly trying to sell his portion of Black Tie, Inc. When he meets Veronica he knows he needs to move a bit faster on ending this business relationship because it is the one thing he feels will destroy his relationship with her. Just as Veronica is about to commit to him, she learns just what his secret life is. But she doesn’t hear it from Nick. She learns firsthand just what Nick does for Black Tie, Inc.

Ms. Damschroder takes the reader not just into the characters’ minds. This reviewer often felt that their thoughts and feelings had to pass through her mind as well. Dealing with everyday issues in a frank and matter of fact way, the reader feels as if this could be a slice of his or her own life. While the dialogue and descriptions can bog down at times, the story is a delight with everyday events. The reader perhaps sees a smidgen of Ms. Damschroder in Veronica’s preparation of brussel sprouts - not common eating fare in a story.

Any career woman will understand Veronica’s dilemma of choosing love over a career, especially one she has spent her life striving to attain. The passion between Nick and Veronica grows slowly, and Veronica’s fear of that growing passion is well expressed. When she learns Nick’s secret, the varying emotions one would feel in that situation come clearly to the surface. Ms. Damschroder leaves the reader with the question of what would he or she do in the same situation.

Reviewed by Gina
December 2004