Heartbeat [Mass Market Paperback]

Now that I have gotten that out of the way, I will describe the book for others who enjoy reading romance stories.

As described by previous member, Carmen is the department head of the Medical Phtography Department at Royal Hospital(Canada). Her comfortable work is threatened, however, when downsizing expert Max Devereaux announces his plans to shut the deaprtment down in cost-cutting measure. When Camren finds out and storms into Max's officer to demand he reconsider, he is so impressed with her spirit and drive the does-somewhat. He gives her one week to convince him to leave the department open (this is directly from the back of the book)

Carmen decides to make Max fall in love with her and hopes this will sway him to her side. Max has a reputation as a womanizer and is "rumored" to have slept with women from other companies in the same situation as Carmen. He is supposedly the most ruthless downsizing expert in his field. I did like the interplay between Max and Carmen, she did not give in easily, he had to win her over. One of the most poignant moments of the book is after Max discovered he and Carmen lived in the same neighborhood, he made a picnic basket for two and took it to Carmen's place. He had not eaten and was hoping Carmen would invite him in to dinner, however, she did not and took the basket. She felt guilty after she realized that there was food for two in the basket and Max had to retreat to his home with no dinner. He did not want to "impose". I thought that was a truly nice touch.

There is also the element of Max's desire to protect Carmen after her office and studio are broken into and she is threatened. Max wants to protect Carmen and she wants to protect her heart. Throw in Carmen's messy ongoing fight with the Chief of Staff, his attempt to smear her reputation and get her fired, you have a recipe for interesting politics.

If you are looking for comtemparary romance, then this is a good book and fast read.

Carmen's best friend gives her what sounds like sound advice: Make Max fall in love with you and your job will be saved. However Carmen loses her heart in the process and she finds out that Max has romanced every woman that he has fired in the past.

Has Carmen really won Max's heart or will she be just another statistic in the ledger of "Max the Axe".

One of the reasons why I liked this book was because of the tension and the conflict between Max and Carmen. It was so tense and real that a real live person could relate. Carmen is a sassy heroine and Max is her equal counterpart. I really recommend this book for anyone who wants a few hours of enjoyable reading.