Hard to Handle: An Anthology

by Diana Palmer

Book Overview

HUNTER

The desert was no place for a female. But as chief of security for a top secret operation, Hunter had his orders, and Jennifer Marist needed his protection. He thought he could handle spending a week on the rugged Arizona plains with the one woman he was determined never to touch....

But he hadn't planned on the lure of Jenny's wild, sweet passion-- or on discovering a love he'd never dreamed possible.

MAN IN CONTROL

Ever...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0373772610
• ISBN13: 9780373772612
• Release Date: February 2007
• Publisher: Hqn
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.1" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Hard To Handle

This book was excellent to read. Once I started reading I could not put it down until I finished it.

Hard to handle

These were two stories that I really enjoyed reading. This larger format makes it easier to read great Diana Palmer stories.

A great read...

This was my first Diana Palmer book purchase, and I was relieved to find that it partly made up for what I put in. This book features two novels: HUNTER and MAN IN CONTROL, and I warn you against reading further unless you want spoilers. HUNTER revolves around the love-hate relationship between Hunter, the half-Indian half-white security chief of Ritter Oil, and Jennifer, one of the company's top field geologists. Hunter wants Jennifer, physically, but he doesn't want to repeat his father's mistake. His father had married a white woman for love and had been deserted in the end, because she did not love him nor did she tolerate life on the reservation. Jennifer loves and wants only Hunter, but she hides these feelings when faced with his cruel remarks and open resentment. Hunter finally breaks it off with her, distancing himself by cruelly cutting her off and claiming that he plays this "game" with women to keep them from coming too close. It isn't until the end when he finally realizes that he does love her and goes after her. MAN IN CONTROL revolves around a similar love-hate relationship between DEA agent Alexander Cobb and Ritter Oil secretary Jodie Clayburn, who has loved him since forever it seems. Jodie was orphaned just out of high school, and she considers Alex and Margie (Alex's sister and Jodie's best friend) her only family. However, this "family" continues to use her for their own purposes, walking all over Jodie like a doormat. When Jodie gets drunk at one of the Cobbs 'parties and tries to seduce Alexander, reminding the Cobbs of their mother, he throws a fit and refuses to let Margie invite her anymore. All of this is heard by Jodie, who resolves to get out of their lives and lead her own. This resolution is delayed when Alexander shows up and gains her cooperation in his undercover operation at Ritter Oil, where he must try to find the culprit responsible for using the company as a base of operations for drug smuggling. He mainly suspects Brody Vance, Jodie's supervisor and poses as Jodie's boyfriend, despite her resentment of being used once more. Yet it is Jodie who proves more useful than ever, catching the culprit and catching Alexander's heart. HUNTER is a good read, but it's the second story, MAN IN CONTROL, that heavily influenced my rating for this book. I hope you enjoy MAN IN CONTROL as much as I did!

Hard to Handle . . . But Worth the Effort!

PUBLISHER DESCRIPTION: Hunter: The desert was no place for a female. But as chief of security for a top secret operation, Hunter had his orders, and Jennifer Marist needed his protection. He thought he could handle spending a week on the rugged Arizona plains with the one woman he was determined never to touch.... But he hadn't planned on the lure of Jenny's wild, sweet passion--or on discovering a love he'd never dreamed possible. PUBLISHER DESCRIPTION: Man in Control: Ever since DEA agent Alexander Cobb had given Jodie Clayburn a Texas-size brush-off, they'd been sworn enemies. But eight years later, this cynical long, tall Texan couldn't believe the baby-faced schoolgirl had turned into such a beauty. Or that she'd help him crack the drug-smuggling case that threatened Jacobsville. He'd risk everything to protect her. Would the man in control finally get caught in his own web of danger...and desire? Hunter, published in 1990, centers on Hunter, thought to be somewhat alpha, part Native American security chief, and Jennifer Marist, thought to be somewhat prissy, geologist. Man in Control, published in 2003, centers on DEA agent Alexander Tyrell Cobb & HR Assistant Jordana "Jodie" Clayburn. This story combines the typical "younger-sister's-best-friend's crush-on turned love-for, the older brother with a DEA investigation; add a dash of humor, family issues, esteem issues; then include ties to the Long, Tall Texans of Jacobsville Texas, and the Mercenaries, aka Soldiers of Fortune, and you have a story as only Diana Palmer can tell it. (One of my favorite DPs!!!) Two classic Diana Palmer reprints, both are solid stories that are typically DP. These two are probably reprinted together because Hunter appears in Man in Control.