| Samantha Dark returns to her hometown in Wilford, Kansas after running away from it and her family 6 years ago. She goes back to pay respect after her father has died. She has had a difficult childhood. She always yearns to receive his father's attention and approval but falls short with his impossibly high standards. When her father adopts Tyler Sinclair and trains him to be his protégé, Samantha and her sister get ignored. Their mistakes are always criticized and compared with Tyler's perfection. Samantha is suddenly fed up with her father and Tyler and runs away. In her exile, she shapes up and earns a law degree hoping to prove herself to her father. But she never gets the chance when she suddenly learns that her father died. Tyler tells her that her father has fallen off her mother's room balcony. Samantha can't accept that and further investigates into her father's death. Having not settled in yet, she is approached by an old friend to help his son, Dominic Marcola, who has been implicated for murder. She agrees to represent him.
When Tyler informs her that her father has given her half of the firm, she wants to buy out Tyler's share also. But Tyler has similar opinion. Since neither of them gives in, they become equal partner of the big firm. She informs Tyler that she's going to represent Dominic. Tyler is surprised and knows that when Samantha returns back, chaos will appear again. Tyler's orderly world is suddenly turned upside down by the presence of Samantha. He gets sucked into helping Samantha in the case reasoning that he is only protecting the reputation of the firm. He follows Samantha in her investigation and gets upset when she gets close to danger. As they spend time together, Tyler's repressed sexual attraction to Samantha resurfaces after more than 10 years. The resentment that Samantha feels for Tyler when they have been teenagers melts away when she sees Tyler is dedicated and hardworking. When the murder case produces threats to Samantha's life, Tyler becomes protective of her. But Samantha tenaciously searches for the real identity of the murderer. Tyler and Samantha eventually sleep together. Samantha confesses that she loves him. Tyler is shocked and afraid to commit to Samantha fearing that he's unworthy after failing to protect his mother from his dad. When they have closed the murder case, Tyler runs away from Samantha to work in St. Louis leaving her his share of the firm. Samantha is heartbroken but she devises a way to having Tyler return back to her. | ||
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Plot & Themes Time/era of story Inner struggle subplot Yes Struggle with... If one lover chases another... - he chases after her Lovers are competitors Yes competing in - business arena Main Male Character Profession/status: Age/status: - 20's-30's Main Female Character - 20's-30's Profession/status: Setting United States Yes Small town? Yes Small town people: - nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment What % of story is romance related? - 90% Focus of story - Her How much dialog - significantly more descript than dialog |
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