Book: Prodigal Son (R)

Susan Mallery's Prodigal Son was an enjoyable contemporary read. Jack and Samantha were close friends in graduate school, spent one night together, and then drifted apart. Ten years later, Sam is working for Jack, a lawyer who's trying to salvage his family's media empire after his father's recent death.

The attraction and renewed friendship between the two is quick yet believable. There is some of the obligatory "I can't let this person get too close because s/he will hurt me," but the characters have legitimate reasons for these fears and actually discuss their emotional baggage, albeit not until after their relationship has become hot and heavy. These characters actually reflect and communicate about their issues and work together to overcome them, instead of expecting the other person to read minds or simply wishing the situation would improve.

I don't normally read office romances (let's face it, sleeping with your boss can be career suicide and is in my mind a dangerous throwback to the days when female employees might be expected to provide, umm, services in the workplace), but this one shows how J&S's relationship is developed both at work (in a relationship-focused corporate environment) and off the clock; it also presents scenes from their grad school days for context. The novel's last few pages were marred by an unnecessary element of suspense which I suspect was designed to provide fodder for the sequel (this is the first novel in a continuity), but overall this was a quick and entertaining read with a surprising degree of meaningful character growth. Grade: A-