August 13, 2007
On the day her father is buried, 21-year-old Adrianna Moore learns that he left the family fortune under the control of Richard Pope, his attorney and partner who has lusted after Adrianna for years. Pope informs Adrianna that she’ll get her money, but not how she thought: she must marry him in a week. Adrianna, wanting nothing to do with Richard, runs, but her flight ends when her car collides with a truck in rural Louisiana. The truck’s driver is Quinn Baxter, a brawny tavern owner. A deal is struck: while Adrianna’s car is being repaired, she’ll play piano in Quinn’s bar to make good for the damage done to his truck. Adrianna will also help out with Quinn’s teenage handicapped brother. To do this, she has to bypass Lola Oxnard, a slovenly Cajun housekeeper with a violent bent who’s determined to marry Quinn. As Adrianna and Quinn fall in love, Richard and Lola close in. The mawkish love story is as extreme as the plots hatched by the vile lawyer and the scheming backwoods gold digger, but Garlock’s many readers will be satisfied by the triumph of good and love over evil and greed.