The Other Woman Author:Ann O'Leary This story explores why two women fear and resist that delicious free fall into the depths of passionate love. Fiona resists her powerful sexual attraction for Joanna, knowing where it will lead, while Joanna becomes obsessed with that attraction, initially blind to its ramifications. — Joanna Kingston, a succesful real estate consultant, believe... more »s that the notion of deep and lasting romantic love is an illusion that inevitably leads people to heartbreak. She has always avoided emotional entanglements by keeping her affairs short and sweet, and by choosing lovers whose feelings for her don't rise much above their navels. But her cynicism provides no protection when, by chance, she meets the cool, stunningly beautiful, compassionate and emotionally strong, Dr. Fiona Maddison.
Fiona's instant attraction to Joanna worries her. Joanna's raw beauty, athletic body and chic nonchalance, are hard to resist. "But she knew all about those sexy charmers with drop-dead smiles who liked to keep on the move, and she was finished with that kind of woman. A friendship with Joanna would be ideal, and that was all." Joanna, wanting a no-strings affair, hotly pursues her, but Fiona, knowing she would fall for Joanna hard, does her best to keep her distance. Recent romantic problems have made her cautious.
Joanna, already weakened by recurring dreams about her troubled distant past, finds her feelings tumbling into unfamiliar territory--both frightening and wonderful--that she finds hard to deal with. The story takes the reader on a journey into Joanna's past, and into her heart. There are some surprising twists and turns along the way, as the truth about the past changes things radically for Joanna. Cracks begin to appear in her emotional brick wall as she learns that things are not quite what they seemed to be. Set in Melbourne, the hot, dry landscape of the northern Victorian bushland, and the tropics of Far North Queensland.« less