This book started very slow, but interesting. I liked the idea of Henry Garrison as I started reading about him. A man who rose to the heights of fame and fortune, married to a Hollywood actress, then hit bottom. His arrogance and pride, excess spending, alcoholism, and a wife who was a piranha, all conspired and took him down. He got so deep he lost everything and had to sell his most prized possession: the house his grandparents left him in Martha’s Vineyard. He used to be a successful criminal lawyer, nicknamed the Monster of Manhattan. Now he relies on the charity of a previous client to fund his new firm, and had to accept two partners to help him get out of the hole he dug himself into. He seemed the kind of yummy character with lots of meat, lots of issues to work with and the author did a great job with him.

Win Hughes only wants to be a normal person and to live a normal life, working on the charity foundation her parents had started before she was born. However, she was Taylor Winston-Hughes, a billionaire heiress who has recently returned from rehab. She was anorexic, due to getting involved in the wrong crowd and lost herself in the crazy world she was thrust into. Her life-long friend Brie is the one who got her into a reality show that robbed Win of her will and self-control.

One thing I liked in this book was that the author related alcoholism and anorexia: both illnesses have to do with control. In anorexia, Win took control over the only aspect of her life she had at the time. Alcoholism came to Henry because he was so into control that he needed the drink to lose the control and be able to let go, to just be.

Henry and Win met in the beach and had an idyllic two weeks together before they both went back to reality, each left to their separate lives. Henry didn’t learn the real identity of his lover until she was accused of murder and his firm retained as her defense counsel. To say he felt betrayed by Win, especially after his ex-wife’s antics, was too little. He was incensed but he took the case because it could be his means to make it back into the Manhattan scene.

From here the story kept gathering speed and force and more intrigue. Henry had a hard time dealing with his anger, his disappointment and his growing attraction to Win. Win was already lost in love with Henry. First she was needy and weepy, then she transitioned into the self-assured and intelligent woman Henry first met. Henry went back to being the Monster of Manhattan, but this time with feeling and more honesty. He was not all about the money now, he now cared about his client. He and Win and his partners and associated staff all worked hard to unravel the very gnarled story of a whodunit, all fueled by the lust for money.

It was a great read, a nicely complicated couple, a story that gathered speed and complexity as the plot develops and very intriguing. Kept me glued to the story until finished. Totally recommend!