I want to thank Netgalley, the publisher and author for giving me a chance to read this book

I have always loved Diana Palmer...One thing I remember is sneaking into my mom's room as a 11 year old and snatching one of her books off my mom's bookshelf and sneaking back to my room to read it!

That is what this book did for me...it brought one of my core memories of my mom up front.

It is a Old fashioned, easy to read romance novel, an that is one of the things I loved most about it

Another good Diana Palmer title! I've been reading her for years and an not disappointed. I've liked some other characters more than the ones in this book but it was just a great read. Recommended!

I am never disappointed when I read a Diana Palmer novel and Notorious is no exception! Notorious follows the romance of Gaby Dupont and lawyer Nicholas Chandler. There are secrets, trust issues, and an undeniable attraction to contend with. This book keeps your attention engrossed from beginning to end. Give this one a read and you will not be disappointed!

I have read many books by Diana Palmer and I have loved some of her books and I hated some as well. I ended up having to put down this book and decide I will no continue because I just was bored with it.

I do not recommend this.

Notorious by Diana Palmer
Long, Tall Texans #51

A heroine helping her grandmother stoops to fibbing and infiltrating the home of a high-powered lawyer. Gaby and Nicholas will fall for one another eventually and his niece, Jackie, ends up playing a part in the story as do both of their families. This is a book I started and immediately found myself disliking both main lead characters and not warming to them by page fifty decided to skimmed ahead to see if I might find them more likable later. Sadly, I did not and couldn’t relate to the storyline.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQN for the ARC – This is my honest review.

2-3 Stars

I ended up with very complicated feelings about this book. To start I want to say that I am a huge fan of this author and this series in particular. Her books are like comfort food for me. I know what to expect and I generally love it. That being said, I am shocked to admit how much I struggled with this book and honestly I feel that mainly that is because of the heroine, Gaby. A more unlikable female lead I have never had the misfortune to come across. Even my fierce dislike wasn't simple because I felt that I should feel sympathetic towards this character but couldn't manage to do so. Honestly, this left me mad and sad and feeling flat out bad about myself for not being a kinder person and that was so not what I was looking for or wanted. Sadly this was mostly a miss as far as I was concerned.

*3.5 stars*

A little lie never hurt....

I’ve been reading this author for ages. It shouldn’t surprise me but I’ve been reading these Texans for fifty-plus books? Lol, yes, I blinked.

What started out as an unexpected way to get an “in” with Jake Chandler, soon turned into a life-changing experience for Gaby Dupont. Gaby came from privilege but she was down-to-earth and realistic. When opportunity knocked to help with a life-changing problem, she had to take it. It was sneaky and technically lying but she was desperate and it was only one little white lie... Jake didn’t know what to make of Gaby. She was outspoken and direct, a little mysterious and a whole lotta captivating...

I enjoyed Gaby and Jake’s story. It was low heat but with a sparkly banter that was totally engaging. She was a lady but had no problem speaking her mind. She also had insight and compassion along with her easy way of getting to the heart of things. Not being mean or spiteful, but through honesty and frankness, she managed to get her message across. Jake was a man who didn’t suffer any fools and wanted his way. Gaby was his employee but she was not a ‘yes’ person and pushed him every day. Soon, he found it refreshing and inviting…

Simplicity in a story is a double-edged sword and even with the family drama (times two) in this read, I struggled at times to stay engaged. Despite that, the characters won me over early and the question about how it would all play out kept me flipping all the pages until the satisfying conclusion.

Gaby had something bad happen to her when she was younger and she and her grandmother are scared that Nick might take the case and defend the guy who is responsible. She goes to his apartment to make a plea to him not to defend the guy but when an opportunity arises to take a job for him instead, she takes it hoping to get to know him better and then ask him not to take the case.

Nick is a high powered, successful attorney. But he's got a lot going on at home and at work. His teenage niece is a handful and he has some crazy court cases that are stressing him out. So when Gaby is knocking on his door, he thinks she's from the temp agency to catalog his bookshelves that his niece knocked over in a rage.

Nick really had his hands full with his niece, Jackie. Her mother, his sister isn't much of a mother and is more concerned with her new boyfriend than her daughter which really messes with the teenagers head and makes her hard to live with. She and Gaby butt heads right from the very beginning but Gaby is really good at finding out what is really bothering a person which makes it easier for her to talk to them and that's what she did with Jackie. After a while, Gaby was able to break through to her and show her that someone really cared about her. Which wasn't easy because she gets herself in over her head with an older boy who is really bad news and makes things dangerous for Gaby as well as Jackie.

Because Gaby is scared of men and hasn't ever had a boyfriend, she's a little leery of Nick at first but he's a good guy even if he has a little bit of a temper. Nick is also the way he is because of a heartbreaking secret in his past. It broke my heart when his secret was revealed but it truly brought Nick and Gaby closer when they were able to talk about the bad things in their past. There's only one problem, Nick has no idea that Gaby is a very wealthy woman or what she is really doing there.

There's a bit of a disagreement when Nick realizes who Gaby is and why she was really at his door that first day but losing her only showed them both that they cared much more about each other than they knew.

I liked the whole mob connection that got thrown in the mix and the conclusion to Nick's case that was causing him a lot of stress. This story came together just the way I knew a Diana Palmer story would.

I received an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review but all thoughts and opinions are my own

I have been reading Diana Palmer for decades, and while I keep reading her I feel there are just so many issues with some of her books. There does not seem to be growth. In this current novel the lead character Gaby is so childish. She is a 24 year old heiress who comes across like she is 13. She can't drive, she doesn't work, you really don't have a clue about her except that she was traumatized as a 16 year old. There is no depth to her at all. She comes across as very flippant and uncaring. Her introduction is when she chooses to mock and slut shame a young teenager and then keeps doing it. Ha Ha, look at me, I can mock a child. There is a lot of issues with this character.

Now Nick, the male lead, well, we know he was also traumatized and he has a ferocious temper. He likes to throw things against the walls, and horn-dog around. As the plot continues he develops feelings for Gaby, so, of course, he parades his lover in front of her. Said lover then proceeds to mock and belittle Gaby. And also let's not forget the really humorous gangsters. This book was all over the place. I am so conflicted with this author right now. These characters need to be more than one dimensional. They are more caricatures than lead characters.

Thank you to Netgally for the ARC.

I enjoyed the story of Gaby and Nicholas. If you're looking for a quick read, this would be good for that. I did find it hard to connect with the characters but the storyline moved at a fast pace.

I received an electronic ARC from HARLEQUIN - Romance (U.S. & Canada) through NetGalley.
Though this is listed as a Long, Tall Texans book, it only peripherally connected to the series. Readers will see secondary characters they will recognize from past stories but the main portion takes place in Chicago. Gaby has the usual Palmer heroine backstory of trauma in her past that has frozen her ability to want a relationship. When a new trial for her abuser may happen, she seeks out the lawyer who owns the firm that represented her grandfather when the attempted rape occurred. Nick mistakes her for the assistant he expected to arrive and she moves into this deception to learn more about him before asking her questions. The story evolves with the drama and tensions expected in a romance novel of this type - tentative acceptance, sparring to hide feelings, major blow up, reconciliation. Palmer has done this well for a long time. This one has a few misses but is a sweet story. I wasn't fond of the heroine shaming the fifteen year old niece to begin the book but readers do see the way this relation moves forward as well.

This was a book I was highly anticipating since I read about it at the back of a previous Diana Palmer story. I am a HUGE Palmer fan and have read every book she has ever written but I also have had issues with her more recent works. I just grew with my reading and she is still putting out books written in her style and that has not changed. She usually makes her female leads, young and virgins and the male leads are huge jerks who are not the nicest shall we say to the ones they want.

This story was really great. Its different, in the plot of it but it also had some of the things all Palmer books have like the jerk leading man and the virgin. That said I did enjoy the story a lot. I did like Nick, who is the male lead and I also really liked the female lead, Gaby. What makes it different is that I also loved Nick's niece, Jackie and I adored the relationship Gaby has with Jackie. And Gaby's grandma I postively LOVED!!!

Gaby gets a job cataloging the library of single and attractive lawyer, Nick Chandler, when the temp he was expecting was late for her interview, and Gaby knocked on his door instead and he hires her. He also has a 16 year old niece that Gaby tries to tame whicle she works on the library.

Years before Gaby was attacked by men her grandfather sold her too. Her grandfather is in jail but is appealing and years before Nick defended him and so she wants him to refuse to take his case. But instead she gets the job and sees it as a chance to get to know him and find out if he will take the case and she can have a say about it.

Nick is the lawyer and he takes his niece in. I mostly liked Nick. He actually is a likeable guy except for one thing that I really was never able to forgive him for in this book. He is very attracted to Gaby and likes her a lot as well. She is afraid of men and so she does send him mixed signals but he is also dating this horrible woman named Mara. Now he never has sex with her in this book that we see and he claims he never has sex with her since he met Gaby but at times he dislikes Mara a lot. But he keeps dating her and using her as a shield against his attraction to Gaby. And when Gaby saves Jackie and he visits her when he is injured he sends Mara to his car and he kisses Gaby passionately. Then he says he has to take Mara home. I lost respect for him at this point and no matter what else happened I hated him from this point on. It showed that he was not a man of honor and he betrayed both women at that point. It was a really small scene and had the author not done that I would have loved Nick but he constantly was throwing Mara in Gaby's face and Mara was the worst.

As a whole I enjoyed this story and I adored Jackie and Gaby. They both made this book worth reading. It was a very different plot and I enjoyed reading about Gaby. For me the use of Mara in this story destroyed the hero for me and the story. But really it was that one scene.

Let me start by stating that I have read every one of Diana Palmer's books, and while I started reading her nearly 30+ years ago, and for the past decade, I keep wondering why. Yes, her novels are formulaic to the nth degree. Yes, her heroes are all big and brawny. Yes, they all have dark hair, especially the forests of it on their chests. Yes, they always jump to the wrong conclusions about the traumatized, mid-twenties, good hearted, and misunderstood, virginal heroines, and yes, somewhere in the novel there's a lot of filler about a number of Ms. Palmer's previous characters, who all live and work in Jacobsville, Texas, were or have been mercenaries, and the mention of apparently the only cattle breed known to Ms. Palmer, Santa Gertrudis, and sadly, this novel has all of the above. The only saving grace in this novel was that, for a change, she didn't refer to the hero as "dishy." Since all of the aforementioned are present in Notorious, just the fact that it was set in Chicago instead of Jacobsville, was enough for me to hope for better, but it never came, although I did find other objectionable content in this novel, which is the reason for my giving it a one-star rating.

The heroine, Gaby Dupont, inadvertently gets a job cataloging the library of noted lawyer, Nick Chandler, when the temp he was expecting was late for her interview, and Gaby knocked on his door at just the right time, and saw an opportunity to ferret out information regarding an upcoming lawsuit brought by a a distant relative who wanted her inheritance. Rather than simply ask him, she gets hired under false pretenses, is wildly attracted to the dark and brooding attorney, although she's sworn off all men since her grandfather sold her off to be gang raped when she was just 16 years old to pay off his gambling debts. Luckily, he and his cronies were stopped in the nick of time, leaving Gaby afraid of men, and in dire need of psychotherapy to deal with her subsequent trauma and issues. Her grandmother, who raised her after Gaby's parents died, and who was one of the wealthiest women in Chicago, could certainly afford sending her to a therapist. Why didn't she?

While Gaby was a sympathetic character at first, when she meets Nick's 15-year-old niece, Jackie, whose mother, Nick's sister, drops her off to date wealthy men she meets, Gaby immediately judges Jackie on her Goth appearance and choice of wardrobe, and proceeds to slut-shame her. Have I mentioned my dislike of liars? Gaby, in order to spy on Nick, lies a lot, and she also has an odd tendency of making flippant remarks she thinks are witty, but that are both unwelcome and uncalled for. Although she eventually tries to protect Jackie from her convicted sex offender and older boyfriend, I simply couldn't tolerate her lies, her flippancy, and her judgmental and archaic attitudes.

I didn't think much of Nick Chandler as the hero either. He was rude, abrupt, and ignored his niece almost entirely, and except for bailing her out of jail a couple of times, was cold and distant to her the rest of the time. He flaunts his latest bed partner, Mara, in front of Gaby, and Mara is a gold-digging, and thoroughly unlikable character as well. Nick too has suffered tragedy in his life, but as horrible as it was, also sought no help from anyone in the medical profession, nor did he even attempt going to grief counseling. Yes, he had a terrible and abusive childhood, but he's now well into his thirties, and I found no excuse for his rude and obnoxious behavior.

The final insult involved Gaby returning to, you guessed it, Jacobsville, Texas, which was the reason for all the irrelevant and unnecessary filler I mentioned earlier, as well as long and detailed history of what happened at the Alamo more than one hundred years ago.

Yes, like all of Ms. Palmer's novels, there's an eventual and late appearing HEA ending for these two unlikable characters, but it certainly wasn't enough to redeem them or this novel for this reader. I simply cannot recommend it.

I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions expressed are my own.

When I think of romance, I think of books just like this one, that gives all the feels and satisfies every romance junkies' heart. This is a perfect books to snuggle up with on any day.

Another quick romance by Diana Palmer. Honestly good story at it's bones but yikes, Diana Palmer's thought process is archaic. And the way women are talked about the second they aren't "puritans" is like so problematic.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc for an honest review!

Gabby and Nick both suffered at the hands of those people who should have loved them. Can they overcome their backgrounds to forge a new life together.? Their friendship starts with a lie and she knows she needs to tell him the reason she knocked on his door, but she's enjoying her time with Nick and his niece Jackie. You'll laugh and cry, cheering them on in some sticky situations. It's worth the read!

I received a free ARC eBook from Net Galley and the publisher in exchange for my honest opinions.

This is a great book. The two main characters have a terrible things to happen in both their lives. It is where they need to let it go and let love prevail.

Classic Diana Palmer. I was a little disappointed because I kept waiting for something different to happen. There were so many different turns this book could have gone. Generally good bones, but just needed a little more excitement.

She just keeps pumping out books which are enjoyable. Likable characters and storylines which keep us engaged.