First published 1998
Oliver Russell has everything a politician could want: charm, ambition, and a clear path to the presidency. Leslie Stewart had everything she wanted too, until Oliver took it away. He broke their engagement and walked toward power without looking back. Leslie did not collapse. She built. Starting with a single media outlet and expanding into a full empire, she turned her fury into leverage. By her fortieth birthday she controls newspapers, television stations, and the kind of reach that can make or break a career in Washington. Oliver is now President of the United States. Leslie is now the woman who can unmake him. The novel moves between their two worlds, showing how ambition and betrayal feed each other across years and miles. Oliver keeps climbing. Leslie keeps watching, planning, waiting for the moment when her power finally exceeds his. Sidney Sheldon fills every chapter with scheming, desire, and consequence. At its core this is a story about what people do when they cannot forgive and cannot forget.
Genres: drama, romance, contemporary, adult-fiction, thriller, political-thriller
Vibes: dark, emotionally-charged, fast-paced, intense, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: dual-perspective, enemies-to-lovers, revenge-plot, second-chance
Setting: Washington, United States
Period: Contemporary
372 pages · Paperback · Time Warner
Content warnings: emotional-abuse