Prominent headhunter Isabel Harrison prefers to think of herself as a career guidance specialist, with successful placement only one aspect of her job. Her fulfilling career plays a much bigger role in her life than Isabel wants, however, since personal relationships are not her forte – especially with men. Though she’s never had a decent love affair, that doesn’t keep her from wanting a baby and a family. But therein lies the problem: how do you find a dedicated family man? No longer trusting fate to bring such a man into her life, she takes a more active stance by making a list of requirements (much like a job description) for her future husband and using her exceptional placement skills to find a husband.

Alex Trahern is a man on a mission of revenge. Considered a corporate raider by some, he instead thinks of his company as a purveyor of highly specialized information evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of companies for investment groups. Since he prefers building up companies rather than tearing them down, he seldom accepts a corporate raider as a client, but matters are different regarding Hypertron – he’s facilitating the hostile takeover of the company that destroyed his father. Close to his goal of dismantling Hypertron, Alex is incensed to discover that a headhunter has contacted his second-in-command, Marcus Danvers – a man deeply involved with the Hypertron takeover – and that headhunter just happens to be Isabel, the daughter of the company’s owner.

Never known to be a shy man, Alex pays Isabel an unexpected visit that very day, confronting her about her attempt to secure another job offer for Marcus. Determined to learn who is behind the potential offer, Alex quickly discovers that his intimidating tactics do not work well on Isabel. Worse, he is doubly frustrated – not only does Isabel refuse to disclose a single detail, he is also immensely attracted to the underhanded woman. Unwavering in his purpose, he ignores his unwanted desire and decides to obtain his information in yet another manner by inviting Isabel to dinner, reassuring himself that once he unearths the facts he will not see her again.

Strongly drawn to the dark, intense man at first glance, Isabel is disappointed to learn the purpose of Alex’s visit. Still, since she can’t resist mentally measuring him against her future husband requirements, she accepts his dinner invitation. Determined to avoid her usual relationship mistakes, Isabel decides to approach their date just as she would an employee interview. However, once their date begins, Isabel can’t decide if Alex is an inconsiderate jerk or a polite charmer as he alternately exhibits blatant male arrogance and old fashioned charm. Extremely confused, she can only describe his behavior as schizophrenic courtesy…until she discovers Alex never intended a true date, but was still determined to ferret out the information she refused him earlier.

Alex is more of a domineering hero than I am accustomed to in contemporary romance and I enjoyed that aspect of his personality. Among the traits of such a person is usually a strong need to control and – whew! – Alex definitely controlled everything and everyone (or thought he was) for most of the book. It was also refreshing to watch this dominant character soften without changing the basic nature of his personality. Nevertheless, at times Alex is a bully in his attempts to manipulate Isabel’s love for him.

Isabel’s calm assertive nature finely balanced Alex’s behavior without appearing weak. A very likable heroine in possession of a fair amount of maturity, I found her list of husband requirements entertaining, if a tad naïve. At times, her character showed signs of formulistic writing, particularly concerning the mental anguish that caused her sexual inexperience. But mostly she is the soothing anchor in the story determined to teach Alex what it means to love.

It seems seldom these days that I read a contemporary romance without a suspense background or outrageous characters. I actually prefer a book centering primarily on the romance with the majority of the pages dedicated to the development of that relationship and Monroe’s latest is certainly such a book. Yes, there is a strong underlying revenge theme that plays throughout the book, but it occurred within the usual context of Alex’s business and, therefore, felt more realistic than most of the suspense scenarios I’ve read lately.

Come Up and See Me Sometime has a strong beginning, providing one of the best introductions of a hero I have read in some time. I was one of those readers who really liked Monroe’s The Real Deal (I gave it an A) and I looked for the same impact in this book. I was reminded more, however, of the author’s series titles due to some rather clichéd situations that inhibited in-depth development of a promising story line. But sometimes a simple love story is what I need – complete with the hero who takes charge and takes care of his woman – as he learns about the true nature of love.