Belinda

Belinda “Lyn” Larkin is at a crossroads. A beautiful and experienced attorney who is married to the law, faces the end of a long and successful law practice at the hands of the “men in suits” who run her firm, when a man once her lover suddenly appears after a long and mysterious absence. Set in the conference rooms of white shoe Houston law firms and the stunning coastline of Baja California, Belinda is the story of a woman’s bravery and resourcefulness as she navigates the end of her career (forced retirement is a real thing, especially for women lawyers) and a complex world of international intrigue, legal infighting, and unexpected romance. 

Belinda also explores questions of dedication, loyalty and love as Lyn contemplates what’s next in her life. Is it too late for love? Is justice possible when the legal players are corrupt? During a week of surprises and confusion, will Lyn begin to see beyond her life of singular dedication and open herself to new possibilities?

This character-driven book involves several characters who appear in Zvonkovic’s earlier novels, A Lion In The Grass and The Narrows, but Belinda is easily read as a stand-alone. In particular, Raymond Hatcher, who was a spy who broke a cardinal rule. Hatcher wrote everything down in a journal for seventy years, until he and his wife were murdered on their farmhouse porch. The secrets from his years of service remain classified. But the journal was recovered by the man Raymond had mentored, Jack Jackson, who is Lyn’s love interest in Belinda. The appearance of characters who appear in several novels is a technique similar to that used by Larry McMurtry in his “Houston Novels.”