Love on the Dotted Line

Love on the Dotted Line (2006) is a contemporary romance novel by David E. Talbert. Set in Philadelphia, the plot follows a lovelorn lawyer who grows so exasperated with her boyfriend’s tendency to cheat on her that she decides she has no recourse but the law. Some readers praise the novel’s humor, but most criticize its unrealistic plot, one-dimensional characters, and overly predictable ending.

Thirty-four-year-old Morgan Chase is an up and coming lawyer whose professional and personal life is firing on all cylinders. Not only is she making her way up her firm’s hierarchy, but she also has developed great friendships with two other black women in her office. Shy and slightly demure, Altima has been Morgan’s closest friend since middle school. Altima is a nervous wreck who often blurts out her thoughts without a filter. Aloof and haughty, Ophelia is more frenemy than an actual friend but has nevertheless become a fixture in the small group despite her sharp retorts and take-no-crap attitude. At home, Morgan is friends with her next-door-neighbor, Andre, a bantering busybody who offers a variety of opinions on everything going on with Morgan.

Nevertheless, Morgan’s love life is another story. As her mother frequently reminds her, every boyfriend she has ever had has been a train wreck of one kind or another. When the novel opens, she has been in a relationship with investment banker Marcus Alexander, a seemingly upstanding and committed man, for nine months. A few days before her birthday, Morgan accidentally finds an expensive tennis bracelet in Marcus’s closet, which she assumes will be his gift to her. However, her birthday comes and goes without any mention of jewelry. Instead, soon afterward, she sees the same bracelet on the arm of a woman Marcus had claimed was only a friend. Furious, Morgan calls Marcus to confront him about his cheating, and they break up after he confesses.



Altima and Ophelia take depressed Morgan out so she can vent. After several rounds of drinks, Morgan has an epiphany: The only way to make sure that future boyfriends don’t cheat is to make them sign a good behavior contract that will offer mind-blowing sex in exchange for monogamy. Morgan draws up the document using her legal acumen, and what began as a joke becomes increasingly real—she decides that the next man who isn’t faithful will be punished financially in a court of law.

After recovering from the breakup, Morgan meets Charles Sealant, a used car salesman with a million-dollar smile and charm to spare. The courtship is a whirlwind of basketball games, champagne dinners, and even a day in Paris. Everywhere they go in Philadelphia, everyone knows Charles and being with him is a lot of fun. Finally, in a heated moment just before they have sex, Morgan gets Charles to sign the contract.

For a while, things are going well, and Morgan is happy with her new beau. She brags about her great choice to her coworker Michael, a fellow lawyer whom Morgan sees as the epitome of everything a black man should be.



Soon, however, Charles turns out to be just like Marcus—Morgan catches him with another woman. Eager to see Charles publicly castigated for his private misbehavior, Morgan actually takes him to court for breach of contract. The trial is a mayhem-filled farce, complete with behavior that wouldn’t be out of place on a soap opera. Throughout the whole court process, Morgan’s coworker Michael helps her, unfazed by the idea that this woman has decided to bring the law down on an ex-boyfriend for breaking her heart. Charles, meanwhile, treats the trial like a joke—and with good reason, because he ends up winning the case.

But not all is lost for Morgan after she loses the judgment against Charles for which she had been hoping. Instead, she ends up with Michael, the perfect man who has been there all along and who has fallen in love with her while working side by side.