1976: Freshly kicked out of her latest boarding school, Brooke arrived in Pine Valley for a supposedly short visit with her Aunt Phoebe. An unsuspecting Phoebe was fooled into believing her niece was a nice, polite girl. The arrival of Brooke's ruffian, motorcycle-riding boyfriend, Benny Sago, displeased the blue-blooded Aunt Phoebe. She turned up her nose at low-class Benny and encouraged Brooke to date a clean-cut young man named Dan Kennicott. Brooke decided to toy around with both men by leading Dan around by the nose and making Benny jealous in the process. Why not enjoy both men?! The girl just wanted to have fun!!!

1977: Dan became good friends with his new neighbor, a young girl named Devon Shepherd. Dan confided in Devon that he was afraid Brooke was two-timing him with her old beau Benny. Meanwhile, Brooke knew Dan was a virgin, and ridding him of that albatross was her divine challenge! After successfully bedding Dan, Brooke lost all interest in him. Brooke moved on to a new challenge - one time pro-football star Tom Cudahy. But Erica Kane liked him too! The battle over Tom was the beginning of the long-time rivalry between the women and marked the first Brooke/Erica fight!

1978: Brooke took up with Dan again after she realized that Tom was more interested in Erica. Besides Dan had begun dating Devon, and Brooke always wanted what she couldn't have. In the meantime, Aunt Phoebe was faking paralysis from a fall down the stairs. Phoebe's predicament was getting her some much-needed attention from her husband, Charles Tyler. Unfortunately it also confined her to a wheelchair, and while rolling around the grounds she stumbled upon the pool house and found Brooke and Dan naked and amorously engaged! In Julia Barr's own words, (The Soap Opera Book of Lists) "There was a great scene way back when where Phoebe caught Brooke in the poolhouse fooling around with Dan Kennicott. It was so much fun because Phoebe is a character given to outrage, and that was the most outraged Phoebe could become." Aunt Phoebe decided it was time to boot Brooke back home to her parents. Before Phoebe could ship Brooke out though, Brooke caught Phoebe out of her wheelchair and blackmailed her into an open-ended stay in Pine Valley.

1979: Dan left town broken hearted when Brooke fell hopelessly in love with Erica's half-brother, Mark Dalton. However, the feelings were not reciprocal because Mark was still harboring feelings for his former flame Ellen Shepherd. One night when Mark had too much to drink, Brooke seduced him. Mark blatantly told Brooke all they had going for them was sex, but she moved in with him anyway hoping to change his mind. Brooke's jealousy of Ellen ruined her already tentative relationship with Mark. On the rebound, Brooke began a reckless affair with town sleaze, Eddie Dorrance. But this time Brooke got more than she bargained for when Eddie brutally raped her. When Brooke discovered she was pregnant from the attack she aborted the baby. She turned to Mark, who despite their stormy past, offered Brooke his friendship which she accepted. At a crossroads, Brooke took stock of herself and realized her shenanigans weren't working anymore. It was time to grow up. In Julia Barr's own words, (The Soap Opera Book of Lists) "I think what led to a maturation in Brooke was the Eddie Dorrance story. Brooke was young and foolish; she was going to sow her wild oats and take up with the most unlikable character she could find. That was Eddie. She treated him like dirt, and he was smitten with her. While they were on a date, Eddie raped her. Then she had an abortion. After that, she began to take stock of different things."

1980: Erica left town in hopes of making it big as a movie star. In her absence, Brooke and Tom grew closer. Unfortunately, Erica's attempt at stardom flopped. She moved back to Pine Valley and used every trick at her disposal to come between Tom and Brooke. Afraid he wouldn't approve of her latest scheme to become famous, Erica lied to Tom about her frequent trips to New York. When Tom found out that Erica had betrayed him once again, he went ahead with his plans to marry Brooke.

1981: This was the year of Brooke and Tom. They were married after his annulment to Erica became final. Tom arrived at Brooke's place in the middle of the night with a priest in tow. Brooke's pajamas and terry cloth robe served as her wedding gown. However, the newlyweds didnt have an easy time of it when Brooke made the horrifying discovery that the woman she believed to be her mother, Peg English, was actually the head of an international drug cartel and went by the name Cobra. Peg resented raising another woman's child so much that she even went as far as trying to kill Brooke and Tom. Luckily, the good guys prevailed with Brooke and Tom surviving the murder attempt and Peg ending up in jail.

1982: Tom and Brooke's marriage remained on track.

1983: Working at the Pine Valley Bulletin, Brooke's journalistic career took off. The story that put her on the map - Erica accidentally shot and killed her lover Kent Bogard. Brooke spotted Erica who was running from the law and struck a deal for an exclusive interview of Erica's story.

1984: Brooke's first run in with millionaire Adam Chandler. Adam wanted to build a controversial gambling mall in Pine Valley. Brooke spearheaded a grassroots movement that eventually passed a referendum making gambling illegal in Pine Valley. On the homefront, Brooke's marriage was in trouble. Tom's old college roommate, Gil Barrett, was obsessed with Brooke and tried to rape her. Even though Tom refused to believe Brooke's version of what happened, she was willing to give the marriage another chance when she discovered she was pregnant. She soon changed her mind though upon learning that a drunken Tom slept with Erica. An alcoholic Tom drowned his sorrows in booze while Brooke turned to Mark Dalton for comfort. As Brooke's Lemaze partner, Mark was by her side when she gave birth to her daughter, Laura. Ironically, the ink on Brooke and Tom's divorce papers set only moments after the delivery.

1985: Brooke graduated to TV anchorwoman, and was sent to jail (Sing Sing) for failing to reveal her journalistic source (Mark) in a municipal scandal. Later, a hired killer tried to shoot Brooke for her role in the expose, but Mike Roy took the bullet instead. Brooke and Mark slowly grew apart as Brooke juggled her busy schedule as a single mother and a career woman. Enter professional daredevil Gilles St. Clair. Brooke was intrigued by Gilles dangerous lifestyle and worked hard to keep up with his hectic pace. She went as far as taking drugs to keep herself awake at work after partying too hard with Gilles. During one of these episodes, she found herself unable to care for her daughter. Brooke immediately realized her life was no longer in the fast lane and Laura needed to be her number one priority.

1986: While researching a story, Brooke stumbled upon a homeless woman who was in possession of an English family heirloom. Upon further investigation, Brooke learned that the woman, Jane Dobrin, was none other than her biological mother. Brooke was anxious to bond with her mother, which caused jealousy in her Aunt Phoebe who had come to think of Brooke as her own child. Brooke assured her Aunt that she would always hold a special place in her heart. Meanwhile, with her daughter's help, Jane pulled her life together, got married and moved to Chicago to start a new life. This was also the year Erica and Brooke were hijacked by a band of kidnappers! Jeremy Hunter along with the help of Matt Connolly eventually rescued them. In Julia Barr's own words, (The Soap Opera Book of Lists) "I'm sorry they don't engage Erica and Brooke a little more often. There was one story where they were on a private plane together that was hijacked. The two of them had become unwilling allies because they were in such a dangerous position. It was funny, our characters having to come together for a common goal." Erica became involved with Jeremy, which did not sit well with Adam who still had feelings for her. In an effort to irk Erica, Adam offered Brooke Erica's job as Tempo's Editor-in-Chief. Brooke was interested in the career move, but not the commute to Manhattan where the magazine's headquarters were located. If Mohammed wouldnt come to the mountain, then the mountain would come to Mohammed. Adam moved the offices to Pine Valley and Brooke, much to Erica's dismay, accepted the position.

1987: AMC dealt with cocaine addiction in a story where Brooke's former lover Mark Dalton became addicted to cocaine. Brooke was part of the intervention to save Mark. Erica, along with Brooke, Ellen and Dr. Jeff Martin, spearheaded the intervention, which was a success. Brooke briefly became involved with Jeff, but the romance went no where fast when she realized they were not interested in pursuing the same things out of life.

To both Adam and Brooke's dismay, they found themselves romantically drawn to each other. Brooke's tough and independent attitude rocked Adam's world, but Brooke was fighting the undeniable attraction with all her might. While working late to put the magazine to bed, Brooke was worried she was neglecting her daughter. Adam arranged to have the little girl brought to the office so Brooke could keep an eye on her while she worked. Brooke couldn't help but be charmed as she watched Adam get on the floor and play with Laura while Brooke finished up. Laura wasn't feeling good and the situation became serious fast with them rushing her to the hospital. Adam stayed with Brooke the entire night assuring Brooke that her daughter would be fine. When Laura was finally given a clean bill of health, Brooke and Adam spontaneously melted into a powerful kiss.

Brooke, however, quickly tried to backpedal out of the budding relationship claiming she couldn't be involved with her boss. Never one to accept no for an answer, this was the beginning of Adam's relentless pursuit of Brooke. Adam had met his match in Brooke English and he was determined to have her. Brooke was at home cleaning the cabinets above her stove, when Adam stormed in, pulled her over his shoulder and flung her on the couch demanding she give them a chance. Brooke again said no, but Adam kept after her. Finally, one day in the office, Brooke could no longer resist her attraction and gave in to a passionate kiss and exploring a relationship. Adam walked out with a grin the size of Texas, followed by Brooke who succinctly informed her staff that if they had so much time for gossip maybe she had too many employees, they got the hint and quickly went back to their desks.

Adam declared his love for Brooke fairly quickly, but Brooke was a little more hesitant in admitting what was in her heart. Brooke left on a business trip, but came early because she realized she was in love with Adam and couldn't wait one more second to tell him. Adam scooped Brooke up in his arms, and kissed her madly while twirling her around. They moved the reunion to his house, but were interrupted by an important business phone call, which Adam had to take. Adam came back to the parlor to find Brooke asleep on the sofa. He sat down next to her, but instead of waking her, watched her sleep and in the process fell asleep himself. Brooke then woke up to find Adam sleeping. Both finally had their eyes open at the same time. Adam wrapped his arms around her and the two headed for the bedroom. Aunt Phoebe, who did not at all approve of the relationship, interrupted the couple before they even made it up the stairs. This was the first of many interruptions the two would endure.

Adam couldn't take it anymore so he decided to whisk Brooke away on a romantic getaway. Adam swooped in and told Brooke work was finished for the day and she was coming with him. Brooke grabbed her attaché case as he hurried her out of the office. Adam made a point of coming back to the office and tossing the attaché case aside. Once on his private jet, Brooke inquired as to where Adam was taking her. He would only tell her some place warm with white sandy beaches. The two began to fool around when they hit turbulence and unfortunately Brooke became air-sick. She woke up the next morning dressed in a beautiful negligee wondering where she was. Enter Adam with the answers. Things quickly became amorous as Adam slowly worked his way down Brookes neck and slipped her spaghetti straps off her shoulders. Adam declared that he had never in his entire life wanted a woman as much as he wanted Brooke at that moment. In one sheer stroke, Adam pulled Brooke onto the bed and they went at it. After making love they toasted with champagne and strawberries. Brooke adored Adam for making her feel so desired, but admitted she was missing Laura. Adam agreed to get her home as quickly as possible while Brooke agreed to make love one more time before heading back.

Brooke once again was called away on business, this time to Paris. While in her hotel room Brooke was feeling a little lonely, so she was pleasantly surprised when Adam unexpectedly arrived at her door pretending to be room service. She greeted her man by smothering him with kisses. They shared a romantic evening wrapped in each others arms watching fireworks from her balcony. Times like these gave Adam more confidence about their relationship, but he was still afraid that he was in deeper than she was. So Adam came up with a plan to find out Brooke's true feelings. The day of Skye and Tom's wedding he posed as Stuart and started plying Brooke with questions about how and what she felt for Adam. Even back then Brooke could tell the difference and called Adam on his deception. Brooke told Adam that if he wanted to know something all he had to do was ask. Adam blurted out that he wanted to know if Brooke would marry him. The ceremony was about to start and Brooke was able to stall giving Adam her answer. Then during the reception while dancing, Brooke whispered her answer in Adam's ear, "Yes." Brooke couldnt stop an overjoyed Adam from announcing to the guests that she had done him the great honor of agreeing to be his wife. A sour Skye looked on as Brooke and Adam's engagement stole the thunder of her shining moment. After the bride and groom and final guests took leave, Adam arranged for the band to play one last song just for them. Alone on the dance floor, Brooke and Adam swayed to the music. Adam kissed Brooke's hand and sweetly peppered her arm with kisses until their lips met.

Adam returned from a business trip to find Erica giving Brooke a lecture on why she shouldn't marry Adam. Brooke kicked Erica out, but Adam wondered if any of what Erica said had influenced Brooke. Brooke reminded Adam of how happy she was to see him when he came through the door. Adam then presented Brooke with a gorgeous engagement ring. Brooke remarked on how special the ring was to which Adam responded it wasn't as special as they were. He slipped the ring on her finger and they kissed. Brooke was definitely committed to Adam, but she was stalling on going forward with the wedding plans, which Adam called her on. In particular, Adam was upset that Brooke hadn't even begun to prepare Laura for the changes that were coming. Brooke took what Adam had to say to heart. Unbeknownst to Brooke, Adam watched and his heart melted as Brooke explained to her daughter about the new family they were forming. Things, however, would not be smooth sailing all the way up until their wedding. Adam and Brooke kept getting their signals crossed and Adam was sure Brooke was trying to call off the engagement when in fact she was arranging for a small wedding ceremony to take place at the Tempo offices. Adam was stunned, but grateful that he had misread Brooke's intentions. Despite Phoebe's objections, the two exchanged vows and were married in November of 1987.

1988: Brooke and Adam were settling into married life. Brooke quit Tempo and took a job working for Travis Montgomery at Trend Magazine. This irked Adam to no end, but Brooke felt it was the best thing for their marriage. As a way to lure Brooke back, he made a bet with Brooke, if Tempo's circulation beat Trend's that quarter Brooke would come back to Tempo. If Trend won, then Adam owed Brooke a trip around the world or a baby. Brooke was blown away by Adam's suggestion, which in her mind seemingly came out of nowhere. Brooke agreed to the bet, but told Adam she had to think long and hard about having another child. As preparations for Stuart and Cindy's wedding got underway, Brooke told Adam she wanted to try for a baby. Brooke explained why now seemed like a good time, which mostly had to do with watching Stuart and Cindy moving forward with their lives even though things seemed so uncertain. After several months of trying to get pregnant, Adam agreed to go to a fertility specialist with Brooke. It was revealed that Brooke suffered from premature ovarian failure. Brooke wanted to try for adoption while Adam wanted to consider a surrogate. Brooke wouldn't hear of it. Dixie Cooney, Laura's nanny, overheard the conversation and agreed to pose as Brooke to sign the necessary papers.

Then tragedy in what was surely the saddest and most defining year of Brookes life. Brooke and Tom's daughter Laura was hit and killed by a drunk driver. As heartbroken parents, Tom and Brooke donated Laura's organs so that other people might live. Adam and Brooke's marriage suffered because Adam felt Brooke pulling away from him and bonding with Tom.

1989: Brooke realized Adam was also suffering and made every effort to include him from that point on, but they had a huge blowout when Brooke came upon the legal documents with her forged signature on it. After the fight, Dixie, who had a mad crush on Adam, followed him down to the boathouse and Adam took advantage of her there. After sleeping with Dixie, Adam did everything he could to win back Brooke's trust, which included agreeing to adoption. A woman named Valerie was a prime candidate, but Adam paid her off once he found out that Dixie was carrying his child. Adam wanted nothing to do with Dixie, and manipulated her right and left.

At first his plan was to get Dixie to give the child up for adoption to him and Brooke, but then Dixie's relatives got involved and complicated the matter. Brooke was also concerned that the child's father might come along later and try to claim the child, so she hired Tad to investigate. Tad quickly gleaned what was going on and, to protect Dixie from all the people who were hounding her, claimed he was the father. This made Adam burn because he knew it wasn't true, but had no way of proving it without exposing his one-night-stand with Dixie.

Adam's aim was to get rid of Dixie and trick Brooke into believing his own child was one that had come up for adoption. However, Brooke began to suspect that all was not right and that the child Dixie was carrying might be Adam's, so she started another investigation of her own and connected all the pieces. Meanwhile, with a heads up from Tad, Dixie also put all the pieces together and confronted Adam. During that confrontation at the boathouse, Brooke came upon the scene. Adam still continued to lie but Brooke had all the proof from her investigation. She slapped him hard across the face and said that every stinking word out his mouth was a lie. She proceeded to rip off her wedding band and fly out the door. She went to Laura's grave and wept.

Upon leaving the cemetery, a distraught Brooke stepped in front of a moving car. Tom was the driver and just missed running her down. Brooke pleaded with Tom to take her to his home. After telling Tom what happened, she cried and said that when she lost Laura she lost everything. Adam wanted Brooke back, but she went to see Jackson Montgomery instead. With Jack's help, Brooke won half of Adam's fortune in her divorce settlement and started up the homeless shelter.