Brooke Allison English, unruly teenage niece of Phoebe Tyler, arrived in Pine Valley in 1976. She brought with her Benny Sago, equally unruly at first when she pitted him against Dan Kennicott, but eventually redeemed. She moved on to ex-football star turned restaurateur Tom Cudahy, who was involved with Brooke’s archrival, Erica Kane. Erica appeared to have won, marrying Tom, but the marriage didn’t last, and Brooke and Tom tied the knot. They had a daughter together, Laura, who was tragically killed by a drunk driver a few years later. The marriage broke up when she discovered that Tom had slept with Erica on the eve of her marriage to Adam Chandler. Brooke too, eventually wed Adam, much to Erica’s amusement and comments about "hand-me-down" men. Their marriage collapsed when Brooke discovered that Adam Jr., the child that their servant, Dixie Cooney, planned to let them adopt was, in fact, Adam's biological son.

Brooke and Erica also sparred over Brooke’s involvement with Jackson Montgomery and Erica’s half-brother, Mark Dalton.

In 1987, Brooke found out that her biological mother wasn't really Peg English as she thought but rather, Jane Dobrin, a homeless woman. The fact that Peg was not a blood relation was a shock, but also a relief, as Peg had been revealed to be part of an international drug ring.

Brooke fell in love with Pierce Riley, a reclusive artist. She was torn between dark, brooding Pierce and Adam. She eventually chose Pierce, but the relationship failed when Christina, a woman from his past, showed up.

In 1997, Brooke adopted erstwhile street urchin Laura Kirk. She also has a child with Tad Martin, whom she married after their son Jamie was born. That marriage ended when Tad returned to his former wife, Dixie.

Brooke survived the crash of Flight 149, with only Edmund (also a former flame of hers), Edmund’s daughter Maddie and Jim Thomason. She and Jim, a photographer, became close and were to be married, but she discovered that he was in fact a child pornographer. She sent Laura to China to get her away from him, then shot and killed Thomason, a deed for which she was never punished.

Recently, Brooke has been concentrating on her career as half owner and editor of Tempo magazine and director of the Brooke English House, a homeless shelter, and slowly moving towards a relationship with Eliot Freeman, the local minister.