marriage of convenience

Should’ve Been Home Yesterday by Inez Kelly

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

16647445

Grade: A-
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Series: Country Roads #3
Published: 7/21/14
Reviewed by Kate
189 pages

One night filled with alcohol and passion leaves Molly knocking at Webb’s door to tell him she’s pregnant.  A quick Vegas weekend later and they’re married.  Molly has been in love with Webb since she was eleven and hopes that he’ll come to love her as well.  But if he’s always holding himself back, will their marriage even have a chance to get off the ground?

Molly has know Webb her entire life (he’s 10 years older than she is), their families have been business partners going way back.  And she’s been in love with him just as long.  But there’s a huge, sad history standing between the two of them.  Webb knows that he can never make up for all the things that happened in the past, but he just can’t hand his heart over to Molly either.

This one started off with a strong pull on my heartstrings.  I love a marriage of convenience story and this one was one of the best that I’ve read.  Webb is determined not to risk his heart and Molly is just as determined to win it for herself.  The mystery of their past slowly unfolds through flashbacks and was perfectly combined with their present day romance to create a page turner that made me seriously book cranky.  An “interrupt me at your own risk” book.

A marriage of convenience, love that’s been hidden for years, a mystery about their pasts, and just enough suspense to keep your heart pounding.  This one is going on my year’s best list!

 

A Wife for One Year (Those Engaging Garretts!) By Brenda Harlen

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

22405802
Grade: C+
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary
Published: 8/1/14
Reviewed by Kate
224 pages

Daniel and Kenna have been best friends since they were paired up as chemistry lab partners in high school.  Daniel gets a chance to fulfill a dream, but he needs access to his trust fund first.  And in order to get access to his trust fund, he needs a wife.  Kenna is the only one that he can think of, and the fact that she needs money to pay for her sister’s surgery means she quickly agrees to the plan as well.  But the agreement quickly turns into more than either of them had planned.

I read a lot of erotic romance and every once in a while I need a break.  I know that I can turn to Harlequin Special Edition for that palette cleanser.  This book was just what I needed!

It’s clear that Daniel and Kenna have a really close relationship prior to their marriage deal, and they’ve both kept their romantic feelings hidden.  There’s a lot of “but he’s/she’s my best friend and I don’t want to ruin that.”  There’s also lots of misunderstandings that could have easily been solved by the two of them actually talking.  Seriously.  A lot of misunderstandings.  Why the pair of them couldn’t just be up front about something I never did figure out.  But I guess if they had been upfront this would have been more of a novella than a full length.

Even with all the head smacking misunderstandings, I enjoyed this one a lot.  It was just what I wanted.  If you like low conflict and friends-to-lovers stories, give this one a try.

Throwback Thursday-The Gift by Julie Garwood

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Gift (Crown's Spies, #3)
Grade-C
Hotness Level-Blaze
Kink Level-No Kink
Series-Crown’s Spies #3
Genre-Historical
Reviewed by Kay
373 pages

This book was been on my to read list and then off again over and over. I saw it was at the library in Kindle format and thought, what the heck.

It starts when the hero was fourteen and the heroine was four. The King forced these two children into marriage because he was crazy and was sick of the two families fighting. Kind of like a milder Hatfields and McCoys type of feud. Nathan, the hero, is a Scot and the heroine, Sarah, is English. Her father signed the marriage contract for her since at her age she obviously couldn’t sign for herself. These two live seperately for years. Like fourteen years.

Nathan has made himself into a shipping magnate. He was an outlaw pirate for a while also but no more. He’s ready to get his wife into his life and pregnant with his heir. Over the years he’s never even looked in on her. Has no clue what she looks like. To him it doesn’t matter, she’s a means to an end. Knock her up and he gets the rest of the gift from the King from their marriage contract.

Sarah has always fancied herself in love with Nathan. At least her idea of him. She has grown up in an abusive household full of human vipers. She’s polite but semi reserved. When her aunt becomes a victim of family abuse, she becomes a bit more vocal. She breaks her aunt out of house imprisonment and the two try to flee London. When the man who orders her to let him help, she is skeptical to say the least. She totally flips out when she realizes he’s her husband.

This book was very cute. Very funny but I felt like they talked in all caps because they shouted at each other all the time.Truly shouted. The setting of the story mostly takes place on his boat and that is not my favorite thing but I pushed through. I liked the characters and the conclusion to the plot. The love scenes were frequent but not swoon worthy. I know the book was originally published in 1991 so I will give the bland love scenes a pass because of that. I enjoyed it but was expecting something more and better from what some call the legendary Julie Garwood. Undecided if I’d read more from her yet.