Ben has been in love with Shelly since he was a teenager. Though she is older than him, his feelings have not changed when he meets her as a man. Shelly, not knowing who he is at first, is powerfully attracted to him. When she learns who he is, she feels their relationship is inappropriate and tries to drive a wedge between them. Will it work?

 

This is very dated. The age gap is only six years and her friendship with his mother has nothing to do with what is between them. His fiancée is a horror and I knew she would not last. Others try to do damage to Shelly but she manages to free herself from all of that. I liked the kindly listening ear of the village doctor who helps her straighten herself out. Ben is aggressive. When he doesn't get his way, look out.

 

While I have always liked Anne Mather's books, this is not a keeper.

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25494267-a-christmas-vow-of-seduction" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="A Christmas Vow of Seduction (Princes of Petras, #1)" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1436129140m/25494267.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25494267-a-christmas-vow-of-seduction">A Christmas Vow of Seduction</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3430431.Maisey_Yates">Maisey Yates</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1391087734">3 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
I really did like that Zara was able to keep Andres on his toes and go head to head with him. He was a jerk and his behavior towards others were unconscionable. While I understand he had a rough childhood and acting out became a way to get attention, he's a grown man and he needs to act like it. There was a nice amount of angst and tension in this story and Zara and Andres had great chemistry. I think I would have enjoyed it more if Andres was a touch more likable. It's been a while, but I recall that Zara's backstory was tortured as well. I did feel a lot of sympathy for her and I wanted her to be loved the way she deserved. I liked Andres' colder older brother Kairos a lot, or let's say he intrigued me. I thought there was a story to be told about his marriage. It got me excited to read Kairos's story <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25434325.The_Queen_s_New_Year_Secret__Princes_of_Petras___2_" title="The Queen's New Year Secret (Princes of Petras, #2) by Maisey Yates" rel="nofollow">The Queen's New Year Secret</a>, but I didn't like it as much as this one, sadly. <br /><br />The good chemistry and the angsty storyline made it a <b>3.5 star</b> read for me.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1570669-danielle-the-book-huntress-back-to-the-books">View all my reviews</a>

 

The Trophy Husband (Harlequin Presents) ...

Hard to really appreciate a book when the characters irritate you, the plot is contrived and frankly, you don't give a damn.

 

Heroine... family doormat and borderline TSTL. She watched this guy pursue her beautiful model cousin, then when he gave up and went after *her*, instead of maybe being a lot hesitant at being the consolation prize, she...got engaged. A message at work said for her to check on her cousin, whereupon she finds the two of them going at it. She staggers back to work, gets plastered on coffee and brandy (coffee? In the UK?), and eventually passes out in the H's limo. She wakes in a night gown, and instead of wigging out, she presses him to pop her cherry (doesn't tell him that part - he finds it out) Over the next couple of months... she's pressed into marrying him (didn't resist v. hard), has to deal with his bipolar attitude toward her, has a meltdown and pretends to leave, meets the ex for a counseling session, deals with more of his douche-y behavior, meets yet another ex of his (yeah, she was practically tripping over them). And HEA supposedly...or until he has another temper tantrum.

 

Hero - stalker creepazoid who sicced a PI on her then-fiance in hopes of finding dirt on him - spent 2 months acting like a spoiled brat because the h actually objected to his manipulating her to get her in his clutches.

 

Cousin - spoiled heifer whose parents indulged her to make up for her being jealous of the h's friends (h was a nice doormat sort, of course she had friends)

 

Aunt/uncle - resented the cross they had to bear and also resented that said cross landed the douche...while their precious brat had to settle for the dumbass who'd wasted time pursuing her earlier.

This has been languishing on my Kindle for a while, and I totally forgot that I purchased it. I rediscovered it while browsing through my Kindle library, and thinking that there is no time like the present, I downloaded it and promptly began reading it. I was in mood for something quick and relatively light, and this fit the bill nicely.

First off, the plot was delightfully ridiculous. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, so I’ll just mention the most obvious reason; Hallie Bennett agrees to pretend to be Nick’s wife on a week-long trip to Hong Kong. Okay, the fake wife / fake fiancée trope is not my favorite, but it worked well enough here. Mainly because of Hunter’s witty dialog and the secondary plot. Once they arrive in Hong Kong, mysterious things start to happen, and it soon becomes evident that someone is out to get Nick. Poor guy! What could a software developer have done to earn so much malice??

Nick needed a fake wife because the daughter of a financial backer tried to seduce him, and in order to avoid any further attempts, he makes up a wife. When he’s invited back to the home of his business partner, it’s assumed that his wife will be traveling with him, to enjoy the Chinese New Year’s festivities. When Nick and his mother storm into the shoe shop Hallie is working at, things get out of hand, thanks to Nick’s mom, and before she knows it, Hallie has a contract for enough money to pay for her degree and a ticket to Hong Kong. Money? International travel? A new fancy wardrobe? Sure, count me in!

Of course the sparks flair, and Nick’s brilliant idea of sleeping on the sofa in the guest room goes up in flames, mainly because the sofa is MIA. No problem! A Great Wall of Pillows will keep any invaders on their own side of the bed. Maybe??

A Wife for a Week is typical of the author. Loads of banter, comical situations for our protagonists, and hot smexy times. This is a fun read, with a likable cast of characters, and an exotic setting. I breezed right though this one, and enjoyed every minute of it.

Grade: 4 stars