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Rating: 
Summary: A witty delightful tale
Review: With the name of the series being The McGillivrays of Pelican Bay, you know I had to check this one out. In McGillivray's Bed Harlequin Presents # 2406 is my first Anne McAllister book, and I must say it won't be my last. The misspelling of MacGillivray (LOL) aside, I found McAllister's writing sassy, lively. Harlequin Presents is a short series book only 185 page (!) so it does not give a writer a lot of room to flesh out characters, but McAllister seems very deft at working within this confinement. Her characters are vivid, full of wit and humor making this a very enjoyable quickie read.
The beginning is a wee bit contrived (but due to the 185-page length I sort of dismiss that - the length just does not give a lot of time to develop a stronger plot. In this tale, Sydney St. John jumped overboard to avoid being married against her will. (I warned it was a bit forced. Ignore it!). She is in the middle of the ocean when her father's business partner announced before all they are going to be married that night. Instead of telling the jerk to take a hike, she jumps overboard to avoid making a scene and avoid the marriage. Fortunately, for her Hugh McGillivray is out relaxing with a day of fishing. Instead of a big fish, he catches Sydney. Hugh has sworn off women. He was in love with Carin, but Carin married someone else. Since then, he has contented himself with loving Carin from a far (idiot) and cutting a wide swatch through the female population of Pelican Bay, a love-em-and-leave-em sort of jerk all women want to kick (big idiot). His life of late has been a living bachelors hell, because Lisa, a 19-year-old, has announced to one and all she and Hugh are going to be married. Does not matter than Hugh has told her no way Jose, she believe she can wear him down. In order to keep Lisa at bay, and Sydney's hot-in-pursuit jilted business partner, they agree to pretend she is Hugh's wife. Solves both of their problems, but of course opens another can of worms - their attraction for each other. If you like to nitpick a story apart, you might give this one a pass, because the situations are rather forced. But if you are looking for a light read, to relax before bedtime, a delightful fresh voice that is able to weave humor into the tale, then Macallister is your cup of tea. I eagerly look forward to the rest in the series.
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