His Convenient Marriage : Wedlocked ! (Presents)

Rating:
Summary: Not her best...
Review: I know this author has written for Presents forever, but this is the first one I've read of hers, and I hope it is an exception rather than the rule. This story was a disappointment. It was not believeable at all, especially the marriage of convenience that was proposed completely out of the blue by a slave driving reclusive writer boss to his mousy little secretary. Add in a ridiculously bitchy other woman and I was tempted on several occassions to toss this one across the room. Normally I love presents, especially anything by Emma Darcy, Jane Porter, or Miranda Lee, who always write emotional, compelling and 'real' romances that keep the pages turning.

Rating:
Summary: Not one of her better ones
Review: Ugh. This novel began well & could have been good -- if the author had concentrated on building a romantic attraction between the hero & heroine. Francesca (Chessie) went to work for the famous author who bought her family's house after her financial-advisor father gypped his clients out of money & died suddenly. She's been working for him almost 2 years & living in the premises. There's been nothing between her & the hero except for a working relationship (a mistake, the author should have at least hinted that the hero found her attractive, or vice-versa, in the beginning; but she waits until the end for the hero to confess he wanted to "protect" the heroine from the instant he saw her! Who knew?)

After the interesting beginning, the whole book starts to go belly up when an old boyfriend of Chessie's comes home from America, and her teenage sister starts acting out & running around with a drug-pushing grunge. Also throw in the jealous, catty neighbor stepmother of Chessie's old beau & her stroke-victim husband, and that's alot of characters in this mix. Too much for a Harlequin, really. And all too draggy for a romance novel.

Someone ought to shake Sara Craven for creating such a wimpy heroine. The plot machinations were unbelieveable. I have to agree with the other reviewer who mentioned the stupidity of the hero's asking the heroine to marry him seemingly out of the blue, for no believable reason. The hero just springs the proposal on her; it's silly. The snotty younger sister was VERY annoying (yet, believeably written -- 1 star for the bit of realism in this character!) The other star I give this book is for the well-written sex scene that occurs near the end. After slogging through the unbelieveable plot & my wondering when the heroine would get a spine instead of a wishbone, from out of nowhere, Ms. Craven writes a really sensual scene, the best part of the book! But even that gets spoiled by the hero's not loving or trusting the heroine enough to tell her afterwards, he's got to have a serious operation -- she has to find out from another source. Unbelievable! Just cannot recommend this one.