Marion Lennox is an autobuy author for me, but this one didn't quite work. The premise is a bit unbelievable, but Lennox usually does her homework so I'll assume it's possible to make a bequest contingent on marriage. Jeanie Lochlan MacBride and the new Earl of Duncair, Duncan MacBride, must marry for a minimum of one year if the estate is not to be sold and the proceeds donated to dog charities across Europe. Jeanie has no interest in getting married for a third time and Duncan hates Jeanie because he thinks she married his cousin for his money. Despite the fact that Jeanie has been running the castle as a B&B and receiving a pittance for a wage, he is sure she's a gold digger.

Of course she's not, and of course Duncan will learn this, and they will fall in love and make their sham marriage a real one. Lennox's writing is as competent as ever, she evokes the feel of Duncairn, which I think is based on the Isle of Mull, and the glimpses we get of villagers and village life and enjoyable. But I never really believed in the romance. Jeanie has had two unsatisfactory-to-horrible marriages and Duncan has been betrayed just before his only attempt at marriage, so they're pretty scarred, but the way they overcome these issues is by discovering the other person is better than their previous spouses/fiancee. They're both likeable people, but likeability isn't enough to create romance, and I just didn't see an individual basis for attraction. Although Jeanie's pretty superhuman; she runs an entire castle by herself, now that I think about it.

I did like the fact that they develop a physical and sexual relationship before they fall in love, and Duncan has to learn to be more emotionally open with Jeanie and allow her to be a real partner before she'll consider a real relationship. But the rest of the book felt more like a sketch of a romance than the full story. ( )