Jenna Jaxon

Good book. Diana spent years taking care of her uncle while her cousins ignored him. When he died, she became the sole heir to his estate - provided she was married. She has one week to acquire a husband willing to meet her conditions. That is a difficult task when her cousins have spread scurrilous rumors about her, so she visits Mrs. Dove-Lyon for help.

Geoffrey discovers that his estates are nearly bankrupt and will have to be sold to raise the money needed to pay the debts. His best friend suggests that he ask Mrs. Dove-Lyon to assist him in finding a bride with a suitable fortune.

When Mrs. Dove-Lyon brings Geoffrey and Diana together, they are horrified. An unfortunate incident a few months earlier made them enemies, and neither is interested in marrying the other. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and they eventually negotiate a truce that allows each of them to get what they need. Will they follow through with their intention to part ways as soon as possible, or can they find a way to put the past behind them for a future together?

I liked watching the relationship between Geoffrey and Diana develop. Before the mishap that drove them apart, they were quite taken with each other, but neither reacted well to what happened. Once they were married and spending time together, those feelings began to overcome their antipathy. I enjoyed the scenes where they stopped sniping at each other. When Diana is injured in a fall, Geoffrey's protectiveness is aroused, and she begins to see more of the man she admired when they first met. I liked seeing them realize they belonged together. The epilogue is excellent.

There is a bit of suspense regarding a man who has set his eyes on gaining Geoffrey's sister, Joanna, as his wife. Initially, I agreed with Geoffrey's determination to keep them apart, as Mr. Dandridge appears very unsuitable. But by the end of the book, I began to suspect that there is more to Mr. Dandridge than Geoffrey knows. I also thought that Geoffrey's comments were unnecessarily harsh. This thread was left hanging, leading me to believe that we will see more of him in a later book.

#netgallley… (más)

Georgie is heading from her brother's wedding, resigning herself to a marriage to a man she doesn't want but knowing that she had her love of her life and he's now dead and she's a widow. Her father wants the wedding, really she doesn't but she doesn't see a way out. Then a band of ruffians suddenly kidnap her and bring her to Portsmouth. There a friend of her brother, Lord St Just, rescues her and they escape in his ship (cue much mal-de-mer!) en route they find they're attracted, but how to resolve everything? Particularly when the man behind the kidnapping is her fiancee and he's finding no a difficult word to swallow.

It was a light-hearted fun read with characters that made me smile, several times. A good read with fun characters, I'd read more by this author.… (más)