365 books in 365 days Challenge ... book #49

Three Weddings and a Baby - Fiona Harper
Mills and Boon RIVA
Harlequin Mills and Boon, 2011
ISBN: 9780263883671



My rating




From the back cover:

"When three is most definitely a crowd…
Do you believe in love at first sight? Jennie Hunter and Alex Dangerfield did, and they married just a few weeks after they met! But when Alex disappeared on their wedding night Jennie was left alone – and angry – in her honeymoon suite. A month later, and Jennie has given up hope of ever seeing her runaway husband again.
Then Alex returns – with his toddler in tow! Shocked to learn Alex has been married before, her first instinct is to run. Her second instinct – well, even a hard-headed businesswoman can’t turn away a tiny girl who needs a nappy-change and a husband with sheer panic in his eyes… Compared to umpteen clients, one small kid will be a doddle…right?"

I'm really into the RIVA line at the moment, so expect more of these to come! This was another book I read whilst on holiday, usually in the mornings while waiting for my husband to return bearing much needed coffee! Once again another really enjoyable book from this line.

The story beings with the heroine Jennie and the hero Alex meeting at the wedding of Jennie's step brother. We discover that Jennie and Alex have been married for a little over a month, after a whirlwind romance, however they have not seen each other since early in their honeymoon after Alex was called back on a family emergency. Jennie was angry with Alex for leaving her on her own, especially as the emergency was due to his ex-wife being injured in an accident. Angry and annoyed Jennie had left and gone back to her previous life. Alex has been through a lot since marrying Jennie, including having to deal with the death of his ex-wife and finding out that she had not told him about their daughter. Alex has tracked down Jennie, angry with her for leaving, determined to try and sort through their issues together so they can both decide if their relationship can survive.

I really enjoyed this book, it was entertaining, romantic and emotional all at the same time. I really liked the mix of past and present settings to emphasise the story, and I felt that this helped it flow really well. The female character of Jennie was fantastic, she was the perfect mix of feisty and deep as well as being a true 21st century girl. Alex, as a character, was a little harder to grasp. If I only had one word to describe him it would be dark. Both characters had the chance to grow as the story progressed, perhaps Jennie more than Alex. I found it really interesting that when I started reading the book I preferred Alex to Jennie but towards the end it was the other way round.
If your looking for a book with an explosive conflict then this is not it, instead this book has an almost constant conflict running through it, that being how destructive the lack of communication can be in relationships, and this works perfectly with the pace of the story.

This is the first book I have read by Fiona Harper and I look forward to reading more of her books in the future.

Xx

P.s. In my continuing series of photos of the books I read on holiday, here is my copy of the book lounging back on my hotel bed!