365 books in 365 days Challenge ... book #184

The Master of Highbridge Manor - Susanne James
Mills & Boon Modern
Harlequin Mills & Boon, 2010
ISBN: 9780263878110





My rating




From the back cover:

"Walking up to the imposing gates of Highbridge Manor, Ria cannot contain her shivers of anticipation; she has come here to escape her past and start over. But when she is greeted by Jasper Trent her devilishly handsome new boss, she realises he's on dangerous ground.
Plucky and proud, Ria holds her heard high while doing her new job - though she can't control her blushes when Jasper is in the vicinity! She's always been strictly professional, but now it seems the master of Highbridge Manor has other plans for her once the working day is done!"


I found this book in the library. I had never heard of Susanne James before so I thought I would give this one a go.

The heroine Ria is about to start her new temporary teaching post at an exclusive boarding school. She is looking forward to a new start after a rough couple of years. She meets the hero Jasper at her interview, he is the acting headmaster, and is immediately drawn to him. Jasper also finds Ria intriguing, however he is reluctant to get involved in anything serious after his failed marriage. As the weeks progress Ria and Jasper form a firm friendship and get to know one another after spending a lot of time together. Eventually it becomes clear that they are both falling for one another, but with Ria planning to go travelling at the end of the term it doesn't seem like there is a future for them.

I have to say that this book did not work for me at all. The internal conflict for for both of the characters is good and well developed but introduced far too late to have any real impact, especially the heroine's, which was only revealed in the closing pages. The whole book just kind of plodded along and at times I found it quite boring. There's not really much chemistry or passion between the hero and heroine and the writing, in my opinion, is a little old fashioned as well.
The title and blurb kind of make this book sound much more exciting that it is, which is disappointing. To me, I don't think this fits the Modern line. As I said, unfortunately, it just didn't work for me.

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