365 books in 365 days Challenge ... book #200

Best Laid Plans - Rosemary Schneider
Mills & Boon Romance
Mills & Boon, 1985
ISBN: 9780263752830





My rating





From the back cover:

"Well-brought-up ladies from Boston don't have too many options open to them, and Kathryn was resigned to the idea that she ought to make a 'sensible' marriage. But she wanted one final fling before she settled down! So she went on holiday in the sun - alone - and met Nick Varganin, who was disturbingly like every fantasy hero she'd ever dreamed of. After that, Kathryn planned to go home and become a comfortable wife - she had not bargained for the fact that Nick was very real, and quite capable of overturning her well-laid plans!"


I'm going through a phase of reading older books at the moment. The painted covers on these books are brilliant, don't you think the man is wearing a rather fetching corduroy jacket...!

The heroine Kathryn is shocked to arrive home one day and find the her Nick waiting for her. Kathryn and Nick met a few weeks back on holiday and ended up having a fling. When Kathryn returned home she was proposed to by a friend and agreed as she is in her thirties and wants to settle down and have children. She was not expecting Nick to turn and throw a spanner in the works. Nick makes it clear that he still wants her and at first he does not believe her about the engagement. Kathryn struggled with her feelings towards Nick and begins to realise that she can't go through with her engagement. She resigns her life to singledom, as Nick made it clear while they were together the first time that he is not looking for commitment. But Kathryn is over the moon when she discovers she is pregnant, although when Nick finds out he reacts badly thinking Kathryn is trying to trap him. Katheryn makes it clear to him that she doesn't want anything from him, and they begin spending more time together to see if they can build a relationship.

I really enjoyed this book. It's really well written with great chemistry between the hero and heroine, and quite an original plot. I liked that the heroine is different to the normal Harlequin/Mills & Boon style (especially of the era this book was written in): she's in her mid thirties and happy with being single, as well as her rich 'Brahmin' status. The relationship between the hero and heroine develops wonderfully, it really feels like a journey and that makes the ending very satisfying. It is a wonderful romance, and one that could easily have been released in the last few years and still hold up to modern standards!

Very enjoyable.

Xx