365 books in 365 days Challenge ... book #233

Passionate Choice - Flora Kidd
Mills & Boon Romance
Mills & Boon, 1986
ISBN: 9780263754926





My rating




From the back cover:

"Stella had made the mistake of falling in love with Kit Barlow when all he wanted was a casual fling before he married someone else. Once burnt, twice shy. The new man in Stella's life was everything that Kit was not: steady, reliable and eager to commit himself to her. So why did she find herself hankering after Kit when they met again in the Caribbean where it had all started?"


Another oldie...

The heroine Stella has come to the Caribbean in order to conduct some underwater archaeology with her fiancé. When she meets the man who will be helping, Stella is shocking to discover that it is Kit, the hero, the man she spent nearly a year living with three years ago. Worried about what her finance's reaction may be, Stella pretends she doesn't know Kit and relieved when he plays along. When she and Kit get the chance to talk, Stella asks him to keep up the pretence but being alone with him reminds her of the time they spent together and how much she loved him, and how hurt she was when their relationship ended. But the passion between them has never died and she finds it difficult to ignore it the longer they spend together. She also realises that her engagement is a mistake, as well as feeling that her soon-to-be-ex fiancé is hiding something. Stella and Kit work together to find out the truth and rekindle their relationship, but Stella holds back remembering her heartbreak from three years ago.

This is an interesting and enjoyable book, and quite forward for an older one. I enjoyed the setting, the author did a great job of describing the surroundings and situations with real depth. The chemistry between the hero and heroine is really well done, with plenty of spark and tension.
I had a couple of issues with the book though. First, is that that the heroine pursues the hero while she is still engaged, which is a little distasteful. Secondly, when the hero and heroine have their HEA, the hero insists she gives up her studies and just be his wife - I know this book is nearly twenty years old but, wow, that annoyed me!

But, the book is enjoyable; nice writing and an well executed story.

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