365 books in 365 days Challenge ... Book #300

The Deception Trap - Ann Charlton
Mills & Boon Romance
Mills & Boon, 1986
ISBN: 9780263755107












My rating

From the back cover:

"Even six years after it had all happened, Teressa still hadn't forgiven Ashe Warwick for walking out on her and her family when they lost their money. Now she had grasped the opportunity to level the score - and, with her appearance drastically changed, had insinuated herself into Ashe's life again. But it was disturbing to find that the mercenary, self-seeking man she had once know actually appeared to have some good qualities after all! Until Ashe discovered her deception, and Teressa realised she had been playing with fire..."


This is an oldie that I found on my bookshelf.

The heroine Teressa is helping out her elderly neighbour with her cleaning business when she see's Ashe, the hero. Ashe was once engaged to Teressa's sister but had seemingly abandoned her and Teressa and their father when their father was in financial trouble. As a teenager at the time, Teressa has idolised Ashe and took his betrayal hard. She has imagined being able to get revenge on him, so when her neighbour needs her to go to Ashe's home as a housekeeper for a weekend party he is holding, she sees this as her chance. But Teressa is disconcerted when Ashe turns out to be nice, and especially surprised when she is extremely drawn to him and he seems to share the attraction. When Ashe discovers her web of lies he is angry and vows to make Teressa sorry for deceiving him.

This is an interesting book, and I enjoyed reading it. I liked the plot and it is well written, but I wasn't too keen on the heroine. She seemed a little too flaky and immature in my opinion. There is no POV from the hero so I found it difficult to understand him and his character, but I liked the impression I did get, especially that he is actually a nice guy and not the 'villain' he starts out being.
This being an older book, the passion level is quite low (compared to what I'm used too!) but there was no lack of sizzle between the characters.

As I said, an enjoyable book.

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