365 books in 365 days Challenge ... Book #329

Marriage on the Rebound - Michelle Reid
Harlequin Presents
Harlequin, 1998
ISBN: 9780373119738
Reissue - Harlequin Treasury, 2011
eISBN: 9781459262300









My rating

From the back cover:

"Instant bridegroom...
Shaan had been jilted! She'd been left at the altar by Piers Danvers...but Rafe Danvers was waiting to step right into his half brother's shoes. Older, darker, stronger and the head of the Danvers business empire, it was Rafe who had persuaded Piers to abandon Shaan. Now, with the same ruthless determination, Rafe insisted that she become his bride instead. 
 Dazed, Shaan accepted his proposal, but she was also confused: until this moment, Rafe had acted as if he despised her. Suddenly he wanted to proclaim her to the world as his wife and, behind closed doors, to have her in his bed!"


Another one from the Treasury line.

It is the heroine Shaan's wedding day, but instead of being newly married she is in emotional termoil after he would-be- brother-in-law Rafe, the hero, tells her that her fiance has left with other woman. Not really knowing what to do, Shaan let's Rafe take her away from all the confusion, but she is shocked out of her reverie when Rafe asks her to marry him instead. Shaan has always thought that Rafe disapproved of her, but he makes a good case for them both marrying in order to save face and for companionship. After they marry, Rafe takes Shaan to Hong Kong, their getting to know one another is tumultuous at best with neither of them knowing what the other one feels. However, there is an undeniable attraction between them and they act on it. Even though it seems like they are both in love with other people, Shaan and Rafe grow closer and closer, but Shaan fears that their fragile relationship won't survive once they are back to their real lives.

I expected to like this book, but not as much as I actually did! This is a brilliant book - one of the best of Michelle Reid's books that I have read. Every thing in this book is very subtle, and it totally works. I adored the hero, I knew straight away that there was something else behind his alpha male veneer - the little glimpses of his POV that Michelle Reid adds in really whet your appetite and leave you wanting to read on to find out more.
Even though elements of this story are a little over the top and clichéd, I think that the love story between the hero and heroine is believable. There is so much emotion and intensity to this story, and it is perfectly executed.

Very, very good.

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