365 books in 365 days Challenge ... Book #328

Forsaking All Others - Susanne McCarthy
Harlequin Presents
Harlequin, 1996
ISBN: 9780373118502
Reissue - Harlequin Treasury, 2011
eISBN: 9781459276826









My rating

From the back cover:

"In name only... 
'You're the woman who stood at the altar with my cousin not more than a few hours ago, vowing to forsake all others. You didn't manage to keep it up very long, did you?' 
Leo Ratcliffe had kissed his cousin's new bride and discovered that whatever reasons Maddy had for marrying, love didn't enter into it. Even on her wedding day she had wanted another man—Leo! But he hadn't given Maddy a chance to reveal the truth—that she was marrying his cousin only to forget Leo's own impending marriage.... 
Now Maddy was widowed and Leo was still single. But instead of the love affair she had dreamed about, all he was offering was a marriage of convenience: sexual satisfaction and heartbreak guaranteed!"


Another book from the Treasury line. I don't think I have read any books by Susanne McCarthy before.

The heroine Maddy sees the hero Leo for the first time in a few years when she returns to her former marital home after he husband's death. Maddy knows that her husband's family, especially his cousin Leo, never approved of her marriage or her eventually separations and she expects that Leo will not make things easy for her, but all Maddy wants is for her son's inheritance to be preserved. Learning that Leo is co-trustee with her makes her worried, and she is stunned when he asks her to marry him. Maddy thinks he is only asking in order to get some form of revenge against her, and his actions only seem to confirm this fact. Maddy refuses at first, she has always been in love with Leo and her heartbreaks at his very obvious dislike of her. But eventually she has to agree, and Leo quickly shows her exactly what he wants from her and even though she shares the desire between them, Maddy knows he will never love her.

This is an interesting and well executed plot, I enjoyed it. There is a lot of chemistry between the hero and heroine - this is well used through the entire book. This is very much 'classic' in style - the hero is a little too dominant, but it works. The back story between the hero and heroine is well detailed and adds to the conflict, but it is too info-dumpy at first.

Overall though, this is a nice easy story with a good flow and plenty of emotion.

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