365 books in 365 days Challenge ... Book #357

A Marriage Betrayed - Emma Darcy
Harlequin Presents
Harlequin, 1999
ISBN: 9780373120697
Reissue - Harlequin Treasury, 2011
eISBN: 9781459252219










My rating

From the back cover:

"He was driven by vengeance... 
Adopted but now alone, Kristy went in search of her natural family. When Armand Dutournier burst into her life, accusing her of betrayals she had not committed, Kristy could only wonder - did she have a perfect double? Could she possibly have a twin? 
Armand was her only lead to the family she yearned for, but his passionate drive for vengeance - and the powerful attraction between them--made accepting his proposition of a temporary intimacy highly dangerous!"


Another ebook from the Treasury line.

The heroine Kristy is on her way to Geneva to find out the truth about her birth family, and decides to honour her recently passed adoptive parents by spending a night in Paris in the same hotel they spent their honeymoon in. However when she arrives, Kristy gets the impression that she is not welcome and notices people acting very strangely around her. She is confronted by Armand, the hero, whom acts as though he knows her and hates her. Eventually they both realise that Kristy has been mistaken for someone else, and Armand tells her that she has a twin sister. But her twin has been missing for two years after she left without a word, leaving her marriage to Armand as well as their children behind. Kristy has always felt that a part of her was missing and knows in her heart that the twin she will never know is dead. But she grabs with both hands Armand's offer to get to know his children. She is also determined to find out exactly what drove her sister away, but one thing Kristy doesn't know how to deal with is her growing feelings for Armand.

This is an interesting story, and enjoyable as it is a little different. The heroine is a great character, really well thought out. I especially liked her need to know about what she has always felt was missing in her life. The inner connection (psychic link or whatever it is called) is something that is fascinating and the author uses it well but, perhaps, this is an over ambitious element to deal with in category fiction as it ends up feeling a little forced.
I feel that the story should have taken place over a longer stretch of time - a LOT happens in this book outside of the usual romance novel elements, and it only takes place over two days, which seems ridiculously short and the story suffers because of it.

However, I enjoyed this book. The romance is lovely and it has an interesting plot.

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