USA TODAY bestselling author “You’re mine–for as long as we have.” For the sake of a family legacy, he must strike a marriage bargain. With six months to live, Charleston heir Jonathan Tarleton must secure his family’s business–with a contract marriage. He convinces his beautiful, dedicated assistant, Lisette Stanhope, to be his bride, telling himself the proposal has nothing to do with his … has nothing to do with his raw need to make Lisette his. Then their commitment is put to the ultimate test…
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I couldn’t put this down–read it in one sitting to see how Jonathan and Lisette were going to make it through seemingly insurmountable odds! Definitely a page-turner, which I highly recommend to all readers who love a romance that keeps them guessing.
I was concerned and hooked at the same time when I started reading the book – another can’t put it down to the end – no spoilers from me after reading my paperback!
What a beautifully written story that was an easy page turner ! I could hardly put this down! Our hero has to make some quick heartbreakingly painful decisions about the future of his company based on a health diagnosis & our Heroine is trying to come to terms with her decision to help & how the outcome will affect her future as well as the HEA that these two are entitled to! HIGHLY recommend this in the name of faith , hope & Love
Jonathan has six months to live. First thing is to find someone, who he can trust to make decisions for him and sign documents related to his company. Lisette is ready for change, she is going to give her notice to Jonathan, so he can find himself new personal assistant. But all of this is forgotten when Jonathan asks her for help.
Loved the story and characters.
A Contract Seduction is the second installment in Janice Maynard’s Southern Secrets series. Charleston heir Jonathan Tarleton has been given six months to live. He has to figure out how to protect his family and their shipping empire. He decides that his trusty assistant, Lisette Stanhope, is exactly who he needs to help him. Jonathan presents Lisette with a marriage of convenience to make the transfer of company decision making easier. Lisette has been in love with Jonathan for years and she’s not sure if she can handle what he is asking of her. Jonathan and Lisette are battling their own personal “demons”, but can they still have their happily ever after?
This book grabbed my attention immediately and I read it in a few hours. I couldn’t put it down!
I did receive an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
A Contract Seduction is the second book in the Southern Secrets series. It was not the best story! Jonathan Tarleton discovers that he has an inoperable brain tumor and in order to make sure that the company that has been in his family for,generations is secure he decides he must marry. His long time assistant Lisette Stanhope is just about to resign because she has feeling for Jonathan. When She finds out about his health she decides not to resign. At first she is just going to be his backup but as time goes on he decides that marriage is the answer! They sign a prenup and begin an on paper married life. She then throws in wanting a baby and with that and a shock no spoiler here announcement things get dicey and interesting. Stick with it!
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Wow, I’m flabbergasted! What a great book this was. I began reading this morning and I couldn’t put it down until I finished it. I loved the characters, their development in the characters of Jonathan and Lizzy, their journey from fake marriage in the doom of death towards a Happily ever after. I had my hopes up that Jonathan could be saved, but I had no clue how Ms Maynard would do it. I have one tiny subjection and that was that their HEA came about a bit suddenly, I would have loved an epilogue in this book, but maybe that’s the next book in this series.
This is the short synopsis of the book:
For the sake of a family legacy, he must strike a marriage bargain. With six months to live, Charleston heir Jonathan Tarleton must secure his family’s business — with a contract marriage. He convinces his beautiful, dedicated assistant, Lisette Stanhope, to be his bride, telling himself the proposal has nothing to do with his raw need to make Lisette his. Then their commitment is put to the ultimate test…
When I started reading Janice Maynard’s latest book, A Contract Seduction the Tim McCraw song Live Like You Were Dying kept running through my mind. It was difficult for me to see how a HEA would be coming, which is a requirement of romance stories. However, I knew if anyone could pull it off, Janice Maynard would.
A marriage of convenience story involving a CEO and his professional assistant. I did not find it at all odd that Lisette is the one that Jonathan turned too with shocking news along with a plan to insure the company. These two dedicated people made a great team so it seemed natural for them to belong together. When all seems to be settled a bombshell is dropped. I must say it was much more involved than I had imagined as I read up to that point. The words “criminal negligence” are used but that does not solve all of this couple’s problems. In fact, it suddenly makes more somehow.
Entertaining and interesting, the cover does not do the book justice. There is much more conflict than the cover indicates. It is the drama and conflict that makes this such an intriguing read.
Emotion tugging goodness! With the next book in her Southern Secrets series, Janice Maynard takes us back into the heart of Charleston’s elite when the Tarleton heir receives a shocking diagnosis. I was hooked from page one, and devoured it until the end. Great characters, heart-wrenching emotions and a really interesting story line. Looking forward to the next Tarleton’s story!
Businessman Jonathan Tarleton never expected to hear the news that he has literally a few months to live. He’s thrust into the mindset of disbelief along with concern for the future of his family business. His father is ailing, his brother has disgraced the family and his sister is basking in bliss … so who is going to run the company when he’s gone?
Lisette Stanhope has been his assistant for a few years now and been with the company for even longer, so she knows the day in and day out of the business quite well. When Jonathan breaks the news to her and asks for her help, she’s reluctant to let him down. She’s had a crush on him for years now, and hearing that he only has a short amount of time left makes her reach out with both hands to have whatever part of him she can have for whatever time is left … even if it means she has to become his wife!
Right off the bat, I was wondering how she was going to pull off a HEA with the Alpha only having 6 months to live. I should have known that Janice could pull it off however.
We first met Jonathan in the first Southern Secrets book Blame in on Christmas and I have been looking forward to reading his story. Jonathan is the head of the family empire taking over after his father’s illness forced him out of the company. Being estranged from his twin brother Hartley has put all the responsibility of family and the business on his shoulders. When he starts to have massive headaches he seeks medical treatment to be told he has cancer and has 6 months to live. Needing to keep the vultures at bay from his company he needs help and who better to turn to then his assistant Lisette that has been with him for six years.
Lisette is ready to start her life. After losing her mother and having spent the better part of her thirties working for the one man that she can never have. She is ready to move on and start a family before mother nature says its too late. Little does she know that Jonathan is about to ask her once again to put her life on hold and marry him to save his company. She knows she should say no. The pull however is just too much for her too.
This story had me on edge till the very end. I was just waiting for it to cliff hang or some soap opera type twist to sum it all up. No spoilers here so you will just have to read it for you self. You won’t be disappointed.
Can’t wait for the final book in this series and find out Hartley’s story.
“A Contract Seduction” is book two of Janice Maynard’s Southern Secrets series and is the story of Jonathan Tarleton and Lisette Stanhope.
In book one (“Blame it on Christmas”), we heard about Jonathan’s headaches and, in this book, we learn the reason behind them.
Jonathan needs Lisette to protect his family’s company, Tarleton Shipping, after he is gone. Lisette, who’s been his assistant for years, is also in love with him. She puts her own plans on hold to cater to Jonathan, something she did when she cared for her mother.
Their marriage of convenience is supposed to be about business until their hearts become entangled and Lisette wants more than they agreed to.
A hero on his death bed is definitely intriguing with wondering how the story will play out (it is a romance with the expected HEA after all), but for some reason I was disappointed with the final explanation. It just seemed too cliched for me, though I do realize how else could it have been explained?
There were also a few scenes with Lisette where I felt her behavior was inconsistent and she acted out of character—during their honeymoon and more so near the end.
Overall, the writing is intelligent and descriptive, and it pains me to say this, but “A Contract Seduction” isn’t one of my favorite books by Ms. Maynard.