Wedlocked! A runaway wife Alix North had fallen in love with Rhys Stirling the first time she had met him. Now Alix’s dream was about to come true–Rhys had asked her to marry him. Rhys Stirling was an ambitious man, and the only thing that stood between him and a directorship was his single status. Of course, that was easily remedied. He’d known Alix all his life–she was the perfect choice. … life–she was the perfect choice.
Alix isn’t going to accept anything less than his love. It’s only after Alix leaves him that Rhys finds that he’s fallen in love–with his own wife!
“Ms. Wentworth’s talented writing comes through…”–Romantic Times
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This was recommended read from my asking for a book where the heroine doesn’t know she’s entered into a MOC. I read the reviews but decided to read it anyway. It’s stalker fiction, but I’not sure who’s the hunter and who’s the hunted.
Very uncomfortable in parts and felt more 1980s than 90s. Yes, the ten years would have made a difference in the way some women looked at marriage. If nothing else, just look at the sleeves on that wedding dress.
The heroine is bright, sweet, loving hard working, and an all around nice character except when it comes to her own personal brand of heroin. Yes, I am quoting Twilight now.
The main stalker is the heroine who’s had a crush on the H since she was four. No, this isn’t an old skool Harley where the older H grooms her and keeps her away from any other evil influences men, but one where the hero and both families are amused and wallow in how sweet the OTT crush a young girl has on the cute older guy. She never stood a chance without anyone to point that this may not be a good thing. The h is pretty singleminded in her pursuit of the H. With the help of his father, she ends up working at his company in London. I’d have a whole lot more sympathy for our stalked little hero if he hadn’t indulged her obsession, kissed her all the time, taken her out to dinner, used her to fend off another husband hunting female, and lastly had her stay at his apartment whenever he wasn’t there. Let’s not forget the overly romantic, literally phoned in marriage proposal. Couldn’t he have thrown her the bone of dinner and a bended knee. Even doomed prisoners get a good last meal.
She finally gets several brutal wake up calls the worst of which he makes their wedding by the skin of his teeth followed by his demonstrating his order of priorities by leaving at a very intimate moment on the honeymoon to answer a business call. This all confirms the idea that he only married her for a promotion. The heroine is done, and it was entertaining reading just how done she was with the hero even if it was for only a little while. More contemporary HP’s barely let the H round the corner and the h has forgiven them or worse apologized for existing.
The heroine holds strong in her righteous anger in the face of EVERYONE pimping her back out to the H. She has to take guff from both families since her loser new husband won’t admit to anyone why she preferred working at a coffee shop rather than waiting by the phone on their honeymoon. The old plane-crash-in-the-wilderness trope places her back where she is supposed to be by Harlequin HP rules and it’s HEA. For now.
I predict he’ll be back to his workaholic ways within a couple of months, and they’ll be divorced in about two to five years. Work will always be first and foremost for him. Given how bright she is, I’d like to see her working at a rival company and beating him at his own game.
2 stars for the romance
3 stars for the believability of the characters and the era