4.5 rounded up to 5 stars. Marriage of Convenience and Road Trip tropes. I liked these two characters and enjoyed watching their relationship develop. There's a somewhat weak area of holding back information for too long, both by the characters and the author. Some secrets are kept between the characters, but I understood the motivations behind them. The author though seemed a little obvious in her hinting but held out on actually confirming things for an almost silly amount of time. I felt a bit like she should have either barely hinted and then kept things a secret until later, or broadly hinted for a bit and then just come out and stated it. There are times, like when a hero says he'll never fall for a wallflower, that the author and the reader both know that that will definitely happen and can both enjoy the knowing. But this felt like she'd hinted so much that I definitely knew, but she just kept expecting that I wouldn't catch on or something, and holding out on confirmation, so it didn't feel like we were in on it together. I don't need to be entirely surprised by the outcome, obviously, but this felt a bit like how it's not all that much fun to play hide and seek with a small child, where you definitely know their location but have to go along as if you don't. It kind of killed any impression there might have been in the reveal when I was already almost tired of the notion by the time it eventually came out. And it started to make it seem like the characters were just slow-witted when it took them so much longer. Still, I definitely enjoyed it more than I found that fault tedious. I even teared up a couple times regardless that I was certain things would obviously work out. There's a secondary relationship which plays a much smaller part, but was nice. And a small amount of 'prophecy/unexplainable events'. Also there's some cultural stereotyping (lusty French, grumpy Scots, fiery Spanish), but nothing egregiously offensive in my opinion. The G-word for Roma/Travelers is used frequently in the second half, but this is from 2006, and those characters play a positive role in the story, so it's likely not too surprising or terrible considering. While I'm giving warnings I suppose, threat of rape and a previous experience of rape are mentioned, but not in great detail. ( )

I enjoy this author's work. The story felt fresh and was a road trip story which is a plot line I like. Kudos to the author for having a "ruined" heroine who was actually ruined. I also enjoyed that their marriage was consummated early in the story as I like stories where a couple in a convenient marriage do have sex and the story is about other elements. I think that is more realistic than having married couples not having sex for months because of some weird pact or something. One of the things that makes convenient marriages so convenient is that the couple involved is 'getting some.'

The reason for the road trip was obvious but that just added to the tension I think. I could have taken or left the paranormal element. I enjoyed the well written characters. The heroine was sweet and brave and the hero kind and charming.
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audiobook ( )

Enjoyed the audio book, road trip story, nice mix of angst and steam, with a dash of danger ( )

Fleeing from the man she thought to be her husband but turns out to be a lying adulterer, the heroine is set upon by thugs in the French countryside. There, she meets the hero. A dying war vet who suffers from sever a crippling migraines that leave him in extremely pain for hours. He saves her and once discovering she is homeless, penniless and without protection demands that she marry him. She's of course stand offish at first as she has had her fill of lying men but the hero is so gentle and kind that she finally decides it would not be so bad to marry for real. She is however racked by guilt at the fact that he's sacrificing himself to marry a spoiled women for the sake of her reputation but that's just who the hero is. He does have the ulterior motive of gaining a wife to make his mother happy but he also does it for the heroines sake, though she is a strange to him. They marry in a church and though the hero states their marriage will be unconsummated and immediately after the wedding, she'll return to England, the heroine has a sudden change of heart and vows to become the best wife she can be. To repay him for his kindness, she applies herself to becoming useful to him and it was so heartwarming. She was timid and insecure to start with but as she spent more and more time with her new husband, who treats her with the love he absolutely refuses to admit, she becomes more confident. He regularly sleeps with his new wife and his mannerisms can't deny his secret feelings but he's quick to demand that it means nothing. He checks after any tender moment to be sure she hasn't grown attached to him and the heroine becomes very good at hiding the fact that she has. He knows he's dying so he doesn't want to burden her with losing him but he spends their short time together in happiness and contentment. There is a paranormal aspect to this story but it doesn't come to the very end. It's in the form of a gypsy woman who uses her powers to heal him and save his life by mentality remaining the shrapnel from his brain. This was a very lovely story and the interaction and love between the two characters was truly a lovely thing to read. I loved both characters from the instant they appeared and never once did I become disenchanted by their story. I felt the hero's noble air in the face of his certain death was touching and inspiring as he never once burdened anyone else with his fears or troubles. The heroine was insanely sweet and was the perfect contradiction of shy and bold, obedient and stubborn. ( )