Oh, boy. Books like this are why I thought I didn't like the romance genre for such a long time.

Argh. How to describe such a horribly insulting plot? Cowboy Garth Saxon allowed Devon Ellwood to trade her small town/country life for the city--but just for one year. After 365 days, he was coming to get her, bring her back to his ranch, and marry her.

And when he shows up at the club where Devon's relaxing with her friends, she meekly goes along.

She does manage to stick up for herself when he objects to her redecorating his house. Yeah, I'm cringing, too.

Icing on the cake: they have sex before she moves to the city; they have sex when he comes to pick her up. Then he moves her into his house, and refuses to have sex with her again until the wedding, "to protect her reputation"--despite the fact that she's living in his house, and everybody already thinks they're sleeping together, except for his ranch hands who know he's not getting any because he's exceedingly grumpy.

Presumably, we're supposed to believe that Devon really does love him and she doesn't mind being controlled like this, but I found it awfully hard to swallow.

I gave this 2 stars because Garth does change a wee bit during the story, and Krentz's prose is smooth and a pleasure to read. ( )