"Oh, number
two. It's got a millionaire and a single mum with kids so that hits
several stereotypes. I'm sure that one of the kids will crack his
cold, determined heart and he'll start falling in love, run away and
then come back and confess all... at which point she'll have tears
welling up as she says how seeing him with her kids has made her fall
in love with him, too. Then they'll have another wedding in the
spirit intended, complete with cute bridal party and declarations of
love for all.
Well, I'm pretty sure that's how it will go. You read it and let me know if I got it right".
Well, I'm pretty sure that's how it will go. You read it and let me know if I got it right".
With those words I
pretty much doomed myself. When will I learn? Never, ever, ever
toss a glib comment at Kylie when it comes to books… a subject that
demands and deserves both thought and respect. Truthfully, I was
just so stunned that not only was she going to read a trashy romance
but that she'd checked four of them out on her library card. I know
that if I was ever tempted by something so light, fluffy and lacking
in substance I wouldn't be sullying my library card - or professional
reputation! - on them, I'd be buying them from an op shop. Or, as I
did, I'd make a smart remark and end up getting what has become known
as "The Care Package from Hell" landing in my letterbox.
For there, tucked neatly under the lovely note and two packages of
chocolate (including my favourite Ferrero Rocher chocolates!) was the
very book I'd laughed at. The challenge was on, I agreed to read it
and then review it.
I'll be honest, reading
the book wasn't hard. Well, apart from the fact it didn't require
much brain power it was also a great giggle. I, like most other
teenagers, at one stage read a dozen or so of this genre and then
recognised the formula they followed and promptly read another three
or four to confirm it - and to laugh. But reviewing it, that was
harder. Why? Well, it appears that a book so easily read doesn't
necessarily become a book that stays in your memory. That means I've
actually had to read the book twice, just to remind myself of the
main plot points. As it turned out, my predictions weren't entirely
accurate. It seems that the Mills & Boon formula has undergone a
bit of tweaking in the last… however many years since I read one.
A millionaire
who's determined not to fall in love.
Patrick Farr is
perfectly happy with his bachelor life, wining and dining beautiful
young women. If only he could make them understand that marriage is
definitely not on the agenda!
He decides there is
only one way to prove that he will never marry for love - a marriage
of convenience. His PA, Louisa Dennison, is cool and calm under
pressure. She's also a single mum, bringing up two very demanding
kids. So when Patrick proposes, what will her answer be? After all
his could answer all her prayers…
I opened the book
thinking that I was going to find Patrick to be rather vapid, Louisa
would be cold and the kids would be whinging little brats. And yet I
still opened it… something that continues to surprise me. When
Louisa, or Lou as she is more warmly referred to throughout the book,
ordered champagne on the fourth page I decided it probably wasn't
going to be as terrible as I expected. After all, the woman has
taste! And, as it turns out, she really does. Patrick is a
workaholic who, at heart, just seems scared of getting hurt, hence
his reluctance to commit. After a tipsy conversation at the
beginning of the book where Lou jokingly suggests that to escape the
menace of his band of leggy blondes demanding commitment he should
just marry someone like her to give himself some space, but he'd
still be welcome to date them on the side, I was well on my way to
liking her and her very dry sense of humour.
Patrick takes Lou up on
her offer and it all appears very businesslike, but she's already
falling for him, he's falling for her - and not realising it - and
the scenes with his family reveals how great a catch he really is.
Of course, anyone that subscribes to the theory that kids are honest
and wouldn't like someone who doesn't like them (and don't people say
the same about dogs, cats and whatever else they can think of?) would
realise that its all going to come good as Lou's kids - a fourteen
year old and an eleven year old - warmed quickly to Patrick and he
was quite in tune with their feelings and reciprocated them, too.
They got married and
settled down quite happily with separate rooms and a fairly well
established "no touching" rule. Well, Lou could touch
Patrick's credit cards, but that was it. Patrick did try dating a
couple of times and discovered - shock, horror! - that it wasn't what
he wanted. He started wanting what he already had, a happy home and
a family that loved him. Of course, he didn't truly have it, but he
had the illusion of it. And Lou? Well, she started really wanting
Patrick and had to work hard to keep the green eyed monster under
wraps when he was dating… and her increased passion for him under
wraps when he was at home. As for the kids, they had their important
part to play about two thirds into the book so they weren't entirely
left out.
You know that at the
end there will be a crisis of some sort and that the truth will out
itself. Or, if you're like me, you expect another episode of in vino
veritas. Given that the book started with them drinking champagne I
was mildly surprised to find that the declarations of love happened
over a cup of tea. Still, it did finally happen, precipitated by the
death of Lou's beloved aunt who, like in all good romance novels -
and the bad ones, too - left her an unexpected fortune. Suddenly
their rather odd marriage contract - freedom for him, access to his
money for her - was no longer needed. There was a slight
misunderstanding before the expected declaration of love… but it
did happen.
Light, fluffy and
rather forgettable? Yes. But was it as bad as I expected? Well,
no. They weren't cookie cutter Mills & Boon characters but seemed
to have a bit of personality and warmth, both of which I didn't fully
expect. I actually got the giggles a couple of times - and not just
because I was reading a romance novel. It's not the greatest book
I've ever read, of course, but it wasn't as downright awful as I
thought it might be. I'm not sure whether Mills & Boon have
evolved or I just had really low expectations. Either way, I'm not
planning on reading another one anytime soon… although I may
re-read this one every so often, purely for the amusement that Kylie
actually bought it and sent it to me. After all, the woman
(usually!) has great taste in books, friends and champagne… and she
was only a bit off with one of those three categories this time.