From New York Times Bestselling Author comes BE MINE, book 6 in her bestselling contemporary romance series, Holland Springs.
Scottish Duke, Liam Stewart, needs a wife and an heir before he can inherit the money he so desperately needs to support his family, his staff, and restore his ducal estates to their former glory. Only ever since his ex-fiancee ran off with the gardener, Liam doesn't believe in marriage, or miracles, for that matter… until that is, Isabella Edwards appears at his Edinburgh town home with the answers to his problems.
Local preacher's daughter and former missionary, Isabella Edwards had the perfect life all planned out. Marry her perfect fiancé, live near her family in Holland Springs, open a bookstore, and have a couple of kids. Except… her fiancé ran off to Las Vegas with his widowed ex-stepmother, the bookstore closed before it could open, and now… now, she's pregnant after a one-weekend stand with hot Scot, Liam Stewart.
To Isabella's utter shock, Liam proposes, but a marriage can't last on desire alone. The problem? Isabella and Liam are totally opposites. In fact, the only time they're in agreement is in the bedroom. Desperate to keep her reputation, she accepts.
Now her only hope is that they can put aside their differences and let love bring them together.
Review...
What worked for me...
I love the idea of the premise. I love two people that need each other but aren't in love with each other getting married and letting the sparks lead them to more.
I love the Scottish setting and Liam's accent. Especially how it thickened when he was aroused. Hehe.
I loved Liam a lot. He's not a snotty, stuck up Duke. He was raised in humble beginning and that never left him. He's concerned about the welfare of the people that work for him. He's a good man. I did wish he'd acted faster than he did but when push came to shove he did the right thing.
I admire Isabella, though she irritated me a lot. She had her believes and she held to them.
The story did invoke emotion in me...yelling mostly.
What didn't work for me...
I love to jet ski. You slide along the top of the water and it's a lot of fun. But you have no idea what's going on below the surface. My sister loves to scuba dive. She sees everything below the water and brings back incredible pictures but she has no idea what's going on on top of the water. A mix of both would be perfect. That's how I feel about books. Jet skiing to summarize and be showy and scuba diving to get to the heart of the story. But the balance is critical. Too much of either one can ruin a story.
This book was almost all jet skiing. Big chunks were summarized. Emotions felt rushed and I felt like the story was abrupt because of it. It frustrated me because I wanted the missing pieces.
As I said before, Isabella irritated me. She's pregnant. We find that out in the blurb. She's a nervous pregnant. She stops dying her hair and drinking caffeine because she's worried about the baby. She's careful to stay hydrated. We find out she has a good reason for feeling this way. BUT then she goes and does something that puts herself and the baby at such risk that I'm sitting there screaming at her. I really couldn't reconcile those things with her. I don't like characters that are inconsistent. She was trying to be true to her believes but she should have made other choices. It felt too much like a way to manipulate Liam - not by Isabella but by the author. Characters don't do things like that without a lot of pressure from the author.
This is the first book I've read by this author. I want to give her another chance. I've heard such good things about her Boys of the South series. We'll see.
About Marquita Valentine
New York Times Bestselling Author, Marquita Valentine, writes sexy heroes that
make you swoon and sassy heroines that make you laugh. She’s the author of the
bestselling contemporary romance series, Holland Springs, and the new adult
romance series, Boys of the South.Marquita met her husband aka Hot Builder at Sonic when they were in high school. She suggests this location to all of her single friends in search of a good man—and if that doesn't work, they can console themselves with cheesy tatertots. She lives in North Carolina in a very, very small town with Hot Builder and their two children.
Aww that's too bad. I've heard good things about this series. I may still check this author out. Thanks for the honest review.
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