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Infamous Bargain
What other choice did she have?
"You're not so irresistible, you know?" Briar told Kynan.
Wealth, good looks, power and sex appeal. Financier Kynan Roth had all the superficial advantages. Briar was looking for other qualities in a husband--compassion, understanding and, above all, trust. But how was she going to convince the cynical Kynan of that, when, to rescue her father, she had just committed the cardinal sin of marrying him for his money....
"You're not so irresistible, you know?" Briar told Kynan.
Wealth, good looks, power and sex appeal. Financier Kynan Roth had all the superficial advantages. Briar was looking for other qualities in a husband--compassion, understanding and, above all, trust. But how was she going to convince the cynical Kynan of that, when, to rescue her father, she had just committed the cardinal sin of marrying him for his money....
192 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1994
2 people are currently reading
163 people want to read
About the author
Daphne Clair
122 books64 followersDahpne Clair is one of many pseudonyms of Daphne de Jong, a New Zealand writer who also uses the names Laurie Bright, Claire Lorel and Clarissa Garland. She is the winner of the Katherine Mansfield Short Story Award and has been a finalist for the Romance Writers of America Rita Award more than once.
Daphne Clair de Jong decided to be a writer when she was eight years old and won her first literary prize for a school essay. Her first short story was published when she was sixteen and she's been writing and publishing ever since. Nowadays she earns her living from writing, something her well-meaning teachers and guidance counsellors warned her she would never achieve in New Zealand. Her short stories have appeared in many magazines and anthologies, and a collection of them was presented in Crossing the Bar, published by David Ling, where they garnered wide praise.
In 1976, Daphne's first full-length romantic novel was published by Mills & Boon as Return to Love. Since then she has produced a steady output of romance set in New Zealand, occasionally Australia or on imaginary Pacific islands. As Laurey Bright she also writes for Silhouette Books. Her romances often appear on American stores' romance best-seller lists and she has been a Rita contest finalist, as well as winning and being placed in several other romance writing contests. Her other writing includes non-fiction, poetry and long historical fiction, She also is an active defender of the ideology of Feminists for Life, and she has written articles about it.
Since then she has won other literary prizes both in her native New Zealand and other countries. These include the prestigious Katherine Mansfield Short Story Award, with Dying Light, a story about Alzheimer's Disease, which was filmed by Robyn Murphy Productions and shown at film festivals in several countries. (Starring Sara McLeod, Sam's wife in Lord of the Rings).
Daphne is often asked to tutor courses in creative writing, and with Robyn Donald she teachs romance writing weekend courses in her home in the "winterless north" of in New Zealand. Daphne lives with her Netherlands-born husband in a farmlet, grazing livestock, growing their own fruit and vegetables and making their large home available to other writers as a centre for writers' workshops and retreats. Their five children, one of them an orphan from Hong Kong, have left home but drift back at irregular intervals. She enjoys cooking special meals but her cake-making is limited to three never-fail recipes. Her children maintain they have no memory of her baking for them except on birthdays, when she would produce, on request, cakes shaped into trains, clowns, fairytale houses and, once, even a windmill, in deference to their Dutch heritage from their father.
Daphne frequently makes and breaks resolutions to indulge in some hearty outdoor activity, and loves to sniff strong black coffee but never drinks it. After a day at her desk she will happily watch re-runs of favourite TV shows. Usually she goes to bed early with a book which may be anything from a paperback romance or suspense novel to history, sociology or literary theory.
Daphne Clair de Jong decided to be a writer when she was eight years old and won her first literary prize for a school essay. Her first short story was published when she was sixteen and she's been writing and publishing ever since. Nowadays she earns her living from writing, something her well-meaning teachers and guidance counsellors warned her she would never achieve in New Zealand. Her short stories have appeared in many magazines and anthologies, and a collection of them was presented in Crossing the Bar, published by David Ling, where they garnered wide praise.
In 1976, Daphne's first full-length romantic novel was published by Mills & Boon as Return to Love. Since then she has produced a steady output of romance set in New Zealand, occasionally Australia or on imaginary Pacific islands. As Laurey Bright she also writes for Silhouette Books. Her romances often appear on American stores' romance best-seller lists and she has been a Rita contest finalist, as well as winning and being placed in several other romance writing contests. Her other writing includes non-fiction, poetry and long historical fiction, She also is an active defender of the ideology of Feminists for Life, and she has written articles about it.
Since then she has won other literary prizes both in her native New Zealand and other countries. These include the prestigious Katherine Mansfield Short Story Award, with Dying Light, a story about Alzheimer's Disease, which was filmed by Robyn Murphy Productions and shown at film festivals in several countries. (Starring Sara McLeod, Sam's wife in Lord of the Rings).
Daphne is often asked to tutor courses in creative writing, and with Robyn Donald she teachs romance writing weekend courses in her home in the "winterless north" of in New Zealand. Daphne lives with her Netherlands-born husband in a farmlet, grazing livestock, growing their own fruit and vegetables and making their large home available to other writers as a centre for writers' workshops and retreats. Their five children, one of them an orphan from Hong Kong, have left home but drift back at irregular intervals. She enjoys cooking special meals but her cake-making is limited to three never-fail recipes. Her children maintain they have no memory of her baking for them except on birthdays, when she would produce, on request, cakes shaped into trains, clowns, fairytale houses and, once, even a windmill, in deference to their Dutch heritage from their father.
Daphne frequently makes and breaks resolutions to indulge in some hearty outdoor activity, and loves to sniff strong black coffee but never drinks it. After a day at her desk she will happily watch re-runs of favourite TV shows. Usually she goes to bed early with a book which may be anything from a paperback romance or suspense novel to history, sociology or literary theory.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
July 5, 2018
Re Infamous Bargain - Daphne Clair brings us a very thoughtful look at that classic HP trope that is still a winner, even after 50 years of HPness.
DC is doing the blackmail the h into an MOC to financially bail out her family trope.
This is a great book and I give it 4 stars cause all the best elements of a classic HP are present.
--sweet, virginal heroine kind to small animals and stepmothers --check with added bonus of feist and spice.
Our sunny but pragmatic h is forced by her dubious investor father's massive stroke to make a deal with the H. His money (about 5 million or so,) and his business expertise to ward off the circling vultures, in exchange for her Lurve Force Mojo inspiring Unicorn Grooming body and heir carrying abilities.
With the added bonus of an accomplished h social hostess, as her beloved step mum gets flustered even having the Ladies Bridge Club over for tea and the h is a pro at the society stuff. The H is getting an even bigger add on bonus with an h who has dignity and can season all that grace and class with a sometimes fiery temper.
--brooding hero with past emo damage and nefarious designs on sweet, virginal h's body --double check with added bonus that H has a kinda romantic side too.
The H suffered thru the drama of his parent's marriage imploding over the Luscious Lures of a Femme Fatale OW, who was the tender age of 21 to the H's 17. She drove his 38 year old father round the bend in a frenzy of fevered longing.
Unfortunately the H felt those fevered longing pains for the Temptress Tart OW too, and THAT caused an irreparable rift between the H and his once beloved father when he spent a mandated kid visit with them one summer.
--infamous bargain of H blackmailing h into marriage -- triple check score! His money to rescue desperate father and aforementioned stepmom in exchange for h's sweet passion and a couple of kids.
Is it any wonder this is such a great book? No, and then you have added double word score bonus of a honeymoon trip to the Waipoua Forest, to visit the great Tane Mahuta which is either the God of the Forrest or the Lord of the Forest and incorrectly referred to in the book as the Father of the Forrest (oops- minus half a point).
You also get the invaluable knowledge that Visa can buy your hair color, but being able to crack a joke about said hair color without your H thinking you're getting a dig in on how your marriage came about is priceless.
DC has a very fine sense of balance as the H and h embark upon their marriage. They both have verbalized the monetary and the physical reasons they have married. There truly is NO illusions or protestations of the love in either the build up to the marriage or the actual start of the marriage itself.
Yet as we follow the H and h through the getting to know each other phase and the proposition phase and the initial unwillingness of the h to believe that her father is pimping her out, there is also a lot of interaction between the two of them that makes you understand that in any other 'regular' social interaction and dating situation, these two would naturally be a couple.
They work together really well, when they forget the reasons they married and drop their snarky attitudes and baggage. Of course that also means that the moments where they pick the baggage up again, like when the H buys the h's childhood home and kinda treats it as a quid pro quo Purple Passion situation, things can get a little awkward.
I liked how that played out too, cause the h would do something spontaneous like make a joke about her enhanced hair color and then get embarrassed when she had to ask the H if he felt cheated on his investment.
DC has a really great time playing around with the double entendre's that naturally are embedded in everyday situations - especially when you both know you married and are conjugating in a pretty basic financial transaction.
We get to see the emotional trauma engendered by the situation as well, as the h has some very humiliating boudoir moments when she recalls the reasons they are there to begin with. The H is getting a groove on and the h just can't respond as enthusiastically as she normally does. It was realistic, it was sad and it was really well done.
The only complaint I actually really have about this book is the fact that Briar, the h, remains so clueless for so long about the fact that Kynan, the H, is head over heels for her.
(She should have known by the end of Daddy-Long-Legs that he was mad about her, cause believe me any guy who spends the afternoon reading a romance to his girl in a single bed is truly lost to love, even if he scores afterwards. )
Eventually of course things are going to come to a crescendo and in this book they do when the H's father's Tarty Temptress OW wants the H to break the trust to give her the money she would lose, per the H's father's will, if she marries again.
The OW makes her plea in front of the h and the h, who has by now learned quite well that the black and white of things is really shades of grey, helps the H to see that are two sides to every story and that his interpretation of things isn't always the correct one.
The H had always felt that the Tarty Father Stealing OW had come on to him at 17. But the h realizes that that is just how the OW is a person. The OW doesn't know how to act in any other way around any male and that for all her sins, (of which there were many,) the OW really did love the H's father and the father did not love her back.
So the OW spent 16 years wildly in love with a man who really did not love her back and probably did not even like her that much.
Besides which, the H's father was almost forty when he and the OW had their thing, so to blame everything on her was definitely a biased opinion. There were a whole lot of factors beside the staggering perky chest area of the OW at play and the H finally comes to realize that.
His ability to make peace with the past, plus his recognition of his own biases against beautiful women, help him come to the conclusion that the reason he went ahead and made this Infamous Bargain with the h to begin with is that he fell in love at first sight, did not want to even admit it to himself and therefore used any excuse he could to get her into his clutches.
The H's awakening pairs nicely with the h's understanding that the only reason she even thought about selling her body to the H was because she was falling in love with him too, and the bargain she willingly entered into gave her a get out clause of the H has to pay to play, so SHE never had to make her heart vulnerable either.
Neither one of them have the courage to admit any of the above tho, until the h realizes she is preggers and the H has his gestalt that if he really loves the h like he thinks he does, he is going to have to let her go.
The h's unexpected preggerness nicely sets us up for a big mopey moment when each one thinks the other is going to dump them and run. But the H gathers up his manly courage and confesses that he is wildly in love with the h, right as she is taking a chance and declaring her love back.
It was a lovely romantic moment, that was totally enhanced by my favorite line below:
(full of quality manly snark)"Is insanity a symptom of pregnancy, by any chance?"
See, she should have paid attention to the DLL incident.
So the moral of this story for Kynan is to always remember "Blackmail may get the girl in your bed, but it comes back to bite your rear when you fall in love with her".
And the moral for Briar is "Never use your daddy's massive stroke to disguise the fact that you really want to throw your unicorn grooming license on the bonfire of a fiery dragon ride. Own your feelings young lady and just admit it."
Okay, lesson learned and true love for evah rules for another fantastically romantic HPlandia HEA. Hurray!
This one is a great HP classic and while I may cringe at some of the more financial transaction sounding moments, it really is a very well written story. The OW wasn't nice by any means, but she was understandable, tho I was glad to see her vanish into the HP mists as all OW should do.
I put this one on the required HP reading list. Because this is such a common HP trope that is very uncommonly well done. Every HP voyager should have this book on their trip list, to really appreciate how satisfying an outing that old Blackmailing MOC to True Love trope can be.
DC is doing the blackmail the h into an MOC to financially bail out her family trope.
This is a great book and I give it 4 stars cause all the best elements of a classic HP are present.
--sweet, virginal heroine kind to small animals and stepmothers --check with added bonus of feist and spice.
Our sunny but pragmatic h is forced by her dubious investor father's massive stroke to make a deal with the H. His money (about 5 million or so,) and his business expertise to ward off the circling vultures, in exchange for her Lurve Force Mojo inspiring Unicorn Grooming body and heir carrying abilities.
With the added bonus of an accomplished h social hostess, as her beloved step mum gets flustered even having the Ladies Bridge Club over for tea and the h is a pro at the society stuff. The H is getting an even bigger add on bonus with an h who has dignity and can season all that grace and class with a sometimes fiery temper.
--brooding hero with past emo damage and nefarious designs on sweet, virginal h's body --double check with added bonus that H has a kinda romantic side too.
The H suffered thru the drama of his parent's marriage imploding over the Luscious Lures of a Femme Fatale OW, who was the tender age of 21 to the H's 17. She drove his 38 year old father round the bend in a frenzy of fevered longing.
Unfortunately the H felt those fevered longing pains for the Temptress Tart OW too, and THAT caused an irreparable rift between the H and his once beloved father when he spent a mandated kid visit with them one summer.
--infamous bargain of H blackmailing h into marriage -- triple check score! His money to rescue desperate father and aforementioned stepmom in exchange for h's sweet passion and a couple of kids.
Is it any wonder this is such a great book? No, and then you have added double word score bonus of a honeymoon trip to the Waipoua Forest, to visit the great Tane Mahuta which is either the God of the Forrest or the Lord of the Forest and incorrectly referred to in the book as the Father of the Forrest (oops- minus half a point).
You also get the invaluable knowledge that Visa can buy your hair color, but being able to crack a joke about said hair color without your H thinking you're getting a dig in on how your marriage came about is priceless.
DC has a very fine sense of balance as the H and h embark upon their marriage. They both have verbalized the monetary and the physical reasons they have married. There truly is NO illusions or protestations of the love in either the build up to the marriage or the actual start of the marriage itself.
Yet as we follow the H and h through the getting to know each other phase and the proposition phase and the initial unwillingness of the h to believe that her father is pimping her out, there is also a lot of interaction between the two of them that makes you understand that in any other 'regular' social interaction and dating situation, these two would naturally be a couple.
They work together really well, when they forget the reasons they married and drop their snarky attitudes and baggage. Of course that also means that the moments where they pick the baggage up again, like when the H buys the h's childhood home and kinda treats it as a quid pro quo Purple Passion situation, things can get a little awkward.
I liked how that played out too, cause the h would do something spontaneous like make a joke about her enhanced hair color and then get embarrassed when she had to ask the H if he felt cheated on his investment.
DC has a really great time playing around with the double entendre's that naturally are embedded in everyday situations - especially when you both know you married and are conjugating in a pretty basic financial transaction.
We get to see the emotional trauma engendered by the situation as well, as the h has some very humiliating boudoir moments when she recalls the reasons they are there to begin with. The H is getting a groove on and the h just can't respond as enthusiastically as she normally does. It was realistic, it was sad and it was really well done.
The only complaint I actually really have about this book is the fact that Briar, the h, remains so clueless for so long about the fact that Kynan, the H, is head over heels for her.
(She should have known by the end of Daddy-Long-Legs that he was mad about her, cause believe me any guy who spends the afternoon reading a romance to his girl in a single bed is truly lost to love, even if he scores afterwards. )
Eventually of course things are going to come to a crescendo and in this book they do when the H's father's Tarty Temptress OW wants the H to break the trust to give her the money she would lose, per the H's father's will, if she marries again.
The OW makes her plea in front of the h and the h, who has by now learned quite well that the black and white of things is really shades of grey, helps the H to see that are two sides to every story and that his interpretation of things isn't always the correct one.
The H had always felt that the Tarty Father Stealing OW had come on to him at 17. But the h realizes that that is just how the OW is a person. The OW doesn't know how to act in any other way around any male and that for all her sins, (of which there were many,) the OW really did love the H's father and the father did not love her back.
So the OW spent 16 years wildly in love with a man who really did not love her back and probably did not even like her that much.
Besides which, the H's father was almost forty when he and the OW had their thing, so to blame everything on her was definitely a biased opinion. There were a whole lot of factors beside the staggering perky chest area of the OW at play and the H finally comes to realize that.
His ability to make peace with the past, plus his recognition of his own biases against beautiful women, help him come to the conclusion that the reason he went ahead and made this Infamous Bargain with the h to begin with is that he fell in love at first sight, did not want to even admit it to himself and therefore used any excuse he could to get her into his clutches.
The H's awakening pairs nicely with the h's understanding that the only reason she even thought about selling her body to the H was because she was falling in love with him too, and the bargain she willingly entered into gave her a get out clause of the H has to pay to play, so SHE never had to make her heart vulnerable either.
Neither one of them have the courage to admit any of the above tho, until the h realizes she is preggers and the H has his gestalt that if he really loves the h like he thinks he does, he is going to have to let her go.
The h's unexpected preggerness nicely sets us up for a big mopey moment when each one thinks the other is going to dump them and run. But the H gathers up his manly courage and confesses that he is wildly in love with the h, right as she is taking a chance and declaring her love back.
It was a lovely romantic moment, that was totally enhanced by my favorite line below:
(full of quality manly snark)"Is insanity a symptom of pregnancy, by any chance?"
See, she should have paid attention to the DLL incident.
So the moral of this story for Kynan is to always remember "Blackmail may get the girl in your bed, but it comes back to bite your rear when you fall in love with her".
And the moral for Briar is "Never use your daddy's massive stroke to disguise the fact that you really want to throw your unicorn grooming license on the bonfire of a fiery dragon ride. Own your feelings young lady and just admit it."
Okay, lesson learned and true love for evah rules for another fantastically romantic HPlandia HEA. Hurray!
This one is a great HP classic and while I may cringe at some of the more financial transaction sounding moments, it really is a very well written story. The OW wasn't nice by any means, but she was understandable, tho I was glad to see her vanish into the HP mists as all OW should do.
I put this one on the required HP reading list. Because this is such a common HP trope that is very uncommonly well done. Every HP voyager should have this book on their trip list, to really appreciate how satisfying an outing that old Blackmailing MOC to True Love trope can be.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 12, 2019
Mmhmmm, spent a happy, satisfying hour reading this!
A better way of doing the same ol' moc for money trope.
The author keeps thing taut and interesting - The H's dip-shit behaviour (inner insecurities!), h showing a mild spine and thankfully no bunny boiler moves, a real good background story, solid secondary characters, and a second half that's better than the first and fraught with churning emotions, mentally walking on eggshells and a haaaawwt sex life!
A better way of doing the same ol' moc for money trope.
The author keeps thing taut and interesting - The H's dip-shit behaviour (inner insecurities!), h showing a mild spine and thankfully no bunny boiler moves, a real good background story, solid secondary characters, and a second half that's better than the first and fraught with churning emotions, mentally walking on eggshells and a haaaawwt sex life!
July 21, 2023
Oh dear, one of the things i dislike is happening to me recently: which is not writing any review to the books i finish reading and just put them in the rtc section. I am getting so lazy lately,ughhh.
One of the most negative thing about that is that i forget chunks of details of the story once i even come around to writing a review. This story has the ideal trope of blackmail into marriage that is actually hidden behind the marriage of convenience trope. In this case Briar who is the heroine needs Kynan`s help to save her father (was it from bankruptcy or jail? i just don`t remember that detail) and in return he asks for marriage of convenience that will probably end in divorce in one year? That detail i am also unsure about. One thing i do remember though is the way Kynan admits in the end what a emotional coward he actually is. One of the sole reasons of his cold jerky attitude in their early encounters and even when he asked her out on dates. I enjoyed the second half of this book way more because Kynan had to drink his own medicine for the way he treated her in the past, i could see how starved he was for her to love him and i enjoyed the way this author conveyed that,muhahahahaa.
One of the most negative thing about that is that i forget chunks of details of the story once i even come around to writing a review. This story has the ideal trope of blackmail into marriage that is actually hidden behind the marriage of convenience trope. In this case Briar who is the heroine needs Kynan`s help to save her father (was it from bankruptcy or jail? i just don`t remember that detail) and in return he asks for marriage of convenience that will probably end in divorce in one year? That detail i am also unsure about. One thing i do remember though is the way Kynan admits in the end what a emotional coward he actually is. One of the sole reasons of his cold jerky attitude in their early encounters and even when he asked her out on dates. I enjoyed the second half of this book way more because Kynan had to drink his own medicine for the way he treated her in the past, i could see how starved he was for her to love him and i enjoyed the way this author conveyed that,muhahahahaa.
July 31, 2012
This is my first book by this author.....and I really enjoyed it. The story is about a marriage of convenience that turns out to not be so convenient when the heroine experiences remorse over her decision to marry the hero in order to save her father from facing federal indictment charges.
The hero looks at the marriage as a marriage of convenience with a bride price attached. The heroine views herself no better than a prostitute that has sold herself for $5M.
They have to work past the hurt and learn what is at the "heart" of the matter. This is a very intense, very hot read that had me turning the pages. There were moments when I wanted to just shake the heroine and tell her to grow up! But, since that happens in most of the HP's I read, I figured I couldn't fault the author. : )
The hero looks at the marriage as a marriage of convenience with a bride price attached. The heroine views herself no better than a prostitute that has sold herself for $5M.
They have to work past the hurt and learn what is at the "heart" of the matter. This is a very intense, very hot read that had me turning the pages. There were moments when I wanted to just shake the heroine and tell her to grow up! But, since that happens in most of the HP's I read, I figured I couldn't fault the author. : )
August 15, 2016
The "infamous bargain" is the heroine agreeing to marry the hero if he will reconcile her father's 5 million dollar debt. The hero thinks the father put the heroine up to it from their first meeting and he continues to see her in this light even while he courts her taking her to meet his family, etc. .
So not a lot of action or drama, but a careful study of what it means to marry for money and all its ramifications.
So not a lot of action or drama, but a careful study of what it means to marry for money and all its ramifications.
June 30, 2011
I’ve read many books with this same plot -- beautiful woman marries wealthy man to save family from disgrace and bankruptcy -- but this didn’t feel at all stale. Clair writes in an elegant, understated way that complements the over-the-top plot and makes it seem plausible. Although we only see Briar’s point-of-view, Kynan is drawn well enough for the ending to not seem baffling, overdone or aggravating. Best of all, Briar is neither the usual martyred doormat nor petulant and snippy. She has some dignity, and she utterly refuses an arrangement that goes too far. A very enjoyable story.
July 25, 2011
Great heroine. She was strong, not a doormat, she was kind and she cared for the ones she loved. I loved him less. I'd like to have him more talkative and direct but hey are we talking about HP heroes... ;) I liked her ready to sacrifice herself for their parents. I love the relationship between her and her step-mother and the easy way she had with everyone else.
I didn't like she thought a pregnancy was the only way for her to keep him.
But all the wonderful elements of a HP were there and I was a goner from the very start.
I'd like to have a bit more passion though.
I didn't like she thought a pregnancy was the only way for her to keep him.
But all the wonderful elements of a HP were there and I was a goner from the very start.
I'd like to have a bit more passion though.
August 9, 2016
This was an enjoyable book. Our heroine’s father was caught in the Ponzi scheme and needed to raise cash ASAP. That’s where our rich hero comes into play. The story is a marriage of convenience story where both H/h had to learn a lot about love and clear up some misconceptions. The book had a wonderful writing that I, after reading some of the author’s books, came to expect.
avoid
June 9, 2017What Naksed said:
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March 21, 2015
i absolutely love this one! i remember reading it as a teenager and it was a definite 5 star ! kyan was crazy about briar! he obviously loved her very much and it tore at my heart how he was rejected; like the time he's fucking her and she lay passive and cannot reach climax, though she tried to pretend enjoying it. he bought the family house for her and when he actually set her free, it was bcoz he loved her. one time, he asked her to say "i love you" just before sex, which she refused. she was really blind where he was concerned! she misunderstood him all along.
March 30, 2025
Loved it! That remains unchanged despite reading the book multiple times. One of the best books I’ve read so far. To paraphrase a line used by the hero, nothing about the book 'grates' me. A well written story featuring wonderful characters that ensures finishing the book in one sitting.
July 26, 2023
Second time typing in this review, thanks GR 🙄
I like their expressions on the cover. They actually bear some resemblance to how I pictured them which isn't that common.
Good moc story where Kynan and Briar overcome their guardedness and turn sexual chemistry into relationship gold. I think DC, whose writing voice can be quite cool, is very good at the psychological elements and in exploring and hinting at and revealing her characters ' emotions. A very satisfying denouement.
I like their expressions on the cover. They actually bear some resemblance to how I pictured them which isn't that common.
Good moc story where Kynan and Briar overcome their guardedness and turn sexual chemistry into relationship gold. I think DC, whose writing voice can be quite cool, is very good at the psychological elements and in exploring and hinting at and revealing her characters ' emotions. A very satisfying denouement.
August 17, 2021
Really good. This book is different from other HP’s.
Most important: it has a h who has a backbone! She doesn’t melt every time he kisses her. She can resist him if he says or does something that she doesn’t like. Such a h is really rare. Finally a h with a spine.
He is a sweet, romantic, besotted H. Before he asks her to marry him in exchange for the 6 million dollars to her father, they dated a while. That was also different from other HP’s. He courted her before they married and I like that a lot.
He brings her to meet his mother. And all that without having sex with her. Only kissing. It’s a relief that they don’t just jump into bed and that there is no unplanned pregnancy in the book.
And also after their marriage he is generous and considerate towards her. She was a virgin and they had their first time sex after the marriage ceremony. Again: very different from other HP’s that they waited until after marriage.
He is always there to please her, to do what she likes. He buys her dad’s house for her. What a mighty good man.
I’m pleasantly surprised by this book. The highest praise: 5 stars.
Most important: it has a h who has a backbone! She doesn’t melt every time he kisses her. She can resist him if he says or does something that she doesn’t like. Such a h is really rare. Finally a h with a spine.
He is a sweet, romantic, besotted H. Before he asks her to marry him in exchange for the 6 million dollars to her father, they dated a while. That was also different from other HP’s. He courted her before they married and I like that a lot.
He brings her to meet his mother. And all that without having sex with her. Only kissing. It’s a relief that they don’t just jump into bed and that there is no unplanned pregnancy in the book.
And also after their marriage he is generous and considerate towards her. She was a virgin and they had their first time sex after the marriage ceremony. Again: very different from other HP’s that they waited until after marriage.
He is always there to please her, to do what she likes. He buys her dad’s house for her. What a mighty good man.
I’m pleasantly surprised by this book. The highest praise: 5 stars.
November 13, 2020
Could be better, could be worse. It is a slow paced MOC plot with low angst. It appears that this book lack the excitement or any intensified emotions I normally prefer in my romance. I thought their wedding night was boring, it was so mechanically written, hence the lack of excitement.
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December 2, 2019Very good
October 14, 2020
Good but not great. She didn't realize she was falling in love.
October 23, 2023
Yuck. Not a fun time. Not believable. Skip it all.
August 23, 2019
What Other Choice Did She Have?
"You're not so irresistible, you know?" Briar told Kynan.
Wealth, good looks, power and sex appeal. Financier Kynan Roth had all the superficial advantages. Briar was looking for other qualities in a husband�compassion, understanding and, above all, trust. But how was she going to convince the cynical Kynan of that, when, to rescue her father, she had just committed the cardinal sin of marrying him for his money
"You're not so irresistible, you know?" Briar told Kynan.
Wealth, good looks, power and sex appeal. Financier Kynan Roth had all the superficial advantages. Briar was looking for other qualities in a husband�compassion, understanding and, above all, trust. But how was she going to convince the cynical Kynan of that, when, to rescue her father, she had just committed the cardinal sin of marrying him for his money
August 29, 2016
This story is strange! The heroine should have been a little more honest with the man she discovered she loved in my opinion. It was obvious he loved her. Anyway, it wasn't that bad, but it's not a story I would read again.
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