Game of Hearts

The Happily Ever After Company #1

by Kate Donovan

Not a hero. Not a villain. Just a man afraid to risk his heart…and hers.

The Happily Ever After Company, Book 1

Aengus Yates broke Suzannah Hennessy’s heart. Twice. As an eight-year-old, she entreated the handsome young rancher to wait. He laughingly rebuffed her and went on to marry his beautiful fiancée. When he abandoned his family years later, Suzannah should have felt justified. Instead, her heart broke all over again—with disillusionment that the man she loved could do such a thing.

Now fully grown, Suzannah signs up along with her shy, self-conscious best friend to let a matchmaker find them husbands. Love may not be in her future, but there is adventure to be had in the Wild West.

Aengus has done his best to make a fresh start, to banish old betrayals. When Suzannah appears at his door, it’s clear she’s no longer a lovesick child. Now her womanly curves make his heart pound with desire. Yet he dare not trust himself to love again, and he plans to tell her just that…as soon as she stops berating him long enough to let him get a word in edgewise, to tell her he’s just trying to live an honorable life—against some very dishonorable odds.

This book has been previously published.
Product Warnings

Contains a love-soured heroine and a love-starved hero who’d like nothing better than to sweeten things up.

Genres: Romance, Historical, Historical Romance, Ebooks, Westerns, Fiction, Western Historical Romance

319 pages, ebook

First published September 1, 2000

Reviews

[Misfit · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Russell Braddock, founder of The Happily Ever After Company, always hopes his matches will result in flying sparks. But in this case they could ignite an inferno he can’t control."

The basic set up: Suzannah (Suzy) Hennessy and her BFF Megan sign on as mail-order brides. At least Megan has a groom waiting for her in California, Suzy's just along for the ride - she's too heartbroken over that dastardly Aengus. How did he break her heart? She proposed when she was eight and he turned her down and married a woman more his age. Then years later he ups and abandons his wife and boys all alone, so he's broken her heart again!

I know this makes little sense, but that's how I read it.

Moving onward, the girls head for California and on the trip there they meet up with a dashing gambler (forget his name), and he and Megan fall head over heels. But...Megan's promised to the man in California. Worse yet, but man Megan's promised to turns out to be the dastardly Aengus. So, Suzy still loves the boys and she wants Megan to be happy so she does the honorable thing and tells Aengus she'll be his wife of convenience.

"I can cook, and I can sew, and I can raise those boys for you, without asking you for anything in return other than a roof over my head, and a harmless little lie for Megan’s sake. Is that asking too much?”

OK...

Sorry, but Suzy and Megan were the most annoying pair of heroines I've come across in a long, long time. TSTL and in dire need of slapping. Worse yet, there's no chemistry between Suzy and Aengus, and the sex was...well...of the poke a finger in her and he knew she was ready for him. Eeeewwwww.

I'm throwing on an extra star just because the Kindle edition of this older MMPB was beautifully formatted. Apparently this is the first in a series of mail-order bride books centered around The Happily Ever After Company. I will be passing on that ride, even on the freebie sales.

[Meg Kinch]

For once, I'm at a loss as to how to rate a book, so I believe I will leave off of the star ratings. There were parts that were okay, good parts, really good parts, and then not so good parts. I didn't really care for the heroine at all. She had her moments, but overall she bugged the crap out of me. I did like the hero a great deal of the time and the secondary character Ben Steele was a favorite of mine along with the boys. Overall, it is a lighthearted read and is worth giving it a try, but sadly I'm not sure I will continue reading the series.

[Dee Renee Chesnut · Rating 2 out of 5]

This ebook has been in my Nook library since I downloaded it in 2012 when Barnes and Noble offered it for free. It is in a genre of a romance that I often enjoy. It lost a star because the heroine was stubborn when she did not know what the facts were and that made her judgmental. A little bit of that can make this reader not care about the outcome of the story because the reader knows the outcome will be what the heroine wants to believe.

[Gerrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 out of 5 stars

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fine

I thought it was fine. Slightly predictable, mildly entertaining, decent writing and editing. However, an epilogue would have been nice.

[Maddie · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Oh tee hee look at the funny old school romance novels," honestly: liked it. If I had to explain the premise I would give myself a headache. But for a dialogue-heavy comedy of errors, charming!

[Christy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to rate this at least 3 stars but I really couldn't come up with a reason to do so. There were definitely some good parts, particularly the last few chapters, and I really liked Aengus's character. Ben Steele was also interesting, and I think I might have liked the book more if it had centered on Ben and Megan. Suzannah had her moments of wit, and I liked her as the stepmom, but as a heroine, I wanted to stop reading. She is annoyingly naive for someone so brazen, and I just couldn't understand her hatred towards Aengus. Likewise, I didn't really understand their relationship as it developed; it was based on sex but there was little chemistry or build up for the sex scenes and they weren't incredibly well-written. The storylines involving Ben/Megan and involving the boys were my favorite parts of the book; the rest I could have done without. I won't be reading the rest of the series, but it wasn't an awful book either.

[Tori · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I would have enjoyed the story more if the premise had been more honest. The premise implies a turbulent relationship that goes wrong between the hero and heroine. There was no relationship between them. The heroine carries on practically half the book about how the hero did her wrong; yet he didn't do a single thing to her. The imagined wrongs were all a result of her self righteous priggish attitude. She annoyed me and pretty much ruined the book.

[Preeti Sharma · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rather predictable romance, with humorous moments and irritating ones. The hero was fairly likable, but I liked Megan so much more than Suzannah, though both women were shockingly naive despite their difficult pasts. No real surprises anywhere in the story--the "revelations" were repeated so often as to become redundant.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this. It was a nice light read.
I won't make the effort to read the rest of the series, but this is enjoyable as a stand-alone story. I personally loved the ending, it was the best part for me and it made me smile lots :)

[Katelyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Susannah drove me crazy and there really wasn't much of a love story. There were just too many little stories trying to be shoved in to a book that should have been longer so it could be fleshed out more.

[Natalija · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at 40%

Although this book made me laugh frequently, I wasn't able to finish it. The biggest problem I had with it was the characters, especially the female ones. I was taken aback by the lack of modesty and proper manners customary for young unmarried women in the time the book is set in.

[Pria · Rating 3 out of 5]

surprisingly i liked it.

[Kimberly]

11/26/12 - free on Kindle

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a nice read. Not an OMG you have to read this book! Some times a little hokey. But it was well edited. That helps a lot in the long run.

[Victoria Lovell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book. Wish it would have been a little longer with more gradual build in the relationships.

[Janet]

LB

[Lindsay]

Amazon Freebie 11/15/2012

[Danielle Christon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little slow in the beginning but picks up.

[RomLibrary]

Not a hero. Not a villain. Just a man afraid to risk his heart…and hers.

The Happily Ever After Company, Book 1

Aengus Yates broke Suzannah Hennessy’s heart. Twice. As an eight-year-old, she entreated the handsome young rancher to wait. He laughingly rebuffed her and went on to marry his beautiful fiancée. When he abandoned his family years later, Suzannah should have felt justified. Instead, her heart broke all over again—with disillusionment that the man she loved could do such a thing.

Now fully grown, Suzannah signs up along with her shy, self-conscious best friend to let a matchmaker find them husbands. Love may not be in her future, but there is adventure to be had in the Wild West.

Aengus has done his best to make a fresh start, to banish old betrayals. When Suzannah appears at his door, it’s clear she’s no longer a lovesick child. Now her womanly curves make his heart pound with desire. Yet he dare not trust himself to love again, and he plans to tell her just that…as soon as she stops berating him long enough to let him get a word in edgewise, to tell her he’s just trying to live an honorable life—against some very dishonorable odds.

Product Warnings

Contains a love-soured heroine and a love-starved hero who’d like nothing better than to sweeten things up.