Widow Kate Chilton bravely raises two young sons alone, drawing on memories of her happy marriage to give her strength. When she discovers that her marriage was not what it seemed, her world is shattered.
In her own unique revenge, Kate decides to spend one night with a man and then forget him. She finds the perfect candidate in notorious womanizer Randall Johnson. Magnetically attractive, he has a reputation for loving and leaving. But Randall’s reputation is about to change….
Randall Johnson clawed his way up the ladder of success from a dirt-poor childhood. With no time for the complications of love, he prefers women who understand his rules. When Kate invites herself to dinner, his curiosity is piqued. When she kisses him, his self-control goes up in flames. And when she tells him he’s just a one-night stand, he refuses to take “no” for an answer.
Nancy Herkness is the award-winning, best-selling author of contemporary romance for readers who love richly developed characters and an immersive reading experience. Meet the wealthy, powerful alpha heroes who need down-to-earth women to show them how to find soul-deep love and pulse-racing passion. Nancy’s vivid writing brings to life settings both elegant and homey, while making her flawed but fascinating characters leap off the page and into your heart. Savor the thrill of falling in love by diving into one of Nancy’s books.
Author of the Royal Caleva, Consultants, Wager of Hearts, and Whisper Horse series, as well as several other contemporary romance novels, Nancy has sold over a million books. She is also a two-time nominee for the Romance Writers of America’s RITA® award.
Nancy has received many honors for her work, including the Book Buyers Best Top Pick, the New England Readers’ Choice award, and the National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award. She graduated from Princeton University with a degree in English literature and creative writing.
A native of West Virginia, Nancy now lives twelve miles west of the Lincoln Tunnel in suburban New Jersey with two tabby cats.
Hi, can we talk about Kate Chilton, and how much I loved her? Because I did, an awful lot. Let's check off her attributes, shall we? She's a wonderful, single mother (she shames me, LOL), a widow and a freakin’ engineer. She was strong when she needed to be, totally brilliant, and rightfully heartbroken when her world tilted on its axis. Oh, and she was sassy. I do love a strong, sassy woman.
I love them in much the same way I love a cocky, arrogant asshole. Which is basically what Randall Johnson is. Except…he had some vulnerabilities underneath that, when they finally came out, made him much more relatable and likeable.
To that end, I have to confess, I struggled somewhat with Randall, and with the development of his relationship with Kate. I didn't feel like I got deep enough with him until later in the book, and although I liked him, and enjoyed his banter with Kate, I struggled to connect with him. Or with them as a couple. There was a little spark missing, which—although they were incredibly sexy together—somewhat slowed down the first half of this book for me.
Having said that, there were some absolutely wonderful moments in A Bridge to Love. Aside from being well-written and witty, it had a touch of humor, a little bit of hurt, and some seriously swoony displays of billionaire love—the flaunting of money that makes this reviewer green with envy.
And it had something else I love to see: mature characters. Randall and Kate aren't college-aged kids or twenty-somethings, which was a refreshing change. Nope, they're adults with a wealth of life experience—good and bad—upon which to draw. They've made mistakes, misjudged people (including themselves), and picked poorly. And that makes them feel very human on a basic level.
Which is why the ending was so sweetly romantic and fun—they’d absolutely earned it. After a slightly slow start, and some unexpected—and heart-racing—suspense, A Bridge to Love closed out with a smile-inducing ending—and with Kate kicking butt. Which is absolutely what I came to expect of, and love about, her. ~ Beth, 3.5 stars
I really loved the story. However, the flow of the story was rough, it needed a lot of editing. I had to re-read several passages because the change was so abrupt that did not make sense.
I really started off reading this book feeling like "Wow this is one of the best romance stories i have read in a long time"> It had everything I liked, love, desire, sexy rich alpha male and betrayal. It was describing Kate, and widower that was trying to recovery from the lies of her dead husband while also finding herself. A cool best friend, and my favorite cute adorable kids. But somehow by the end of the book it just dropped off for me. I was so excited about getting to the final closing but somehow it just didn't do it. I mean it closed off the romance story with a solid happy ending but it just didn't close out all the loose ends. I'm still happy to add it to my library of books. I would truly recommend it to my other goodread friends but I just wish I could have given it a full 5 stars. But still it was a wonderful story about second chances and rebuilding trust and realizing the revenge does not guarantee a happy ending.
Wow! I'm a fan! What a good story, start to finish. The characters were well developed. The story had interesting and exciting twists and turns, a good romance and plenty of steam.
Lu en 2015. J'avais adoré la trame, les personnages et surtout Kate et sa détermination. Randall, beau ténébreux, a ce coté prince charmant des livres de Nancy Herkness dont j'ai besoin de temps en temps. Relu en août 2020. Pleins de détails qui avaient dû être masqués par ma hâte de connaître la suite et le déroulement de la romance me sont apparus. ça ne baisse pas ma cote mais ça me fait "voir" le livre sous un autre angle.
★★★★☆ Liked this one even more than the first of this author's books I read yesterday. Definitely will read more of her work. Fast read, enjoyable. Nice pace.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I couldn't put it down! I love nearly every character in this book but especially Patrick and Clay! They were such adorable young men and I just wanted to squeeze them tight!
Kate's world is turned upside down by discovering her dead Husband's infidelity and that he left her with no financial safety net! She starts to build her life back up again for her and her boys! She decides to have a one night stand with none other than Randall Johnson! Randall is a hot, arrogant CEO of RJ Enterprises! He meets Kate and sparks fly! But at first Kate turns him down but his curiosity gets the better of him, when she asks if his offer of a date is still open!
Kate did my head in sometimes though blowing hot and cold but I understood why she didn't want to get to close! She is fantastic and a brilliant mother to her two boys! I loved her sassy side that she showed Randall! And I loved how he bantered back with her!
Randall can't understand how Kate got under his skin! She seemed to get past all his defences, when no other woman could! He showed her a side that no one got to see and I loved that vulnerable side of him! All he needed was the love of the right woman! Even though he told Kate that he was a "bad man", he was nothing of the sort! I loved him pretty much from the beginning! I don't think he realised how sweet, caring and wonderful he really is and Kate points it how to him and shows him and how her two boys show him! How they make him feel "human".
Kate is a widow, an engineer, and a Mom. She’s stayed at home to raise her sons, but after her husband’s partners want to sell his share of the business, she has to go back to work. She also learns her husband was unfaithful, which breaks her heart.
Randall is a successful businessman. He becomes the object of Kate’s seduction, but one time isn’t enough for either of them. So begins the rollercoaster of their relationship, with Kate running away then back to Randall. He’s not sure why he wants her so much, and has his own problems to face.
The bridge she’s hired to build gives her back her confidence, and Randall is there whenever she needs him, or even doesn’t.
Interesting story, with the bridge theme, helping someone from one side, one life, to another.
Herkness is just a great author, I love all her books.
Who doesn't like a good HEA (Happily Ever After) story? I do and I enjoyed reading Nancy Herkness' book, A Bridge to Love. (Once I finished the book, I really liked the title she chose too.) In this book widowed single mother, Kate Chilton discovers a secret that her late husband kept and she resolves to seek revenge by having an uncomplicated one night stand. That doesn't go over well with Randall Johnson. The story line is very believable and the characters are well developed. I kept reading straight through until morning! Both Kate and Randall change a lot during the course of the book and I enjoyed "watching" it happen. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good romance!
Loved this book! It was such a nice, sweet, sexy, romance with plenty of twists and turns that made it really an Interesting read!!! Loved all the characters.... They were relatable, very likeable and lifelike! This was a family that grabbed your heart and made you fall for them. Kate went through what many women have gone through and as I read it I could feel her pain.... Great writing. Sad in places but beautifully balanced with lightness and the joy of life. Randall was the perfect man for Kate and their interaction was amusing and swoony! I highly recommend this story.... It was a very enjoyable read!!😇
This was an entertaining amusing book about a widow with two children who finds a love letter to her husband that’s not from her. In fact it was from two years ago. A year before he died. Kate decides to get even so she picks a guy to have a one night stand with. Randall however doesn’t know what’s going on and he is the one to always drop someone. The way they muddle through the confusion is intoxicating.
A good read with a heroine who is a structural engineer from MIT. I liked the "different from the usual" occupations for her and her intelligence and wit.
This wasn’t a bad book and the story held promise, but it was just not well-written. Often times, it transitioned poorly and without notice. This author definitely could’ve used hederas to signify such abrupt changes of topic. I was confused on more than one occasion and had to reread to make sure I wasn’t missing something.
Another main drawback was the dialogue and conversation between the characters. It was often stilted and formal. I was about 3/4’s finished, and this author was still referring to the H as Randall Johnson like there were other characters with the same 1st name or the the h was unfamiliar with him.
And speaking of the H/h, they were not really likable people. Kate was kind of shrewish, especially to Randall after he went out of his way to help her son. She was also foolish bordering on dumb at times. She let Oliver get away with physical intimidation, and the neighbor who’s dog attacked her son got off with an apology to someone else. She went from harpy to dishrag in the blink of an eye. Randall, on the other hand, was just odd, not a bad guy but not someone I rooted for to get the girl.
All-in-all, I skipped around a bit to get to the end. This wasn’t a terrible book, but it definitely would’ve benefited from better editing and strong beta readers.
**A good book that could've been great if section breaks were used. A scene would end on one line and a new one immediately began on the next. I was CONSTANTLY thrown out of the story, having to reorient myself of who was speaking and where the speaker was. The only thing that didn't make me thrown the book against the wall was the relationship between Kate and Randall. I adored them.**
The novel gained *stars* for these items: * gained for: "The book caught my interest in first five pages." * gained for: "I thought about the book when I was forced to set it down and re-enter society." * gained for: "I was sad when the book ended. I wanted more!"
The novel failed to gain stars for these items: NO STAR gained for: "There were no info dumps, poor writing, or copy edit mistakes that jerked me out of the story." NO STAR gained for: "That's it. I'm hooked on this author. I will automatically buy anything s/he writes."
Kate Chilton is a widowed mother trying to survive the death of her husband and reignite her passion for Engineering. Randall Johson is the owner of RJ Enterprise and has a lot of irons in the fire. One quick meeting between them, a refused dinner invitation and then the discovery that her marriage was not all that it seemed to be, spark the beginning of a passionate and tumultuous relationship.
The fire between them is undeniable. The battle of will is entertaining. And the ways in which he can make her blood boil are unending. Add in 2 easily impressionable boys and a couple of scorned business associates then you have the makings of excitement, laughter and a bit of danger.
I really enjoyed this story very much. Being Nancy Herkness' debut novel it was surprisingly fun to read. She has been a favorite of mine for a while and I love being able to read her 1st. It left a few questions unanswered and I will be looking at her other early works to see if those are answered.
The challenge begins with an innocent glance at a bargain basement wrist watch worn by a seemingly accomplished Princeton alumnus at a reunion. The challenge is met for a devastated widow seeking personal revenge and vindication for the infidelity her late husband deftly hid. Kate meets her match in seeking a turn of tables on one alluring womanizer, Randall Jackson. The story doesn't disappoint with plenty of character depth, background detail, secondary story lines and hot, steamy yet emotionally charged romance.
And there is even a life threatening car chase event to peek reading interest. Definitely a well written, emotionally satisfying novel and worth the read.
I enjoyed this book about a woman scorned. Kate thought she was happily married to her husband but as it turns out he cheated on her. Kate decides to even the score by bedding self made millionaire Randall. She doesn't care that her husband isn't there to live through it with her. She targets Randall and then tells him it's over but Randall doesn't want it to end.
Kate has two boys that are in soccer and she's their coach. When she finds them in a losing situation Randall comes to the rescue and helps. Then he targets Kate. They start a sort of relationship.
The book has many twists and turns and you will keep turning the pages to see what is going to happen next. The book is warm and heartfelt.
Excellent writing, creating issues, and many questions after Kate's husband passes away; finding out he was cheating & planning a divorce. Her husband's architectural firm buyout was going to cheat her out of her husband's share & make it considerably much lower. Her husband's architect partner, Oliver, is obsessed with her & tries to force himself on her until she begins crying as she has always thought of Oliver as a friend.
Nancy did a fantastic job on this book. The heroine is a strong woman and she remains so throughout the book. I would have given it 5 stars but I felt the ending was rushed too quickly. I grew to love the characters that I felt like the end did not do it justice.
This was an awesome novel with great characters and storyline. I was disappointed that we didn't find out what he did to destroy Gill and what happened to Lucinda. How could Lucinda live with herself after what she did to Randall? And then blame him for studying to get them out of poverty. He dodged a bullet there.
I really love how Kate came into her own. She had some tough life events to overcome but she was amazing. And Randall...he was a bossy one but I loved his growth as well. Terrific kids, a great shark lawyer friend, and lots of smexy times. And intrigue abounded! Great story.
Well written, strong characters , well drawn by author. Engaging storyline. Loved that the author kept out at the usuals storyline involving a rich H and struggling widow with money problems.
I love this book. I love the "mature" characters who have lived life and found love. I read it over and over again. Nancy Her knees is one of my favorite authors.
I loved this story! Kate and Randall were super characters and her boys and supporting characters worked well. The storyline was interesting and romantic. Brava, Nancy, on another winning book! 👍👍❤
You people should just read this book yourselves and write your own review on this novel yourself and I really enjoyed reading this book very much so. Shelley MA
One of the sweetest love stories ever. Contrary to the end this couple will have you laughing and shaking your head. Thanks for a new perspective on bridges as well.