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The Bridal Contract
Fay Sheridan is facing the bleakest moment of her life. As a fierce storm surges around her, one man plucks herfrom despair and into Chase Rafferty.
Rugged rancher Chase knows there is a fun-loving youngwoman hiding inside Fay, and he'll do anything to see herstart living again—even propose!
Fay thinks Chase is joking—a convenient businessmarriage would never work. But as the idea sinks in, thesparks slowly begin to ignite inside her. Maybe now is thetime to embrace life and say yes!
Rugged rancher Chase knows there is a fun-loving youngwoman hiding inside Fay, and he'll do anything to see herstart living again—even propose!
Fay thinks Chase is joking—a convenient businessmarriage would never work. But as the idea sinks in, thesparks slowly begin to ignite inside her. Maybe now is thetime to embrace life and say yes!
192 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2007
7 people are currently reading
61 people want to read
About the author
Susan Fox
133 books44 followersThere is more than one author with this name. When entering books for this particular Susan Fox. The name needs to be entered with only one space between the first and last name.
Susan grew up with her sister, Janet, and her brother, Steven, on an acreage near Des Moines, Iowa, where, besides a jillion stray cats and dogs, two horses, and a pony, her favorite pet and confidant was Rex, her brown-and-white pinto gelding.
Susan has raised two sons, Jeffrey and Patrick, and currently lives in a house that she laughingly refers to as the Landfill and Book Repository. She writes with the help and hindrance of five mischievous shorthaired felines: Gabby, a talkative tortoiseshell calico; Buster, a solid lion-yellow with white legs and facial markings; his sister, Pixie, a tri-color calico; Toonses, a plump black-and-white; and the cheerily diabolical, naughty black tiger Eddie, aka Eduardo de Lover.
Susan is a bookaholic and movie fan who loves cowboys, rodeos, and the American West, past and present. She has an intense interest in storytelling of all kinds and in politics, and she claims the two are often interchangeable.
Susan loves writing complex characters in emotionally intense situations, and hopes her readers enjoy her ranch stories and are uplifted by their happy endings.
Susan grew up with her sister, Janet, and her brother, Steven, on an acreage near Des Moines, Iowa, where, besides a jillion stray cats and dogs, two horses, and a pony, her favorite pet and confidant was Rex, her brown-and-white pinto gelding.
Susan has raised two sons, Jeffrey and Patrick, and currently lives in a house that she laughingly refers to as the Landfill and Book Repository. She writes with the help and hindrance of five mischievous shorthaired felines: Gabby, a talkative tortoiseshell calico; Buster, a solid lion-yellow with white legs and facial markings; his sister, Pixie, a tri-color calico; Toonses, a plump black-and-white; and the cheerily diabolical, naughty black tiger Eddie, aka Eduardo de Lover.
Susan is a bookaholic and movie fan who loves cowboys, rodeos, and the American West, past and present. She has an intense interest in storytelling of all kinds and in politics, and she claims the two are often interchangeable.
Susan loves writing complex characters in emotionally intense situations, and hopes her readers enjoy her ranch stories and are uplifted by their happy endings.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
February 9, 2022
Poor heroine has almost driven herself insane with grief after her younger brothers were both killed, leaving her alone on the family farm. Hero, of the adjoining ranch, keeps checking up on her and being rebuffed.
This has gone on for a year until heroine is caught out in a dramatic storm and hero has to save her. Heroine realizes she is losing it and somehow finds herself accepting the hero's proposal of marriage.
Half of the story is the set up to the H/h's "bargain" and the other half is their adjustment to married life and the dawning realization that they love each other. It's quite sweet and sexy in that fade-to-black way.
Just a nice story about healing from grief and learning to live again.
This has gone on for a year until heroine is caught out in a dramatic storm and hero has to save her. Heroine realizes she is losing it and somehow finds herself accepting the hero's proposal of marriage.
Half of the story is the set up to the H/h's "bargain" and the other half is their adjustment to married life and the dawning realization that they love each other. It's quite sweet and sexy in that fade-to-black way.
Just a nice story about healing from grief and learning to live again.
February 26, 2016
Bad writing, fade to black sex scenes, cold heroine. this book was a disaster as far as I am concerned.
February 18, 2016
Why did it lose a star is because of the fade to black sex. I wanted to have more then an overview after the fact. Come on this book had all that I would have loved but this. They decide to get married for connivence sake and he was in love with her so it was just an excuse. She has had personal tragedy and for the ranch to keep going she married him. She does not want it to be real but he had another plans and he seduces her on the wedding night. She is a virgin and falls for it. They have a very rocky relationship thanks to a lot of words spoken in anger. They make their way to each other. So sweet.
August 14, 2018
Upgrading to 4 1/2 Stars ~ I first read this book in 2008, and reading it again, I find I'm as moved today as I was then. This is a love story that grips you from the first pages and carries through with it's promise of a satisfying read right to the end.
4 Stars! ~ Her horse fidgeted, but Fay Sheridan was in no hurry to find shelter, in fact the electricity in the air was welcome. Fay had hit rock bottom and she just didn't care if lightning struck her. From his pickup, Chase Rafferty watched his neighbour recklessly watch the coming storm; it was suicidal. And as the first and then second flash of lightning and the thunderous boom set her horse into motion, he watched as the horse stumbled and then rose without it’s rider. The last person Fay wanted help from was Chase, and yet he kept poking his nose in her business. Fay had lost her sparkle, the death of first her parents and a then last year her twin brothers, had left her with nothing, except for the ranch. Fay thinks Chase is bluffing her when he proposes a business marriage, and knowing that she needs to shake up her life, she calls the bluff and finds herself whisked off to Vegas.
This is such a moving love story. Chase doesn't understand why he needs to make Fay sparkle again; he just knows he has to. After losing everyone she’s ever loved, Fay knows she can't ever risk her heart again. This is a lovely story of a heart so broken and long buried in despair, that another day is almost unbearable. The steadfastness of a good man and the memory he has of the vivacious woman she used to be, wakens her heart and she finds hope. Their journey is a poignant one; one that touches the heart.
4 Stars! ~ Her horse fidgeted, but Fay Sheridan was in no hurry to find shelter, in fact the electricity in the air was welcome. Fay had hit rock bottom and she just didn't care if lightning struck her. From his pickup, Chase Rafferty watched his neighbour recklessly watch the coming storm; it was suicidal. And as the first and then second flash of lightning and the thunderous boom set her horse into motion, he watched as the horse stumbled and then rose without it’s rider. The last person Fay wanted help from was Chase, and yet he kept poking his nose in her business. Fay had lost her sparkle, the death of first her parents and a then last year her twin brothers, had left her with nothing, except for the ranch. Fay thinks Chase is bluffing her when he proposes a business marriage, and knowing that she needs to shake up her life, she calls the bluff and finds herself whisked off to Vegas.
This is such a moving love story. Chase doesn't understand why he needs to make Fay sparkle again; he just knows he has to. After losing everyone she’s ever loved, Fay knows she can't ever risk her heart again. This is a lovely story of a heart so broken and long buried in despair, that another day is almost unbearable. The steadfastness of a good man and the memory he has of the vivacious woman she used to be, wakens her heart and she finds hope. Their journey is a poignant one; one that touches the heart.
July 3, 2011
I think this story is more of a truncated bildungsroman than a romance. The author spent time detailing the grief of the heroine and how she came to terms with the death of her twin brothers in a freak accident. As a result, the heroine’s falling in love with her husband-of-convenience became almost a secondary plot and left me wishing for more encounters between the H/h. For instance, the author hinted of an incident involving the wedding rings: the heroine forgot to wear her rings and the hero had meted out a “delicious consequence.” Well! Nothing else was revealed and readers were left to imagine what that could be.
But whenever the H/h were together, the author managed to create sweet ambiance with a few interplay of words or to develop sexual tension just through the silence between them. Though this book was closed door romance, the prelude to sex and the subsequent fade-outs were cinematically done.
This book provides a needed break for a marathon of shockers by Miranda Lee.
But whenever the H/h were together, the author managed to create sweet ambiance with a few interplay of words or to develop sexual tension just through the silence between them. Though this book was closed door romance, the prelude to sex and the subsequent fade-outs were cinematically done.
This book provides a needed break for a marathon of shockers by Miranda Lee.
July 23, 2020
DNF this book and feel great about not wasting 3 hours of my life.
I never warmed to this h, perhaps because of her misery loves company behaviour where everyone had to be miserable because she was. She also showed a murderous side to her when she tried to commit suicide by lighting (ie natural suicide) and wanted to take her horse down with her (she refused to let it go with all the metal tools ie lightning conductors in its saddle bags)! What kind of animal does THAT? Arrgh awful human being. I was egging the horse on to toss her off and was so glad when he eventually did and bolted. Its a pity she survived. Hateful hag.
The H was cool, I liked him however, he didn't deserve to have the h happen to him. Lets just be happy he's happy I guess.
I never warmed to this h, perhaps because of her misery loves company behaviour where everyone had to be miserable because she was. She also showed a murderous side to her when she tried to commit suicide by lighting (ie natural suicide) and wanted to take her horse down with her (she refused to let it go with all the metal tools ie lightning conductors in its saddle bags)! What kind of animal does THAT? Arrgh awful human being. I was egging the horse on to toss her off and was so glad when he eventually did and bolted. Its a pity she survived. Hateful hag.
The H was cool, I liked him however, he didn't deserve to have the h happen to him. Lets just be happy he's happy I guess.
November 2, 2016
This whole book is written in third person (of course most books are) but I felt Author gave very less importance to dialogues and conversations , which I didn't find any enduring but sulking . :/
Pass it , I don't recommend this at all .
Pass it , I don't recommend this at all .
August 30, 2020
Low key, not terribly convincing because we never learn why he fell in love with her. The conflict is inside her as she learns to trust feelings and learn to live after the devastating death of her twin brothers.
April 7, 2021
I've read this book twice. It's so heartwarming.
September 4, 2023
Good setup but not enough relationship development and dialogue between the MCs.
December 25, 2023
Quick read though i took a while to get thru it. Cute story. Not really diving into anything too deep but the general depression, lose, heartache and cycle of death is the main tone of the book
August 8, 2025
Sweet Romznce
Yeah. You know how the book will end but sometimes you just need a sweet, happy ever after story with all the ups and downs.
Yeah. You know how the book will end but sometimes you just need a sweet, happy ever after story with all the ups and downs.
May 15, 2015
The full effect of this review can be found by clicking here.
This story is a crossover between Christy Hayes, Jennifer Probst and a shorty. Fay has lost her brothers a while ago (a year or so) and she's been living like a hermit ever since. Solitude is her blessing, and a man not leaving her alone out of concern is a curse. Chase is the curse with good intentions. He still sees the happy woman Fay has once been... And the idea he's delivered offhandedly one morning might be their undoing.
According to Goodreads this is book 4, and honestly... I have no concrete idea of what to think of this. Yes, they have a deal; yes, they marry; yes, the woman is pregnant; yes, they come to love one another. Maybe I'm too late to the game and missed the main opportunity to figure out the flame of this romance. It was a light one. Nothing huge. No mystery... A fast read, nonetheless. I felt like I missed it out, though
This story is a crossover between Christy Hayes, Jennifer Probst and a shorty. Fay has lost her brothers a while ago (a year or so) and she's been living like a hermit ever since. Solitude is her blessing, and a man not leaving her alone out of concern is a curse. Chase is the curse with good intentions. He still sees the happy woman Fay has once been... And the idea he's delivered offhandedly one morning might be their undoing.
According to Goodreads this is book 4, and honestly... I have no concrete idea of what to think of this. Yes, they have a deal; yes, they marry; yes, the woman is pregnant; yes, they come to love one another. Maybe I'm too late to the game and missed the main opportunity to figure out the flame of this romance. It was a light one. Nothing huge. No mystery... A fast read, nonetheless. I felt like I missed it out, though
December 23, 2010
Rancher Fay Sheridan is depressed and near-suicidal after the accidental deaths of her brothers. Neighboring rancher, Chase Rafferty, her former crush, takes it upon himself to look after her and provoke her into really living again. Suggesting a merger between their ranches, Chase ends up proposing marriage, and Fay is surprised to find herself saying yes. But will she be able to give her heart and start a new family with her fear of losing her loved ones yet again? This was surprisingly sweet and old-fashioned for a contemporary romance but I liked it.
April 2, 2014
As always, Susan Fox writes a good story with nicely developed characters and fluid dialogue. The romance is well-paced and clean (with sex implied but no descriptions); although I didn't feel as connected to these characters as in her other books. I personally think it needed more sugar - I like my romance on the sweet side.
September 24, 2011
Chase saves Fay from the bleekest moment in her life. Fay thinks when Chase is joking when he offers her a convenient business arrange of marriage.
Will she says yes and embrace life??
Cute story
Will she says yes and embrace life??
Cute story
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews