Wife for a Year

by Roberta Leigh, Rachel Lindsay

If only she could turn back the clock!

Juliet Stone was an acclaimed actress and a very happy bride-to-be. But disaster struck when a strange illness ruined her career and caused her fiance to desert her.

Lonely and desperate, Juliet accepted Dr. Damon Masters's proposal of marriage. It would enable him to take an important job in the Middle East, and at least it would keep her busy.

She had no feelings for Damon--or so she thought until Monique Lamont, beautiful and brilliant, came back into his life. And by then it was too late ...

Genres: Marriage Of Convenience, Romance, Clean Romance

192 pages, Paperback

Published October 31, 1980

About the author

aka Rachel Lindsay, Janey Scott, Rozella Lake

Roberta Leigh was the most frequently used pen name of an author who also published novels as Rachel Lindsay, Rozella Lake, and Janey Scott. Her birth name was Rita Shulman.

Leigh was one of the first romance writers to introduce strong, career-minded heroines who wouldn't be bossed around by the hero.

Leigh had her own film company and wrote and produced 7 TV series for children. She would also "write" the music for her series, although this usually involved her humming or singing the tune into a tape recorder, after which someone else would arrange and write a score.

She studied oil and watercolor painting with Diana Raphael and Michael Chaitow, who her interest in abstract art. Her work has been exhibited at the Podbury Gallery and Finnegan's Gallery in London.

In 1948, she married Michael Lewin and they had a son, Jeremy. Her husband passed away in 1981.

Reviews

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars! ~ This is a treat of a read! I had forgotten how captivating the Presents from the 80's were. In this lovestory, our heroine Juliet has developed an incurable illness that causes her legs to weaken and no longer able to support her. This brings her to our hero, Damon, the neurosurgeon who diagnoses her. Refreshing is that we, the reader, are privy to Damon's thoughts and see that he has fallen in love with Juliet from first sight. He concocts a marriage of convenience in the hopes that during the contracted year, Juliet will have fallen in love with him too. I'm going to seek out some more "oldies" from my TBR.

[seton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tropes: marriage in name only, older hero (16 yrs)

Sensuality: kisses only

Content warning: none

Grade: B

[Margo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one more the second time I read it. The H is a very well respected man and the h considers herself to be a frivolous lightweight. is the one who loves the most, which I approve of, although she’s definitely seriously in love with him, too. Her relationship with the OW is so mature and somehow the OW is a threat but an honorable one, and that really works.

[RomLibrary · Rating 3 out of 5]

If only she could turn back the clock!

Juliet Stone was an acclaimed actress and a very happy bride-to-be. But disaster struck when a strange illness ruined her career and caused her fiance to desert her.

Lonely and desperate, Juliet accepted Dr. Damon Masters's proposal of marriage. It would enable him to take an important job in the Middle East, and at least it would keep her busy.

She had no feelings for Damon--or so she thought until Monique Lamont, beautiful and brilliant, came back into his life. And by then it was too late

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hey girls, this is the type of guy one should aim for in real life.

[ReadToBreathe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book long ago but I can't remember if I liked it or not.

[QueenT · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Enjoyable read.. I like a vulnerable heroine and a smitten H and this one had both. The writing pulled me in and kept me hooked despite the silly misunderstanding that kept them apart toward the end. This is the kind of story that reminds me why I have a soft spot for old Harleys.

This one is safe and mostly clean but has some casual racism here and there.

[DamsonDreamer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure how I feel about this one. You do get both POVs and, weirdly, this actually took a lot of the tension out of it for me and just made me wish they'd get more on page together time. They were very much like two islands. The h, Juliet is a beautiful and talented young actress, engaged to a director who abandons her by text (not really, it's vintage, he says it with flowers and a letter but same vibe) when she is struck down by a rare neurological disorder that causes her legs to give way periodically. The prognosis is that it's incurable (although we HP aficionados know better, do we not) so he buggers off to Hollywood and the workaholic neurosurgeon who diagnosed her, Dr Damon Masters, proposes a MoC so he can go and work in a fancy clinic built for him in a fictitious Emirates style land. The OW is another neurosurgeon and Old Friend who confesses to the h that she has always loved Damon but is otherwise not your usual blistering bitch. Almost no physical contact between the two leads and very little communication. I'm not a big fan of coups, revolution, war etc in HP plots, nor medical stuff. Bit too miserable real life for my taste. So on the whole more miss than hit for me, although I get why others would like it.

[Sophie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like that we get the hero's point of view here and that we know, almost from the beginning, that he's madly in love with Juliet and invented the reason for their marriage of convenience to keep her near him. But toward the end of the story, without any POV explanation, Damon behaves toward Juliet as if he's tired of her, wishes he hadn't married her and can't wait to get her out of the country. Maybe we're meant to think he's so caught up in the invasion of Doria (why do made-up country names always sound so implausible?) that he doesn't have time to be nice, but that didn't really explain everything he did. For me, his behavior diminished what had been an enjoyable read. (Well, enjoyable, when I wasn't giggling over the mysterious, incurable disease that renders the heroine nearly helpless for most of the book—thus providing many opportunities for the hero to sweep her up in his manly arms—but is cured at the end by a new wonder drug that makes the condition magically disappear within three months.)

[Qurat · Rating 2 out of 5]

read it in a go. Knew from the start whats going to happen, but still it wasn't a boring read. it was pretty clean and clear. gorgeous actress, mean fiance, goes after someone else, actress meets a doctor who falls for her at first sight, and talks her into a temporary marriage, they get no idea of each others feelings and separate, later a friend re-unites them. a typical story.

[Caz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the novel, but the lack of communication between two mature adults, the Big Misunderstanding, and the absence of romance made this a frustrating read. Then the MMC - whom I'd liked up to this point - cost this rating another star when he seemingly gives up on his plan of slow wooing, refuses to reveal his true feelings, and alternates between brusque irritation and callous indifference towards the FMC, who's the one with the gumption to break months of no-contact, take a chance and show her hand.

[Young NKWOCHA · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the book sometime around 1986 I believe. Not too sure. Never read it again. The interesting thing is that the narrative in the book was that some hostile neighbor of the little Arab country invaded it because of its oil but the global community came to its help.

In 1990, Saddam Hussein's Iraq invaded little Kuwait. That war launched my interest in international politics, thanks to this book.

[E Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possibly my favourite Rachel Lindsey to date. A scrumptious Hero and OW who isn't psycho but is actually a decent person and behaves in a way that we would all like to think we would in her situation.

Our h was a bit silly at times and I'd love to know what the miracle pill is that can cure somebody's illness just like that.

A reminder - too much pride can ruin your life unless you're a character in a romantic novel.

[Live2Read · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn’t horrible, at least we have a very decent OW, haha. Decent characters all around except the romance was nonexistent, surprisingly we got his pov but like homeboy was determined to hide all his mushy feelings so very dry here. Also, heroine was strange for not kicking the cheating fiancé to the curb when she heard him fooling with another actress or whatever they are. Heroine just accepted it and walked away and was still hopeful to marry him…Oh No! Please not.

[Cerulean · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked how we got to see what the H was thinking and feeling. But it bugged me that Johns Hopkins was referred to as John Hopkins, not once but twice!

[Ranjna · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[More Books Than Time · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one because the characters felt true. Her MOC husband has the point of view almost as often as she does and the transitions between characters are subtle.

[Rongbu]

Like

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a light hearted romance to read and a rare insight to the main male character’s thoughts and feelings. It was a great story. A future re:. B

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I kind of loved this and was very touched by Damon's love for Juliet, it had me 🫠 for most of the book.......