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Rent-A-Bride Ltd
There had to be a catch...
"You're not to be afraid," the stranger on the flight from Denver reassured Stacey. And suddenly her predicament seemed less overwhelming. His warmth and strength instilled courage in her as if by osmosis.
Maybe she could stand up to the man who'd married her aunt only to discover that Stacey was the one with all the money. Perhaps she wouldn't have to marry his son, George, after all ....
Then the stranger stepped forward to meet her relatives and shocked them all--especially Stacey. "I'm Harry Marsden, " he announced "Stacey's new husband."
Because Harry Marsden had rescued her from the clutches of her unscrupulous relatives, by pretending she was married to him, Stacey felt she owed him something. But how long was her repayment to last? Because now, it seemed, Harry needed to pretend he was married, to put his beloved grandmother's mind at rest - so why shouldn't Stacey go on posing as his bride? Perhaps it wouldn't have mattered so much if Stacey had not managed to fall in love with Harry - only to learn that his grandmother's will was forcing him to spend the next three months with the glamorous Lisette Langloise....
"You're not to be afraid," the stranger on the flight from Denver reassured Stacey. And suddenly her predicament seemed less overwhelming. His warmth and strength instilled courage in her as if by osmosis.
Maybe she could stand up to the man who'd married her aunt only to discover that Stacey was the one with all the money. Perhaps she wouldn't have to marry his son, George, after all ....
Then the stranger stepped forward to meet her relatives and shocked them all--especially Stacey. "I'm Harry Marsden, " he announced "Stacey's new husband."
Because Harry Marsden had rescued her from the clutches of her unscrupulous relatives, by pretending she was married to him, Stacey felt she owed him something. But how long was her repayment to last? Because now, it seemed, Harry needed to pretend he was married, to put his beloved grandmother's mind at rest - so why shouldn't Stacey go on posing as his bride? Perhaps it wouldn't have mattered so much if Stacey had not managed to fall in love with Harry - only to learn that his grandmother's will was forcing him to spend the next three months with the glamorous Lisette Langloise....
189 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1985
4 people are currently reading
123 people want to read
About the author
Emma Goldrick
149 books33 followersEmma Goldrick is the penname used by the marriage formed by Emma Elizabeth Jean Sutcliffe, borned 7 February 1923 in Puerto Rico, and Robert N. Goldrick, borned on 22 March 1919 in Massachusetts, USA. They met in Puerto Rico, where married. She was a licensed practical nurse, volunteered with American Red Cross and she taught American Sign Language and he was a career USA military man. Thirty years and 4 children later they retired, and in 1980 they started to write in collaboration, and their first novel was accepted and published in 1983 by Mills & Boon. They continued publishing 40 novels until Robert passed away at 76, in 22 January 1996. After her husband death, she published her last novel and retired. Emma Goldrick passed away at 85, in 20 November 2008.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
May 2, 2019
Re Rent A Bride Lmtd - I was having trepidations on this one - EG was channeling John Wayne and Matt Dillion from Gunsmoke in this very quirky tale of romance, complete with revolving waterbed in a circular penthouse bedroom and an H who can't resist his Kitten h "Little Lady".
Srsly, the 18 year old h is named Stacey but the H refers to her as Kitten and Little Lady for the entire book. I am not sure he called her by her actual name even once, and since he in his 30's and she starts out as a prescription pill addict with all the savvy of a concussed duckling - I REALLY wasn't sure about this book.
The H and h meet while an a plane to Waco TX, the h is pretty drugged out and terrified of getting off the plane. For the past two years her biological aunt and the aunt's husband have been keeping her medicated, isolated on the h's dead father's ranch and stealing her money from the oil wells on that ranch. The aunt had taken the h into the big city to get her to sign over power of attorney for control of her fortune and forgot the POA in the hotel room. So she double drugged the h, put her on a plane and expected her husband to pick the h up at the other end. They are trying to force the h into a marriage with the husband's son.
(The aunt is an interesting character. She has been tormented all her life by a big portwine birthmark on her face. She and the h got along great right after the h's dad died in Vietnam. Then she met her husband. She doesn't like her husband much and is very bitter, but he married her cause he thought she had money. When it turned out to be the h's he begins abusing both women and the aunt is shown to be acting horrible because of all the torment she has had, once the husband is out of the picture, she becomes a decent person.)
Back on the plane, the H likes the looks of the h and is concerned about the drugging, so he tells her he will do her a favor - she just needs to smile and look charming. When they disembark, the aunt's husband comes up and starts in on the h with his son right behind him. The H slips a wedding ring on the h's finger and introduces himself as her new husband. He gets rid of the aunt's husband and the slimy son and then the h collapses from all the drugs she has been given and the H takes care of her while she detoxes. He straightens out her financial situation too, and the "uncle" leaves the country, taking a large sum of the h's money while the slimy son disappears.
The aunt starts acting like a decent person after she and the H have some words and the H also arranges for the ranch to be set to rights. Then the H tells the h he needs her to act as his wife for the weekend. The h is dubious but he explains his dying grandmother wanted the H to marry her goddaughter. But the goddaughter ran off years earlier and no one has seen her since. The h will impersonate her by wearing the GD's perfume, as his grandmother is almost blind and very ill.
They get to the H's family estate and the h meets the grandmother, the H also introduces her to everyone as his wife. The grandmother is very happy and relieved and eventually sinks into a coma with the h holding her hand. The H takes her back to her ranch and the h thinks she will never see him again and she is sad about it cause she is in love.
Then the sheriff comes out to the ranch to auction it off for non-payment of taxes. The h calls the H after the aunt mentions he left his card and the H comes rushing to save the day. The h spends a lot of time in this book trying to figure out what the H does. He says he has some horses, owns a building and manages some things. She does notice that he seems to have a lot ways of getting things done and so when the H goes this time, he tells the h that as repayment for him sorting things out for her, he wants to "rent" her for his wife when he needs her.
The h is getting fonder of him by the minute and so she agrees, but is a bit dubious still. She starts sorting out her life. But when the H calls for her to come back to his home to help when his grandmother dies, she drops everything and goes. He takes her to his penthouse apartment first - he wants to familiarize her with his life so that she can answer his numerous relative's questions. He also takes her on big late night shopping spree, the manager opened the store for him.
They h and H have been sneaking kisses and things all along and when they get to the H's penthouse, he gives her a tour. We get EG's usual guidebook description - but this is the first and probably only HP guidebook tour of a locality's tourist spots given from a bedroom with a 360 degree view and the H and h are on a revolving circular waterbed.
The h gets through the funeral OK, and she is falling more in love when the big conflict occurs. The grandmother wrote in her will that the H has to find the god daughter and they will split her large estate only after they live in the family house together for three months. The h is wildly jealous, but the H feels it is his duty to track the GD down and fulfill the terms of the will. The h steals a jeep and then gets pulled over for going too slow and having no license. The H rescues her again, but the h is mad and throws her rings back at him.
While he is gone, the h decides to take charge of her life - she wants the H to see her as an adult, not a needy kid. She gets her GED, she learns to drive, gets accepted to college, and learns to fly small planes and helicopters.
( The H had sent men to run her ranch for her and fix things up, he tells them she can have whatever she wants, she wants flying lessons and a pilot's license as a way of remembering her army pilot dad.)
The h's aunt, with the help of the H's extremely efficient secretary, gets herself scheduled for cosmetic surgery to fix her face. When the H returns with the GD in tow, he tells the h she has to move back to his house as he needs her as his wife to save him from the now alcoholic GDOW. The H is pleased when he finds out about her schooling, but she doesn't tell him about her flying.
While the h is running his house, the H is moving all his stuff over to hers. He thinks he will have to give the OW his grandmother's house as she is being very difficult. The GDOW is very nasty to the h, but she handles her, and we find out that the H owns all these different companies that have doing things for the h. The OW decides to take the h out after the H lies and tells her the h is preggers.
The evil son the h was originally supposed to marry shows up and he and the OW drug the h with valium. Then he kidnaps her and makes her fly the helicopter. (It was far fetched, but funny. The h is flying a helicopter drugged out of her mind and making the evil son ill in the process, most of the book is a bunch of very funny exchanges between the h and various people, but especially the H.)
The h manages to run the gas tanks out, holding off the evil son OM and then crash lands the chopper. The H rescues her again, beats the evil son OM up and breaks his hand and finally sends the GDOW off with the Sheriff for trial and avows his love for the h. She avows love back and they decide to sneak out and fly off to quietly find a Justice of the Peace to really get married -- after they spend a day or so in bed and another HEA for HPlandia strikes again.
Overall this one was funny, even though the h was truly in dire circumstances and several very bad things happened. The story was full of black humor and the h worked really hard to make something of herself on her own after the H kicks the bad guys out.
It is rare in HPlandia that an h takes such initiative and even though the H rescues her a lot, she doesn't come off as helpless or pathetic. The H was bossy, but funny and it was pretty touching how he obviously went out of his way to give her the world.
Nice book, cute read and worth a few laughs if you run into it.
Srsly, the 18 year old h is named Stacey but the H refers to her as Kitten and Little Lady for the entire book. I am not sure he called her by her actual name even once, and since he in his 30's and she starts out as a prescription pill addict with all the savvy of a concussed duckling - I REALLY wasn't sure about this book.
The H and h meet while an a plane to Waco TX, the h is pretty drugged out and terrified of getting off the plane. For the past two years her biological aunt and the aunt's husband have been keeping her medicated, isolated on the h's dead father's ranch and stealing her money from the oil wells on that ranch. The aunt had taken the h into the big city to get her to sign over power of attorney for control of her fortune and forgot the POA in the hotel room. So she double drugged the h, put her on a plane and expected her husband to pick the h up at the other end. They are trying to force the h into a marriage with the husband's son.
(The aunt is an interesting character. She has been tormented all her life by a big portwine birthmark on her face. She and the h got along great right after the h's dad died in Vietnam. Then she met her husband. She doesn't like her husband much and is very bitter, but he married her cause he thought she had money. When it turned out to be the h's he begins abusing both women and the aunt is shown to be acting horrible because of all the torment she has had, once the husband is out of the picture, she becomes a decent person.)
Back on the plane, the H likes the looks of the h and is concerned about the drugging, so he tells her he will do her a favor - she just needs to smile and look charming. When they disembark, the aunt's husband comes up and starts in on the h with his son right behind him. The H slips a wedding ring on the h's finger and introduces himself as her new husband. He gets rid of the aunt's husband and the slimy son and then the h collapses from all the drugs she has been given and the H takes care of her while she detoxes. He straightens out her financial situation too, and the "uncle" leaves the country, taking a large sum of the h's money while the slimy son disappears.
The aunt starts acting like a decent person after she and the H have some words and the H also arranges for the ranch to be set to rights. Then the H tells the h he needs her to act as his wife for the weekend. The h is dubious but he explains his dying grandmother wanted the H to marry her goddaughter. But the goddaughter ran off years earlier and no one has seen her since. The h will impersonate her by wearing the GD's perfume, as his grandmother is almost blind and very ill.
They get to the H's family estate and the h meets the grandmother, the H also introduces her to everyone as his wife. The grandmother is very happy and relieved and eventually sinks into a coma with the h holding her hand. The H takes her back to her ranch and the h thinks she will never see him again and she is sad about it cause she is in love.
Then the sheriff comes out to the ranch to auction it off for non-payment of taxes. The h calls the H after the aunt mentions he left his card and the H comes rushing to save the day. The h spends a lot of time in this book trying to figure out what the H does. He says he has some horses, owns a building and manages some things. She does notice that he seems to have a lot ways of getting things done and so when the H goes this time, he tells the h that as repayment for him sorting things out for her, he wants to "rent" her for his wife when he needs her.
The h is getting fonder of him by the minute and so she agrees, but is a bit dubious still. She starts sorting out her life. But when the H calls for her to come back to his home to help when his grandmother dies, she drops everything and goes. He takes her to his penthouse apartment first - he wants to familiarize her with his life so that she can answer his numerous relative's questions. He also takes her on big late night shopping spree, the manager opened the store for him.
They h and H have been sneaking kisses and things all along and when they get to the H's penthouse, he gives her a tour. We get EG's usual guidebook description - but this is the first and probably only HP guidebook tour of a locality's tourist spots given from a bedroom with a 360 degree view and the H and h are on a revolving circular waterbed.
The h gets through the funeral OK, and she is falling more in love when the big conflict occurs. The grandmother wrote in her will that the H has to find the god daughter and they will split her large estate only after they live in the family house together for three months. The h is wildly jealous, but the H feels it is his duty to track the GD down and fulfill the terms of the will. The h steals a jeep and then gets pulled over for going too slow and having no license. The H rescues her again, but the h is mad and throws her rings back at him.
While he is gone, the h decides to take charge of her life - she wants the H to see her as an adult, not a needy kid. She gets her GED, she learns to drive, gets accepted to college, and learns to fly small planes and helicopters.
( The H had sent men to run her ranch for her and fix things up, he tells them she can have whatever she wants, she wants flying lessons and a pilot's license as a way of remembering her army pilot dad.)
The h's aunt, with the help of the H's extremely efficient secretary, gets herself scheduled for cosmetic surgery to fix her face. When the H returns with the GD in tow, he tells the h she has to move back to his house as he needs her as his wife to save him from the now alcoholic GDOW. The H is pleased when he finds out about her schooling, but she doesn't tell him about her flying.
While the h is running his house, the H is moving all his stuff over to hers. He thinks he will have to give the OW his grandmother's house as she is being very difficult. The GDOW is very nasty to the h, but she handles her, and we find out that the H owns all these different companies that have doing things for the h. The OW decides to take the h out after the H lies and tells her the h is preggers.
The evil son the h was originally supposed to marry shows up and he and the OW drug the h with valium. Then he kidnaps her and makes her fly the helicopter. (It was far fetched, but funny. The h is flying a helicopter drugged out of her mind and making the evil son ill in the process, most of the book is a bunch of very funny exchanges between the h and various people, but especially the H.)
The h manages to run the gas tanks out, holding off the evil son OM and then crash lands the chopper. The H rescues her again, beats the evil son OM up and breaks his hand and finally sends the GDOW off with the Sheriff for trial and avows his love for the h. She avows love back and they decide to sneak out and fly off to quietly find a Justice of the Peace to really get married -- after they spend a day or so in bed and another HEA for HPlandia strikes again.
Overall this one was funny, even though the h was truly in dire circumstances and several very bad things happened. The story was full of black humor and the h worked really hard to make something of herself on her own after the H kicks the bad guys out.
It is rare in HPlandia that an h takes such initiative and even though the H rescues her a lot, she doesn't come off as helpless or pathetic. The H was bossy, but funny and it was pretty touching how he obviously went out of his way to give her the world.
Nice book, cute read and worth a few laughs if you run into it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 26, 2017
This is on many "best of" Harlequin romance lists and I can see why. It's a true May/December romance with most of the focus on heroine who has a lot of growing up to do. The hero is there in the background, quietly eating his heart out as the heroine kicks drug addiction, gets her GED, learns to fly a helicopter and attends her first year of college. Yes, that sound like a lot of plot for an HP - so I won't go into just why the 18 year-old heiress was being drugged by her relatives to control her money or what domestic problems the hero had. Suffice it to say, there was a dying grandma on a ranch, an alcoholic OW, a penthouse apartment with a rotating waterbed, and a secretary who doubled as fairy godmother to the heroine.
There's a lot going on in this story, and a lot of the reader's enjoyment will be how far they are able to suspend disbelief. I left my disbelief on the coat rack in chapter one and had a wonderful time. One of my favorite tropes is older man who finally falls in love and has to wait for the heroine. This is one of those stories. *happy sigh*
There's a lot going on in this story, and a lot of the reader's enjoyment will be how far they are able to suspend disbelief. I left my disbelief on the coat rack in chapter one and had a wonderful time. One of my favorite tropes is older man who finally falls in love and has to wait for the heroine. This is one of those stories. *happy sigh*
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 3, 2021
"Rent-A-Bride Ltd" is the story of Stacey and Harry.
The heroine lives under the thumb of her disfigured aunt (who drugs her) and creepy uncle- both of who are trying to get hands on her money by forcing her to marry his son. She meets the hero on a plane ride, who takes over her life- announcing himself to be her husband. His only request- she be his pretend bride to appease his dying grandmother. Thus begins this will-they-wont-they romance with a confused, smitten heroine and an overbearing, protective hero. There's a lot of almost sex moments, evil OW drama, family problems, kidnappings, personal success- and the book ends in a HEA. I really liked that the heroine was given a chance to grow and explore her talents- but I still think she should've made him work for it!
Enjoyed it!
Safe
3.5/5
The heroine lives under the thumb of her disfigured aunt (who drugs her) and creepy uncle- both of who are trying to get hands on her money by forcing her to marry his son. She meets the hero on a plane ride, who takes over her life- announcing himself to be her husband. His only request- she be his pretend bride to appease his dying grandmother. Thus begins this will-they-wont-they romance with a confused, smitten heroine and an overbearing, protective hero. There's a lot of almost sex moments, evil OW drama, family problems, kidnappings, personal success- and the book ends in a HEA. I really liked that the heroine was given a chance to grow and explore her talents- but I still think she should've made him work for it!
Enjoyed it!
Safe
3.5/5
July 26, 2016
I thoroughly enjoyed this lovely fantasy. Charming story of a rich oil man who befriends an 18 year old girl who has been under the evil grasping influence of her aunt and uncle since she was 14. He pretends to be her husband to rout the bad guys and then they spend the next 6 months pretending to be married whenever the other needs a back up. She is naive in a happy way although she makes a plan to become more educated and self fulfilled so that she would be a better match for him. She doesn't know how rich he is or what all he owns. She doesn't know how crazy about her he is. He has everyone in his vast organization hopping to fulfill her every whim. He is just waiting for her to grow up a little before he actually marries her. Which the reader is totally aware of but she is oblivious. She is not a doormat just a clueless young girl. She does love him though and that comes through. I could see that it was a real love while not totally mature but that regardless he would keep her indulged and pampered for her whole life. How did this woman manage to write so clearly about the silly day dreams I had as a young girl? :-) Happy, happy fluff.
June 28, 2017
What a lovely read. I would like to read more books of this kind <3
March 5, 2017
Super-funny, super-cute!
At the start, the Stacey is a helpless pawn being manipulated by her aunt and her husband. She's a young high-school dropout, heiress to an oil field, being secretly drugged out of her mind for years and prepared to be wed to her gold-digging uncle-in-law's son. She can barely function, unable to make her own decisions, being pushed around and floating on Valium.
By the end, Stacey has finished her high school education, enrolled in university, gotten her driver's license, and learned how to fly a helicopter. She's freed herself from her uncle, re-established a warm and loving relationship with her aunt, and learned how to make her own decisions. Go, girl!
This was such an enjoyable read! Harry was charming and you can't help rooting for Stacey, who's just cheerful/laughing enough to escape being annoyingly helpless. I loved how she decided to take charge of getting her life back on track and making a future for herself. Good for her!
At the start, the Stacey is a helpless pawn being manipulated by her aunt and her husband. She's a young high-school dropout, heiress to an oil field, being secretly drugged out of her mind for years and prepared to be wed to her gold-digging uncle-in-law's son. She can barely function, unable to make her own decisions, being pushed around and floating on Valium.
By the end, Stacey has finished her high school education, enrolled in university, gotten her driver's license, and learned how to fly a helicopter. She's freed herself from her uncle, re-established a warm and loving relationship with her aunt, and learned how to make her own decisions. Go, girl!
This was such an enjoyable read! Harry was charming and you can't help rooting for Stacey, who's just cheerful/laughing enough to escape being annoyingly helpless. I loved how she decided to take charge of getting her life back on track and making a future for herself. Good for her!
March 10, 2016
I was really struggling with this book and in fact super skimmed and half read it. I just wanted to get to the ending already. The plot sounded interesting but unfortunately it didn't really capture my interest. The writing just seemed so - I don't know - "Oh golly miss molly!!!", type of deal. I couldn't connect with the heroine - she did seem TSTL and the hero was alright I guess but I got turned off that he kept calling her child (as he fondles her breast lol) and she really did seem like a child and yeah she just turned 18. I felt the story was all over the place what with the heroines greedy family first then the grandmother thing then the other woman thing. The H/h romantic interactions just read and sounded awkward. And I'm also annoyed that I didn't find out how old the hero was. This book was just eh to me.
September 2, 2015
Cute story.
February 28, 2021
Adorable.
September 7, 2019
In an airplane preparing to land, Stacey sits paralyzed by fear. As soon as she arrives at the airport, she will be forced to marry her aunt’s son-in-law. Then they will be able to steal all of the property Stacey’s father left to her, and Stacey will have no means of escape. Trembling in despair, she is comforted by the man sitting next to her. His name is Harry and she detects in him the same warmth and encouragement her late father once gave her…
May 11, 2019
I've actually read this twice now, but the first time was pre-GoodReads & I don't know how long ago it was.
Second time around, I still love this book! I know some readers are annoyed by Stacey and how immature she is, but if you take into account that she had been drugged up by her aunt & the Delanos for the past two years, she was unable to grow up. Harry's character was kind of wishy-washy, I thought, but I liked him.
I think my favorite part was where she was kidnapped by George & forced to fly the helicopter- *after* being given 5 Valium & some alcohol, especially when she piloted the helicopter to her internal waltz music.
Second time around, I still love this book! I know some readers are annoyed by Stacey and how immature she is, but if you take into account that she had been drugged up by her aunt & the Delanos for the past two years, she was unable to grow up. Harry's character was kind of wishy-washy, I thought, but I liked him.
I think my favorite part was where she was kidnapped by George & forced to fly the helicopter- *after* being given 5 Valium & some alcohol, especially when she piloted the helicopter to her internal waltz music.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 26, 2019
I hate to admit how much this book had my heart pounding with anxious excitement. This story hooked me in immediately because it's based in Texas towns - all I have which literally lived in. The street, business and family names were so familiar the story read like a gossip column more than a romance novel. I will also say this book made me miss the innocence of my early 20's. . . I guess being 19 and in Waco, Tx for a summer is exciting for more girls than just Stacy, lol.
fun quick read.
fun quick read.
September 19, 2022
Gave it a neutral 3 stars because I would have loved it a whole lot more if I had been looking for fluffy, clean romance. The poor h was indeed doped out of her mind by her very evil aunt (her dad's sister), while her uncle by marriage has made her sign a power of attorney and is wanting to marry her off to his own biological son.
The H kind of holds on to her mid-flight and his poor old grannie was a lovely lady. I was glad that the OW had not been in H's life for 8 years or so. Very fluffy 18 year old h who was taken out of school at 14 and now lives on the cattle ranch she inherited as an only child - which just so happens to have hit a major oil jackpot and basically the h is a major heiress, just very naive and confused. HEA with the consummation happening off page.
The H kind of holds on to her mid-flight and his poor old grannie was a lovely lady. I was glad that the OW had not been in H's life for 8 years or so. Very fluffy 18 year old h who was taken out of school at 14 and now lives on the cattle ranch she inherited as an only child - which just so happens to have hit a major oil jackpot and basically the h is a major heiress, just very naive and confused. HEA with the consummation happening off page.
November 18, 2020
Funny, sunny and sweet as honey. This was an enjoyable and fun read. The characters in the story specially main characters were so lovable and well developed. The story was very well written and perfectly formed. I loved it and recommend it to all.
April 23, 2021
3.5 stars
March 5, 2023
Lots of fun and good characters
April 29, 2013
Where, oh where to start with this one? Take an 18-year-old heiress who is being browbeaten and drugged into submission by her aunt, add a much older man who knows everything about everything and is not afraid to admit it, mix in some down-home "Takes-Us" cowhands, and what have you got? A mess, that's what.
Stacey lost her father in Vietnam when she was 12 years old, and her aunt came to take care of her. She was forced to drop out of school at 14 (WHERE were Children's Services??)and she just stayed on the ranch, doing not much of anything except what she was told. Unknown to Stacey, she is heiress to an oil fortune which her aunt and the aunt's crooked husband are stealing from her. One day, she is sent to the big city of Waco to sign more papers at the lawyer's office (and why was she sent alone if they are trying to isolate her??), and is sitting on the plane home, dreading going back to the ranch, when lo and behold, there just happens to be, sitting next to her, a MAN who is comforting and strong. He does everything but call her “little lady”. Stacey has not been held since her father died, and she immediately falls into his arms, and tells him all her woes. He says that she is "not allowed" to be afraid any more. Well, of COURSE, Stacey obeys him, and happily agrees to pretend he is her husband so he can rescue her from her greedy relatives. And this is just the beginning.
Stacey is a perfect example of TSTL (Too Stupid To Live). The book written in 1988 and she seems never to have seen a movie or watched TV. She believes anything this man tells her without thinking twice. Or once.
The uncle is a villain straight from a silent movie…he does everything except twirl his mustache as he ties Stacey to the train tracks. In fact, this entire book is an episode of the Perils of Pauline.
On the other hand, the pages would make great fire-starters.
Stacey lost her father in Vietnam when she was 12 years old, and her aunt came to take care of her. She was forced to drop out of school at 14 (WHERE were Children's Services??)and she just stayed on the ranch, doing not much of anything except what she was told. Unknown to Stacey, she is heiress to an oil fortune which her aunt and the aunt's crooked husband are stealing from her. One day, she is sent to the big city of Waco to sign more papers at the lawyer's office (and why was she sent alone if they are trying to isolate her??), and is sitting on the plane home, dreading going back to the ranch, when lo and behold, there just happens to be, sitting next to her, a MAN who is comforting and strong. He does everything but call her “little lady”. Stacey has not been held since her father died, and she immediately falls into his arms, and tells him all her woes. He says that she is "not allowed" to be afraid any more. Well, of COURSE, Stacey obeys him, and happily agrees to pretend he is her husband so he can rescue her from her greedy relatives. And this is just the beginning.
Stacey is a perfect example of TSTL (Too Stupid To Live). The book written in 1988 and she seems never to have seen a movie or watched TV. She believes anything this man tells her without thinking twice. Or once.
The uncle is a villain straight from a silent movie…he does everything except twirl his mustache as he ties Stacey to the train tracks. In fact, this entire book is an episode of the Perils of Pauline.
On the other hand, the pages would make great fire-starters.
January 10, 2011
description
There had to be a catch...
"You're not to be afraid," the stranger on the flight from Denver reassured Stacey. And suddenly her predicament seemed less overwhelming. His warmth and strength instilled courage in her as if by osmosis.
Maybe she could stand up to the man who'd married her aunt only to discover that Stacey was the one with all the money. Perhaps she wouldn't have to marry his son, George, after all ....
Then the stranger stepped forward to meet her relatives and shocked them all--especially Stacey. "I'm Harry Marsden, " he announced "Stacey's new husband."
Because Harry Marsden had rescued her from the clutches of her unscrupulous relatives, by pretending she was married to him, Stacey felt she owed him something. But how long was her repayment to last? Because now, it seemed, Harry needed to pretend he was married, to put his beloved grandmother’s mind at rest - so why shouldn’t Stacey go on posing as his bride? Perhaps it wouldn’t have mattered so much if Stacey had not managed to fall in love with Harry - only to learn that his grandmother’s will was forcing him to spend the next three months with the glamorous Lisette Langloise....
There had to be a catch...
"You're not to be afraid," the stranger on the flight from Denver reassured Stacey. And suddenly her predicament seemed less overwhelming. His warmth and strength instilled courage in her as if by osmosis.
Maybe she could stand up to the man who'd married her aunt only to discover that Stacey was the one with all the money. Perhaps she wouldn't have to marry his son, George, after all ....
Then the stranger stepped forward to meet her relatives and shocked them all--especially Stacey. "I'm Harry Marsden, " he announced "Stacey's new husband."
Because Harry Marsden had rescued her from the clutches of her unscrupulous relatives, by pretending she was married to him, Stacey felt she owed him something. But how long was her repayment to last? Because now, it seemed, Harry needed to pretend he was married, to put his beloved grandmother’s mind at rest - so why shouldn’t Stacey go on posing as his bride? Perhaps it wouldn’t have mattered so much if Stacey had not managed to fall in love with Harry - only to learn that his grandmother’s will was forcing him to spend the next three months with the glamorous Lisette Langloise....
February 29, 2016
Ehhh... the back of the book sounded very promising. However, I put the book down I don't know how many times. When I have a good book, I don't sit them down. It's pretty much about a chance meeting between a young girl and an older man. He comes in and fixes allll the problems she has, even her drug addiction (through no real fault of her own). Most of the book goes on about her goals of going to school, becoming a pilot, etc., leading to her main goal of showing the hero that she's "all grown up". The book takes place over an entire year. They literally don't do much other than some heavy petting. They only get together in the last couple of pages. All in all, I wish I wouldn't have spent the 4 dollars on Amazon for it.
February 9, 2014
This book was a whirlwind of hot mess, it surely kept me interested but the romance? I didn't see any of it. I just felt like Sarah was overpowered by everyone who crossed her path. She pretty much was destined to do whatever she was told in spite of the lot of choices she didn't know she had. I never did figure out exactly how old Harry was as the author never gave a real indication to his age. I wish I would have gotten a lot more out of this book than what I received....*
June 18, 2016
I really liked it. A 3.5 it was nice quick read. The heroine was a little too naive. I felt it was overdone to expand the age difference. The hero was too distant and aloof. The plot was good but I wish there had been more about what he was doing with the oil on her land. A few unresolved issues to me.
June 7, 2012
ROFLMAO funny and endearing story.
April 22, 2025
I first read this when I was nine, stolen from my aunt's bookshelf. Fun fluff!
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