3.5 stars
This is a review for the second story in this anthology, A Loving Arrangement , already did a review for the first story in this book A Waiting Game in a previous post.
This was one of the earlier works of Diana Palmer when she had written as Diana Blayne back in the day. It was kind of funny because this book definitely showed off of its age of back in the day with it mentions of typewriters, which wasn’t a bad thing but definitely made me chuckle a little bit. So the story was a bit dated, but it didn’t bother me.
This story had that classic Diana Palmer feel, yet it was a bit different too. For one, Abby isn’t a virgin, which isn’t a typical Diana Palmer heroine, and had in fact been married before, which was a disaster being her ex was a selfish idiot only concerned with his pleasure and not hers and made her feel sexual insecure by calling her frigid. If that wasn’t bad enough, her ex cheated on and blaming Abby for doing so because she wasn’t pleasing him in the bedroom. And from what I inferred that he was verbally abusive towards her.
And that wasn’t the only unsatisfying experience she had with men. There was another one too, and it was the relationship that really bothered me and was the reason that I gave this story a lower rating than typical of Diana Palmer. The other guy that she got involved with was married, supposedly a loveless one but married nonetheless, and Abby knew that when she got involved with him and intended to have an affair with him. They were even caught by the wife. It would have been one thing if the guy lied to her and she didn’t know about it, but the fact that she did just left a sour taste in my mouth, and I wish it wasn’t included at all. My biggest pet peeve in romance is cheating and especially when it’s done by the main character or characters. That’s a big no-no, and if they lie about being married then have an affair then that’s even worse. That wasn’t case this one, but she went into the affair with her eyes opened. Before they could consummate their affair, they were interrupted by the wife so she was never physical with him even if she intended to be. So like most Diana Palmer heroine’s, Abby was pretty innocent and naive about the ways of physical pleasure and intimate relationships. And like most Diana Palmer the hero, Grey was the one to teach Abby the joys of physical intimacy and loving.
If the cheating part wasn’t in the story, it would have been so much better because everything else was really good. There were moments of angst and tension between the couple before they finally succumbed to their attraction for one another. They had a backstory to their relationship before they even got together with Abby being Grey’s longtime secretary so they had a chance to develop a report and some type of friendship. They kept their relationship professional until the threat of the married man that she had an affair with was coming into town and was scared of her reaction to him. So, Grey offered his protection of Abby by pretending to be in a romantic relationship together and that was when sparks flew on both ends.
Their passionate scenes were sensual yet very sexy. Their kisses were smoking hot and I could feel the heat coming off the pages as their connection continued to grow and grow both physically and emotionally. I liked seeing her able to feel passion and desire for Grey when she believed she was incapable of doing, but how wrong she was. There was just that spark between them that carried through most of the book from kisses to touches to their first time together. That first time scene was very steamy, which was kind of ironic because it stared off in the bathtub. It just showed how much of passionate connection that they had and how deep feelings ran on both sides.
I loved Grey. He had some of those typical alpha male traits that I so enjoying reading about, but he wasn’t over the top and was a little bit tamer than I thought he would be. It was very clear that he had feelings for Abby and had for awhile but didn’t know how to proceed and get closer to her in that way. I loved how protective he was of Abby and how he used the situation to his advantage so he could get closer and develop a relationship with her. He had moments of being a jerk, but there weren’t too many of them and I could easily overlook them because I understood where he was coming from and trying to hide his feelings for Abby and not wanting to get hurt in case she didn’t return his feelings. He had his sweet moments too though.
Overall this was a quick and easy read. It had some of the typical Diana Palmer flair that I loved and wished there was more of that in the story. I didn’t appreciate the whole being involved with a married man and knowing about it. It just left a really bad taste in my mouth and diminished the story for me. I couldn’t get behind Abby because of that. I get people make mistakes and all, but in my romance cheating doesn’t belong there. So, that was really a turn off for me from the very beginning. If that wasn’t included in the story then I would have a totally different opinion on it and would have probably really loved it. Everything else was fine but that. That was just a big red flag for me. It just bothered me a lot. Otherwise it was good. I did like Grey and Abby together and the passions scenes that they had in the book and their connection was good. They might not have been my favorite Diana Palmer couple, but they made do. I had no problem with them as a couple and I enjoyed them as a couple I just didn’t agree with everything in the book and that was my biggest problem with it.