YOU KNOW, HAPPY WIFE, HAPPY LIFE
The story is book number twelve in the series and could read well as a stand-alone. Unlike most of the stories in this series, none of it takes place at The Eros Pit, BDSM club. The story will revolve around a Scottish cousin to the Ryan family, Jasper Campbell, and a woman he meets that is there to clean his home, but he catches her helping herself to some of his cash.
Freya, and her toddler daughter, Maddie, are on the run from an ex who has nearly killed her, beating her up, and she knows if he finds her, she will be dead. She has changed their last name, picks up cash jobs, and leaves in a flea-bag motel. She keeps her daughter fed, but Freya barely has anything to eat herself and is only existing.
Jasper Campbell is a wealthy man with more money than he could ever spend in a lifetime. When he walks in on Freya taking money from his money clip he asks her, “So. Do you want to call the police or should I, lass?” But what will he do when she shocks him by kissing him?
Jasper: I’ll make you a proposition.
Freya: I don’t know who you think I am, but I won’t sleep with you.
Jasper: I have something else in mind.
Freya: Like?
Jasper: Marry me. It’ll be in name only, of course. Because, lass, it’s clear that you need money. I’ve got plenty. I’ll give you the money you need for your daughter and the protection of my name.
Freya: You’re crazy. You don’t even know me.
Jasper: I know you’re running from something or someone. Tell me, who’s after you?
Freya: My ex. He’ll hurt us if he finds us. Why are you doing this?
Jasper: To claim my inheritance from my grandfather, I need a wife. It’s a stipulation in his will. I have to be married for one year to inherit what the old bugger left me.
The story is edgy, with mystery, romantic suspense, and danger. It begins as a fake relationship that changes with plenty of angst, a touch of deceit, and some intense moments. The chemistry is definitely there between Jasper and Freya. He doesn’t believe he is capable of giving or receiving love, but Freya and her daughter, Maddie, get under his skin. He shows her another world that wealth and protection can buy.
The story has the good, the bad, and the ugly in people. You have to admire Freya for protecting her daughter and placing her above her own welfare. Jasper is a man who is used to dominating submissives at the club and doesn’t believe he will find love, but in many ways is a big teddy bear, at least when it comes to Maddie and even Freya. When she learns about BDSM, she isn’t repulsed, quite the opposite.
For the most part, I liked them as a couple but felt the ‘daddy’ talk was a buzzkill, unrealistic, and did not feel right in this story or the characters. It took this story from a 5 to a 1 immediately. It was so cliché copycat of so many stories and for me, absolutely ruined the connection. I seriously stopped reading and considered forgoing the rest of the story but really wanted to see how it would end, so picked the book back up. In the end, the story did find resolution and even happiness.