The Nesting Instinct

The Reluctant Grooms #4

by Elizabeth August

"At 27, Meg Delany was quickly approaching spinsterhood - according to eberyone in her small Midwestern town. The gossip didn't bother her, but she still felt plagued by the nesting instinct... Marriage-shy Zeke Wilson would do anything to avoid going down the aisle, but if that was the only way he'd get heirs to his prosperous farm, then maybe he'd have to turn in his bachelor shoes... Everything was fine - until Meg began to fall in love with a man who thought love was nothing but trouble..."

Genres: Romance, Marriage Of Convenience, Contemporary Romance

224 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1990

About the author

Betty Marie Wilhite had always wanted to write. She married Doug, and they had three boys, the first was Douglas Jr., four years later Benjamin, and nine years later the last, Matthew. The family lived in Wilmington, Delaware. She began writing romances soon after Matthew was born. She wrote under the pseudonyms of Betsy Page, Elizabeth Douglas, Elizabeth August and Kathleen Ward.

Reviews

[Erica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Someone gave me this as a joke, and I accidentally read it all in one sitting. Not as steamy as the cover suggests, not the worst way to spend a morning. I learned a thing or two about "reluctant grooms" and how to win them over.

[Fabiola GR · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was first published as part of the Here Come the Grooms series, and then re-issued as part of the Reluctant Grooms series.
I thought that the bride was the (very) reluctant one.

The plot itself - a marriage of convenience - is a fairly common theme in the romance novels' world, with the caveat though that here the hero is a farmer, while the heroine is an English teacher. No tycoons or billionaires, which I was happy with and thought would make for a good read.

The first chapters start out a bit cringe-worthy, with the heroine constantly chiding herself to stop thinking about the hero and sort of resenting him for not showing interest in her - cool off, lady! Everyone in town knows you're dating someone else seriously, and even the hero believes you will be engaged soon!

Fortunately,
toward the middle of the book, chapter 5 or so, the heroine seems to put herself together and finally recognize that her relationship with the OM wasn't going anywhere.
After just a week of being in contact with the hero (way too soon? If felt more like 2, 3 weeks of them "meeting up everyday", but the book clearly says "only one week had passed"), she hastily in lust accepts his proposal of marriage.

Unfortunately,
the heroine soon goes back to "schooling her face", "warning herself curtly", "chiding herself" and "telling herself tersely", basically chastising herself for wishing the hero would be able to fall in love with her at every couple of paragraphs through the remainder of the book... Without these, the book would be half as long.
I know I have a tendency of second-guessing myself a lot, but Lord was this annoying and repetitive!!

The only times this inner voice would shut up was apparently in the scenes not described in the book...
This made me dislike the heroine so much and not really enjoy the book as I would normally would.
She makes the hero seem like a cold bastard who isn't willing to open his heart to her, yet I thought he was always very upfront, honest when talked to and, yes, very open to treating her as a real wife. He even honestly admitted he felt a bit intimidated by her when he proposed.

I just don't understand why some heroines put themselves in a MOC situation and then keep fretting that the fiance/ husband isn't treating them all romantically from the get go, even when they themselves aren't in love yet.

I also thought that Kate, the heroine's mom, was actually a fair level-headed woman, but for some reason it seemed the author suddenly decided to turn her into a more aloof and idiotic character than she started out to be, just so that the heroine could shine brighter.

Another bizarre fact for me was that the hero was actually illiterate, even though he went on and off to school for 10 (TEN) years. I find that highly unlikely.

At the end of the book, the feeling is that she really never trusted her husband, also one of the main foundations of marriage and love, in my opinion.
After so many doubts and second-guessings, her immediate acceptance of his confession in the final scene and their HEA doesn't ring true.
I'm sure new doubts will arise in her head in the very next opportunity.

[Readitnweep · Rating 5 out of 5]

I owned a copy of this in the 1990s and read and enjoyed it several times then. Thanks to the kind folks at the Goodreads group Whats the Title of That Book, I once again had the title and immediately purchased a second copy.

I liked both main characters; their situation made sense and I was glad they hadn’t allowed the protagonist to cause the climax. They came to the resolution alone.

Good pacing and just enough romance without anything graphic, which I appreciate.

Really enjoyed this and will again.

[PAINTED BOX]

At twenty-seven, schoolteacher Meg Delany was quickly approaching spinsterhood in the opinion of everyone in her small mid-western town. The gossip didn't bother her, but she still felt plagued by that nesting instinct... and that's where Zeke Wilson came in.

Zeke, a brawny, headstrong farmer had been acquainted with Meg for years. He'd needed her help in a confidential matter... and he ended up proposing marriage. It was the most practical solution. She wanted a home and children: he wanted heirs for his prosperous farm.

Meg agreed with Zeke's logic, so they married. Everything was fine - until she began to fall in love with a man who thought love was nothing; but trouble...