Fairly predictable, but entertaining read.

No supernatural echoes in this one, this is a straightforward contemporary romance with occasional humourous moments about a bad western poet. There's some minor tension in the story but overall it's pretty predictable. The story of a couple who work together and decide to marry, more for convenience than real love and discover love along the way has elements that wouldn't work in a story written today, but it's not a bad example of the time and place of story.

The banter about the bad poetry moved this story from 3 star up half a star.

Not one of her best but not the worst, a typical romance of it's time that I found quite readable. ( )

Badly burned in a whirlwind romance, Amber Langley has no desire for a passionate romance, so when her comfortable, somewhat staid boss proposes, she says yes. But life with Cormick Grayson turns out to be a lot more exciting than Amber bargained for - turns out passion, with the right man, can provide just the right amount of fire.

Bad western poetry, an ex that won't give up, and of course, a hero with hidden depths - classic Krentz. ( )

I'm not sure why, but I really like marriage of convenience stories, especially when they provide time in the story for the characters to develop a relationship and get to know and care for each other. The sexual politics were a little old-fashioned at times ("conjugal duties") but it was written 25 years ago and is less regressive than some of the stuff I see on tv now.

Anyway, it's surprisingly sweet and generally funny thanks to the banter about cowboy poetry that runs throughout.

I liked both characters and I liked that while Grayson knew he wanted to be with Amber early on, he respected her boundaries and went out of his way not to make her feel pressured or coerced. I also liked how they expressed their needs and desires and listened to each other (except for the "suspense" thing at the end... but that whole plot point was kind of goofy).

Overall, if you're interested in JAK's early works, this would be a good one to start with. ( )

This is undoubtedly a flea-market find--I can't imagine any other reason I'd have had it. I generally enjoy Krentz's work, just not enough to go searching out her backlist.

Cormick Grayson has fallen in love with his assistant Amber Langley, but he knows she's sworn off relationships--passionate ones, anyway--so he proposes a marriage of convenience, thinking he can bring her around.

When it's plausible, I really enjoy the marriage of convenience plot device. But this one wasn't really plausible. The overt reasoning seemed to be more "why not?" and Gray's private reasoning was insultingly patronizing: he wanted to be "in possession" when Amber's sexuality reawakened.

Ignoring the premise, the budding relationship between the two was fun to read--going from friendly boss and employee to lovers, with lots of friendly banter, much of it centering on the truly bad western poet Gray studies as a hobby.

There were some fun lines, some romantic and even poignant scenes, but I just couldn't get past the premise and the paternalism. ( )

Irritating hero. ( )