The Bride That Wouldn't

The Bride That Wouldn't by Carol Marinelli

When Kate Edwards was told that Isaak Zaretsky wanted to speak with her she knew it wasn't to offer condolences for the loss of her fiance and close friend.  No, she knew he would want back the million dollars Ivor had given her as part of their marriage contract.  She figured he would also want answers as to why she had been planning to marry his elderly uncle in the first place.  What she didn't expect was for him to suggest taking Ivor's place in the contract and marry her himself.  Too bad he didn't read the fine print, because she has no plans on actually consummating the marriage.

Issak Zaretsky is a rich, international playboy, who is growing tired of the scandals that seem to follow his family.  Upon the discovery that his beloved uncle had actually contracted a multi-million dollar sham marriage just prior to his death, he tracks down the harlot with the intent of finding out what spell she had over the savvy old man.  However, his plans take a turn when he realizes that there is more to Kate than meets the eye.  Quickly he sees both a way to take the public eye off of his brother's recent scandal and give himself a reprieve from the lifestyle he is finding more and more tedious.  But the more he gets to know Kate, the more he realizes that he wants to renegotiate the contract.

I have always been biased toward Russian heroes.  Ever since I was a teenager I have thought that Russian men were the height of macho.  Reading this book brought back so many memories of reading Harlequin Presents in college and drooling over the Russian Gymnastics Team at the Olympics (yes, I had a crush on Alexei Nemov...who didn't).

I found the premise of the story surprisingly believable, and quite endearing.  The characters face problems that most people can understand.  It makes it very easy to sympathize with them when the conflicts are relateable, even if the characters are not (who's going to relate to a rich Russian playboy?).

The love scenes are steamy, there is a bit of colorful language, and the fight scenes are volatile and highly emotional.  In fact, my favorite scenes were the ones where the emotions were flying.

Overall, the story is excellent and the series is well set for a great continuation.

Ratings:

(1=unacceptable, 2=poor, 3=acceptable, 4=good, 5=excellent)

Continuity/Flow – 5

Sex – 4 

Language – 4

Storyline – 5

Overall – 5