Category: Romance Publisher: Kathy L Wheeler
Pages: 231
Copyright: Oct 3, 2014
ISBN-13: 9780989279642
Price: $4.99 (eBook)
A modern day woman marries for convenience to protect the identity of her daughter.
Would a modern day woman marry for convenience to protect the identity of her daughter?Yes! But, Kelly Mancer doesn’t want a man. Any man. But danger has a way of changing a woman’s mind.
Alex Gentry needs Kelly Mancer, but convincing her to help him pursue a dangerous enemy who’s enamored his younger sister would not be easy.Soon the tables turn and Kelly becomes the prey. Alex may save his sister, but at what cost?
Excerpt
She slid under the water to rinse the conditioner from her tangled hair. Let the heat seep into her sore muscles. She stayed under until she was forced to rise for air.
“Comfortable?”
“What the f…”
“Uh- uh-uh,” Alex reprimanded, wagging a finger.
She sputtered water. “Where’s Taylor?”
“Happily, cleaning the kitchen, on her own.” He grinned, turning her insides to mush.
“You bribed her?”
“Of course not. I told you, she’s happy to do it.” Alex sat on the closed seat of the toilet, legs stretched before him crossed at the ankles, arms folded, holding a piece of paper.
“You should respect my privacy.”
“I am. I’m sitting over here, aren’t I? When I’d rather be in there.” He pointed. “With you. Besides, I brought you more coffee.”
“You did?” She’d forgive him anything for that. Her irritation shifted to gratitude.
Alex handed over a new cup to her outstretched hand. One glance, showed he’d doctored it. His eyes, burning with heat, never lifted from the water.
“Did you want something, barging in here?” She eyed the paper he held warily.
He looked up quickly, clearing his throat. “Oh, yes. I…I wanted to ask if you were all right?”
“I’m fine,” she said. “Thank you for asking.”
“And I want to talk to you about Eck—”
“We don’t have to talk about sex.”
“Sex?” he echoed. Alex shook his head, drawing a quick smile from her. Apparently, he’d been as affected as she. “No, I want to talk about Eckert.”
“Now?”
“Can you think of a better time?” He leaned forward and dropped a kiss on her lips. “You’re naked, warm.”
Her cheeks flamed. “What’s that in your hand?”
“This?” Alex waved the paper in the air. “Colorado marriage requirements. I just printed them. Off Colorado’s state site.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she snapped. “We are not getting married. I told you last night, we could just say we did it back then.”
“Did it?” he repeated, narrowing his eyes on her.
That bland tone might land him in the lake, she fumed. Or the creek. One hardly mattered over the other.
“Kelly, think of Taylor. If Eckert saw you with her, he might put the timeline together. Maybe demand a DNA test. If we were married, no one would question anything. No one has to know we just made the union legal. People will think what we want them to think. Even that bastard. Better yet, Taylor can’t slip up and say we aren’t.”
Damn it, he had a point. She narrowed her eyes on him. “What makes you think I’ll see Eckert? You said there wasn’t any chance.”
“Just in case,” he hedged.
Kelly stopped as his words penetrated. “Are you telling me . . .” The need to think was overcome by the onslaught of a panic attack. Her chest constricted limiting her ability to breathe. “There’s a chance…You’re telling her there’s chance I’ll see¬—” She couldn’t even say his name, at this point. She’d kill Alex. But first she’d marry the son of a bitch and take him for everything he owned.
Professional Reviews
Great read
This was the third book in the Bloomington series, and my favorite of all. Alex is trying to figure out how to keep Kelly in his life, but he hadn't counted on five year old Taylor. There is nothing funnier than a grown man going head to head with a kid, who he knows he has to win over. This book has it all, romance, drama, and suspense.
Suspense works well
In the third book of this series, Alex lures Kelly into a scheme to find her old boss, who served time for financial wrongdoings and who has seduced Alex's young sister now that he's out. Kelly, mom to a young girl, Taylor, needs money and agrees to help Alex for a price. As the situation progresses, Alex finds himself falling for Kelly, as he did many years before, and for her daughter, a spunky youngster. When her former boss puts Kelly in danger, Alex is tormented with quilt and must find her. The suspense angle in this story works well and adds to the romance. The relationship between Alex and charming little Taylor strikes a realistic and warm tone, which elevates this romantic suspense into an engaging story.
This contemporary romance novel has more than a touch of suspense
This contemporary romance novel has more than a touch of suspense which helps move the romance along. Kathy Wheeler is very talented and has a fresh approach to writing. The lead characters both tell lies that bind them together, lies that split them apart, and lies that bring danger into their lives. A precocious five-year old girl sometimes steals the stage, but she also brings to the book a reprieve from too much tension. Because of the intertwining of the romance and the suspense, the book is a real page-turner.
