MARRIAGE: FOR BUSINESS OR PLEASURE?

Author: Nicola Marsh ISBN: 9780373128983 2/2010 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: HARLEQUIN

Wedlocked: Rogue Billionaire, Contract Wife Brittany Lloyd faces the deal of a lifetime..with an ex who broke her heart-Italian tycoon Nick Mancini. Little does she know that her rebellious bad boy is now a multi-millionaire… Nick can't believe his eyes! His red-haired wildcat is now a businesswoman, with designer suits to match. She needs his help… and he wants her. So he proposes a convenient marriage-strictly business, of course! But wickedly sexy Nick is planning a red-hot wedding night to remember: there's nothing on his agenda but pure pleasure!

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Nicola Marsh sets her contemporary romance MARRIAGE: FOR BUSINESS OR PLEASURE? in the area of Noosa on the Queensland coast of Australia, where Brittany Lloyd, a high powered ad executive, returns from London after a ten year absence. She’s not looking forward to a reunion with her malevolent father, but knows she must. In order to grab the brass ring—a shot at Managing Director—Brit needs to pull off an amazing campaign for a sugar plantation in the United States. She arrives, hoping to make a business proposal to her ex bad-boy boyfriend’s father to use his sugar plantation to set up the photo shoots. Imagine her surprise when she finds out her ex-boyfriend is no longer a bad boy, but since his father’s death has become a multimillionaire hotel tycoon.

Nick Mancini has a business proposal of his own: he needs to look even more respectable to his investors, and that means getting married. He offers to let her use the plantation, if, and only if, she marries him long enough to get his investors on board. Will she compromise for a marriage of convenience with the only man she’s ever truly loved?

Marsh is a master at expressing emotions. Nick hates that he hurt Brit all those years ago, but he’s also glad to be done with his “wrong side of the tracks image.” Brit loathes her father and his maniacal control over her as a teenager. She’s hiding behind an ice queen veneer in order to protect her heart from men like her father. Marsh beautifully decorates her idyllic beach resort setting with fantasy rooms in Nick’s hotel, and one of them has never been occupied—the one he designed in answer to Brit’s youthful daydreams. When she finally wins her coveted spot at work, where will that leave her quasi-relationship with Nick, now that they are finally reconnecting?

The brutal realities of Brit’s emotional and physical abuse by her father are offset by the tender re-awakening of love and desire between Nick and Brittany. So many emotional landscapes are covered in this way too short story. I would love a longer version exploring more of Noosa, Nick, and Brittany.

Though MARRIAGE: FOR BUSINESS OR PLEASURE? is a fairly quick read, it really packs an emotional punch and my tears came often as I experienced Nick and Brittany’s passion and pain.

Susan Barton