THE SICILIAN'S WIFE

Author: Kate Walker ISBN:0373123396 8/2003 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: HARLEQUIN PRESENTS

He gave her marriage--but not his love! Marriage to Cesare Santorino is all Megan has ever wanted, although never like this! She's in deep trouble and, with no other choice, agrees to Cesare's offer of a mutually beneficial, convenient marriage. Cesare makes no secret of his attraction to her. But what about love? Megan can only hope that her proud Sicilian husband might eventually come to see his young wife with more than just passion...

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

I admit it. I'm not one who normally reads Harlequin romances. For one, I tend to read stories that take at least 380 pages or longer to tell. For another, I always thought that Harlequin romance books were "sexless"--not that I haven't read books I thought were wonderful that had no explicit sex scenes or smoldering sexual tension--but for my taste I prefer a little bit of spice in my stories. Well, let me tell you, my notions of just what a Harlequin romance novel is has vastly changed, thanks to the Harlequin Presents line and an author named Kate Walker.

The plot in THE SICILIAN'S WIFE isn't new: an unmarried young woman, rebuffed by the love of her life--dark, handsome and totally alpha Cesare Santorino--thinks herself pregnant, husband/boyfriendless, and finds herself unsure of where to go from there. Back into her life steps Cesare, with a proposition for marriage she can't refuse. It's what happens after the marriage, and how Cesare and Megan struggle to define their relationship, that fills the majority of the book in this well-crafted, sensual story.

Kate Walker definitely has a way with words. Her writing flowed flawlessly from one page to the next, without a single breach in the rhythm. (Why she's not writing longer stories, I have no idea). I also enjoyed the way the story was told, mostly from Cesare's perspective. Usually it's the woman's thoughts and actions that take up most of the paragraphs, but this time it was the other way around. A character driven story, the only real flaw I found was in Megan. With Cesare being such a forceful and dynamic presence, she seemed just a bit too tame and helpless to suit his character. However, there was enough flowing prose, good dialogue, and sex scenes (yes, those too!) to carry me over any rough spots I had in dealing with Megan's character.

Yes, I truly enjoyed this book and have no qualms whatsoever on recommending it to others. Thanks to Kate Walker and her special way with words, my previous notion of just how long, or from what publisher, a truly "good book" has to be, has just been blown to bits.

Nancy Davis