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| Sexy, romantic cover |
+++++
One of my local libraries recently had a romance author program of which Lee took part. Wanting to support the program, and the library staff who put it together, I attended and ended up purchasing one of Lee's single titles while there. I knew I had several of her Desires languishing in my TBR, and decided this first book in her Heirs of Hansol series was the place to start.
This book features the kind of preposterous plot that I tend to gobble up in category romance - the modern day marriage of convenience. Garrett Song is very close to being named the new CEO of his family's fashion empire, that is until his very traditional (and domineering) grandmother lowers the boom on him - she's arranged a marriage for him. To a woman he's never met. The selling point for Granny being that the family is the equivalent of "old money" in Korean society and her grandson needs a wife. Garrett has been bristling against tradition and family expectations his entire life and is not about to go quietly. He immediately tells Granny he can't marry her chosen bride because, well, he's already engaged to the love his life. One minor problem with that - Garrett isn't engaged, let alone believes in love or wants to get married. He needs a temporary wife and fast - but where will he find a woman desperate (and crazy) enough to accept this proposal?
Turns out he doesn't have to look far. Natalie Sobol works in Hansol's HR department. She worked with Garrett briefly on an interim basis while he was stationed in New York and she's been in Los Angeles - but now Garrett is in LA and she gets an up close and personal view of how desperately good-looking he is. But she's determined to swallow her hormones as she's gunning for a promotion that would take her to the New York office. She needs the bump in salary and the New York home base to secure the adoption of her orphaned niece. The child's grandparents live in New York and Natalie thinks if she's also in New York they'll stop contesting the adoption. Besides the fact she has to be offered that promotion is that a husband would help her cause tremendously - showing the courts she could provide her niece with a loving, stable, two-parent home.
We all know where this is going. Garrett proposes a temporary marriage to solve both of their problems. Of course it doesn't take long for the feelings to become all too real given the scorching chemistry pinging off both of them from the jump. These two are desperately attracted to each other, and as they pretend their way through a fake engagement, walk down the aisle, and create a happy home, they both fall hard and fast. Of course getting Garrett to admit his feelings, out loud, when he's emotionally adverse is ultimately what propels the reader to the Black Moment.
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| Ugh, I hate it |
That said, the hero being closed off emotionally is what leads us to the Black Moment and Third Act Break-Up. He's one of those guys that instead of just saying "I love you, let's stay married" buys the heroine a pair of earrings and thinks she'll infer what he means 🙄. That said, it does make for a decent grovel and declaration of twu wuv at the end. I also felt the pacing was a little off at times - like the author didn't fully stick the landing on some of the story's beats. Desires are short (around 200 pages) and sometimes that necessitates shortcuts, like a jump in the timeline. These weren't horribly executed here, but they could have been better blended at times.
All that said, this was an enjoyable read that I started and finished before my bedtime. Desire as a line is dead (RIP) but I'll read more Lee.
Final Grade = B-
7 comments:
The story sounds good, with the bananapants premise just plausible enough in its many compounding complications. However, no fucking way would I buy it with that cartoon cover. Holy gods, that's hideous. Like not just bad, but hideous.
First, I absolutely agree about the cover.
Second, I read this back when it came out (because I saw the cover and said "I MUST HAVE THIS BOOK") and thought it delightful…but the single-title book by Lee I read did NOT work for me AT ALL. (It was A Sweet Mess and should have been titled A Hot Mess.) That was a few years ago and I've avoided her single-title stuff since then, but maybe she has newer ones that are less rage-inducing.
All of which is to say: what single-title did you get, and does it look good?
AL: That's it exactly. There's an underlying plausibility to the bananapants that really makes it work. And that cartoon cover just KILLS me because, hello - the original cover is AMAZING!
Holly: Ha! Well turns out I bought Booked On a Feeling - which is apparently the third book in the Sweet Mess series 😂. When I attend author events I always make a point to purchase at least one book - something for the author taking the time, especially for library events which they often do for free or for a very small honorarium. This one features a lawyer heroine taking a sabbatical after passing out from a panic attack at work and returning home to reunite with her childhood friend, the hero. He's, of course, been carrying a torch.
Ugh! Not only butt-ugly but also white-washes. 🤬
This one sounds fun, I'll pop it on Mt. TBR.
Willaful: Yeah, it's terrible. Lee's single titles feature illustrated covers so I'm sure Harlequin was looking to capitalize on that - but ugh. We need a book without a cartoon cover to start dominating sales so publishers head down the copy cat road - although I'm beginning to think it won't happen. I suspect the cartoon covers are cheaper to produce and here we are 🙃
Sorta off topic (only sorta - I have this entire series, in original Desire form, on my Mount TBR) but what happened to the Desire Line? I should've seen the writing on the wall these last couple of months when all the print versions were doubles but the end still came as a surprise. There doesn't appear to be a comparable new line to take its place?
Feel free to point me in the right direction if this lands on your "let me google that for you" pile, LOL.
Eurohackie: I don't know how comparable it is as I haven't read any yet - but Desire got killed and in it's place sprang up Afterglow - which come out in trade paperback and retail for $12.99. On top of that, right now that line only releases 2 books / month. Oh, and they're around 250 pages.
Thanks, hate it already.
Also, this is wild speculation and I have absolutely no confirmation - but I've heard that part of the demise is because of Walmart (sales? shelving availability? the fact that cartoon covers aren't remotely sexy and Walmart are bunch of prudes?). I suspect it has more to do with the higher mark-up on trade paperback and publishers making more money off of them. Either way, it's probably a little of both.
It makes me sad. Desire was the first category romance line I ever read and an early favorite.
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