This is undoubtedly a flea-market find--I can't imagine any other reason I'd have had it. I generally enjoy Krentz's work, just not enough to go searching out her backlist.

Cormick Grayson has fallen in love with his assistant Amber Langley, but he knows she's sworn off relationships--passionate ones, anyway--so he proposes a marriage of convenience, thinking he can bring her around.

When it's plausible, I really enjoy the marriage of convenience plot device. But this one wasn't really plausible. The overt reasoning seemed to be more "why not?" and Gray's private reasoning was insultingly patronizing: he wanted to be "in possession" when Amber's sexuality reawakened.

Ignoring the premise, the budding relationship between the two was fun to read--going from friendly boss and employee to lovers, with lots of friendly banter, much of it centering on the truly bad western poet Gray studies as a hobby.

There were some fun lines, some romantic and even poignant scenes, but I just couldn't get past the premise and the paternalism. ( )

Irritating hero. ( )