Bitter Deception

For me romance novels have a few standards of measure. I enjoy it when the heroine does not have to compromise who she is to get the man in the end, in this book, Sophie, a journalist for a popular magazine (think like People) remains herself until the end. The hero needs a little more than tall dark and handsome. Fabien--has only a little more, he is french, titled and tortured. So we get the added random French catch phrases, the brooding looks and scars from a past accident. The past is key for this as Sophie is trying to figure out a pivotal moment in Fabien's past. Westwood does a good job of pulling the past into the present narrative. What she also does exceedingly well is introducing and maintaining constant tension between the two characters. There are also a nice array of supporting characters (mostly cultivated from Fabien's side of the story, and a few aren't entirely explained as well as I would have liked it). This also has a nice PG-13 rating.