Make-Believe Engagement

Make Believe Engagement by Day Leclaire Harlequin Romance # 3404 - April 1997 Brides Bay Resort Taylor's desperate. She needs information on Bride's Bay Resort - confidential information. If she doesn't compile a thorough report, she will fail her father once again. And she'll never earn the vice presidency of her father's company. JT is perfect. He's a former islander and has connections to the owners of the resort. So Taylor hires him to pose as her fiancée and help her get the information she needs. JT has his own agenda. He doesn't tell Taylor that he has a personal stake in feeding her false information. He wants her to fail because that means her father will lose, and JT wants revenge. The whole charade is backfiring. Taylor can't seem to keep focused on business, as JT is just too tempting, especially when he's in fiancé mode. JT finds that there's a lot to Taylor that she's kept frozen, and he needs to show her that there is so much living that she's been missing. This was a lovely, emotional story. Even though a mere 185 pages, Ms. Leclaire manages to make Taylor and JT very complete characters. Their emotional struggles make this a very gripping read. Brides Bay Resort - Multi-line and Multi-author series Matchmaking Baby by Cathy Gillen Thacker - HAR-613 - January 1996 Indiscretions by Robyn Donald - HP-1794 - February 1996 Love and Lies by Dawn Stewardson - HI-363 - March 1996 Make Believe Engagement by Day Leclair - HR-3404 - April 1996 Stranger in the Night by Roseanne Williams - HT-588 - May 1996 Married to a Stranger by Connie Bennett - HS-695 - June 1996 Dulcie's Gift by Ruth Langan - HH-324 - July 1996

Well obviously, I liked this book better than the previous reviewer. Yes, the hero is tough on the heroine - he doesn't trust her, and he has good reason. Her father is a notoriously ruthless businessman and she's there as his representative, perhaps with development plans that might ruin this island paradise. And she's apparently willing to resort to deception to get what she wants - after all, she just hired him as her fake fiancee! So the hero is left to determine if she's really as wonderful as she seems to be or if she's just using him and playing games to get the information she wants ... meanwhile the heroine has no idea just who she's hired to play her fiancee, or why he may have agreed to participate in her plans ... Not the best book I've read by Day Leclaire, but certainly worthy of four stars. Description from the book back cover: Husband for hire! Taylor Daniels wanted to be vice-president of her father's firm. She'd do anything to get there. Even hire a fiancee. Luckily fate arrived in the form of J.T. Richmond. The man was perfect - tall, dark, attractive - and it seemed he was prepared to do anything for money! J.T. Richmond knew that the notorious Daniels Corporation meant trouble! Well, he was going to stick pretty close to Taylor ... and she'd offered him the ideal way to do it. But had J.T. said 'I do' to a perfect stranger only to find he wanted more than a make-believe bride? Excerpt from the book: "JT broke the kiss but made no effort to move. As awkward as the situation would soon be, he had to see Taylor's expression when awareness returned, to look into her eyes with all the barriers down. In that brief moment he'd learn the truth. Learn whether he held a woman in his arms or a corporate puppet. He'd know if her feelings were real - or by design. Her lashes fluttered and she blinked up at him. In that instant he had his answer. Raw passion blazed within her black eyes, naked and undeniable and scalding hot. And all he could think about was protecting her from his uncle's knowing gaze ..."