Harlequin American Romance #655: Marrying Nicky

If you've read a lot of romances, you already know this plot: Hero marries heroine so he can stay in the US, then they discover that they actually love each other madly, just as the evil INS agents descend. BUT . . . This book has several things going for it that keep it from being quite as cliched as it might be. First of all, they're both college professors, an unusual premise for a Harlequin. Second, Nicky, our hero, is passionate about his work in environmental sciences, and about '70's sitcoms. He also has a well-hidden poetic streak. And the INS agents aren't so bad either. On the irritating side, the hero and his daughter have escaped from the fictitious country of Byelukrania, whose culture appears to be an unlikely mix of all that is worst about the Arab world with all that was worst about Soviet Russia. And the hero's daughter, Anya, is a second-grader who talks like a sixteen-year-old in therapy. And everybody lies a lot, in pursuit of their various goals. This is, all in all, a moderately good story. But to see this plot done better, check out M. J. Rodgers' "Gift-Wrapped Groom."