Things To Do Before You Die novel
by Nina Croft
Synopsis
Security Company CEO Josh Slater put his life on hold when he said “I do” to protect a stranger. While his marriage was never meant to be real—he hasn’t even seen his wife in five years—Josh can’t shake the idea that he’d be cheating if he moves on. Now he’s a man with a mission: chase down his “wife,” get an annulment, and finally indulge in a little no-strings sex.
Heiress Alexia Slater entered into a marriage of convenience straight out of high school to gain control of her inheritance before her not-so loving family squandered the whole thing. She doesn’t want the marriage to be real—she’s fought hard for her independence—but that hasn’t stopped her from spending the last five years fantasizing about her gorgeous husband.
Then he shows up.
Josh wants an annulment. Lexi needs to stay married. When the chemistry explodes between them, there’s no stopping the battle of wills only one of them can win…
I had forgotten about this little gem in my NetGalley account (Yes, I have a lot that I've requested...). I thought this book was well-written, and I ended up enjoying both the heroine and hero.
Lexi and Josh have been married now for 5 years - except they're mostly complete strangers to each other. Theirs is a marriage of convenience because Lexi needed to get married quick to someone that wouldn't try cheating her out of anything due to her family wanting to get their hands on her inheritance and squander it. Enter Josh, a man with no interest in being in any relationship who is focused on creating his own company/business. The agreements works for both of them until Josh experiences an almost-close-to-death-experience and realizes he needs to stop being married so he can have some sexy times without any strings. And yeah, that isn't gong to work for Lexi because it opens up the opportunity for her grandmother to hound in and squander Lexi's inheritance. So - how to convince stubborn Josh to think twice about staying married?
This wasn't exactly an enemies to lovers story (my fave!), but it was a strangers to lovers stories with a marriage of convenience which is just as good some times. Lexi is a billionaire with a heart of gold, using most of her money to help people and animals. Josh is the strong, silent type who starts feeling protective of Lexi. Together, they form an agreement within an agreement *SPOILER* and decide they can add sex to their marriage as long as they stay married for 6 more months - and then they can get a divorce and each move forward in their lives.
Nothing wrong can come of that, right?
Ha! Yeah right. Feelings and sex are just the mix for everything to go wrong - especially in a romance read.
The characters are just well-rounded enough for me to care about them and want them to work things out. There are instances of them both feeling hurt (am I sadistic because I like it when the romance leads get hurt/jealous/possessive?), and enjoying each other. OH! and my other favorite thing - we get the story from both POVs. I love reading the guy's thoughts heh.
I think romance readers that are in for a quick read will enjoy this story. Unless you have a thing against marriage of convenience stories...