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Conveniently Yours (By Request) (By Request)
by Rita Clay Estrada, Sally Bradford
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Harlequin (1994-06-01)
ISBN: 0373201036
EAN: 9780373201037
Dewey Decimal #: 813
Paperback
SKU: 4222
Condition: As New
Comments: Binding: Softcover. Condition: As New. Three complete novels by Rita Clay Estrada, Bobby Hutchinson, and Sally Bradford.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
Three couples find a solution to their various problems in temporary marriages, in a trio of popular romance novels--To Buy a Groom, Meeting Place, and The Arrangement. Reprint.
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Customer Reviews
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Skip this one
Rating  (2)
Date: 2007-01-21
From the back cover:
Wanted: Husband
Position: Temporary
Terms: Negotiable--but must be willing to live in!
TO BUY A GROOM by Rita Clay Estrada
Sable LaCroix: Widowed, wealthy and in danger of losing custody of her three-year-old son.
Joe Lombardi: Confirmed bachelor, entrepreneur, and in danger of losing his racetrack--before he's even opened it. She needs a husband--fast! He needs a million dollards.... Solution: Marriage!
MEETING PLACE by Bobby Hutchinson
Yolanda Belan: A damsel in distress--not to mention danger!
Alex Caine: A knight whose armor's so tarnished it's downright rusty. She needs a husband with an American passport. He needs a mother for his rebellious child.... Solution: Marriage!
THE ARRANGEMENT by Sally Bradford
Juliet Cavanaugh: No-nonsense divorce lawyer with a ticking biological clock.
Brady Talcott: Victim of an outrageous trust and running out of time. She needs a man to father her baby--with no entanglements. He needs a temporary wife.... Solution: Marriage!
And my review:
This collection is of three previously published stories. They are all full-length Harlequin novels, not the shorter novellas you usually find in these kinds of collections. All the stories range from 160 - 200+ pages.
I didn't get very far into Rita Clay Estrada's TO BUY A GROOM because the hero was so obnoxious. I couldn't stand the guy! He was such a male chauvinist. Seriously, he actually says to the heroine that the next time she greets him at the door, she'd better have a beer in her hand. Ugh! I wanted to tell him just where he could shove that beer. I wished the heroine would, too, but she didn't. I just couldn't cheer for her to win the heroine, since I felt like he didn't deserve to even breathe the same air as she did. She was way too good for him. And really, considering that each was helping the other out, the instant, rather childish antagonism between the hero and heroine seemed rather out of place. One star.
Bobby Hutchinson's MEETING PLACE read more like a political intrigue story than a romance novel. It just couldn't do anything to keep my interest. If you're into "spy" novels, then this story might appeal to you. But I read romance for the relationship, not to read about political struggles in far-off lands. I was too bored to make myself keep reading. Two stars.
THE ARRANGEMENT by Sally Bradford was a bit better, but not wonderful. One drawback: this is a story written by two authors writing as one. I've yet to read a book written by two people that was worth finishing. I'm afraid this was no exception. While the writing style wasn't awkward the way I'd expected it to be, this story was very slow moving. There would be chapters and chapters where the hero and heroine wouldn't have any interaction. Then there would be a few brief pages of them together, and then another long wait before anything else happened between them. The relationship just never felt like it got going. Again, I read romance for romance. Also, it was a bit hard to like a woman who was actively choosing to deprive a child of its father, and to like a man who was going to purposely father a child, and then never see it again. Setting up a trust fund for the child is not enough. Every child needs a father figure, not just his monetary support. Two stars.
One nice thing with anthologies is that you get to try several different authors for the price of one book. One drawback is that the stories are rarely outstanding or memorable. These are your standard run-of-the-mill Harlequin romances, and while Harlequin has published some works by very good authors, that wasn't the case here. This is not a collection that I recommend.
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