Newlyweds of Convenience

by Jessica Hart

Book Overview

For Better? Corporate wife Mallory McIver has promised her new husband a businesslike marriage, with no messy emotions involved. For Worse? Then Torr announces he's moving to the Highlands of Scotland to restore the derelict castle he's inherited. And he expects Mallory to accompany him.... Forever As Torr swaps his suits for jeans, Mallory is bewildered. She married a sophisticated city type, but in the country he's rugged, capable and altogether...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0373175248
• ISBN13: 9780373175246
• Release Date: July 2008
• Publisher: Harlequin Presents
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 4.2" x 6.6"

Customer Reviews

Powerful uplifting tale of romance with an unusual heroine

When Steve, Mallory's prince in shining armor turned out to be lying, cheating flim flam man, she lost everything ---- her home, her business, and her heart. Marriage seemed a good solution to keep a roof over her head, especially when Torr offered to pay off her staggering, mind-boggling debt. When Torr inherits a Scottish castle, Mallory wants no part of this ruin, but what choice does she have? Things go from bad to worse when they arrive. If the isolation, lack of the modern conveniences like heat weren't bad enough, there is wildlife, scary storms, no neighbors and bugs! Mallory's marriage seems more and more a mistake and she will do anything to get out of Kincaillie. Can Torr open her heart to see him in a new light before it is too late to save their marriage? Can these newlyweds find new start in a new setting? In NEWLYWEDS OF CONVENIENCE , Jessica Hart creates a modern fairy tale romance, a unique blend of fairy tale situations imbued with modern psychological depth. Jessica Hart writes a romance that brings love to the darkest corners of the heart, a heart in pain. Depression leaves Mallory unable to do little else but look inwards, turning her hurt and anger against herself. The reader feels her emergence from depression, step by step. Torr has an almost magical effect on her as he frustrates her. Her anger empowers her, turning her feelings outward, giving her energy and an emerging fighting spirit. Overwhelmed by fear and anger, Mallory fights her way back from the devastation of her past. This romance is a bit different than others I have read by Jessica Hart but every bit as powerful. NEWLYWEDS OF CONVENIENCE is almost exclusively told through Mallory's point of view. The reader questions Torr alongside Mallory, feeling her anger and seeing his actions through her eyes ---- except Jessica Hart's exceptional narrative technique lets the reader know just a bit more than Mallory, providing lots of smiles as the reader knows and loves Torr just a bit more quickly than Mallory. As I followed Mallory and her hanging relationship with Torr, I felt smiles, tears, laughter. Jessica Hart takes an impossible hero/heroine mismatch and an impossible marriage of convenience and turns it into a powerful story of a woman finding love again with a man whose patience is greater than Job's, a man who truly loves her even in her darkest moments. Jessica Hart is one of my favorite authors, even more so after reading NEWLYWEDS OF CONVENIENCE. In the initial stages, Torr (as seen through Mallory's eye) seems an impossible man --- the reader feels Mallory's growing anger at him, sides with her ---- but as the story unfolds, as Mallory emerges, the reader feels the changes in perspective through her eyes. I applaud this author for writing a romance with this heroine, telling her story through her eyes. NEWLYWEDS OF CONVENIENCE is a beautiful, uplifting romance.

Coming Out Of Shock

I am not a very empathetic person, I guess. I spent the first part of this book entirely frustrated with the heroine. Mallory has been left high and dry by some jerk wad. She loved the jerk wad, and he betrayed her. When she was at a low point, desparate, she "agreed" to marry Torr. Torr is not disfigured, he is not evil, in fact, he is pretty good spouse material. He's handsome, rich, well spoken, and not mean. The fact that he hasn't slept with her, and won't until she invites him to, SHOULD tell here something, right? By the time they've spent a few weeks at the remote castle most of our story has been set in, I'm beginning to understand her a bit better. She has frozen herself into not moving forward or back, emotionally. At one point, she finally forces herself out of her grief, and then she begins to grow. It's a very good romance, though not as humorous as I usually like them. I recommend it. (*)>

5 blue ribbons from Romance Junkies

Mallory McIver's marriage isn't the hearts and flowers union that girls dream about - it's a business arrangement. Her fiancé/business partner left her in dire straights and in exchange for bailing her out of financial ruin all Torr asks in return is marriage. She's played the perfect hostess to his business associates and takes care of his home but she craves something more and is determined to go back to work. Mallory's stunned when Torr returns home from work and announces that he's inherited an estate complete with a crumbling castle in the Scottish Highlands. Torr's sold his businesses and his home and has no qualms about trading in his business suits for casual wear and jeans and relocating to Scotland - but his wife is far from enthusiastic about his plans. Mallory had intended to return to the workforce, but what chance of that is there if he's serious about moving. She doesn't even have the option of remaining behind since he's sold the house. Her sister's apartment complex doesn't allow pets so she can't move in there, and there's no way she'd return her beloved dog Charlie to the shelter. Mallory doesn't understand what Torr gets out of their relationship. She doesn't see any reason why he'd even want her to stay with him in his new home. There certainly won't be any entertaining in such a remote place, so what does he expect from her? To complicate matters, there's only one decent bed and she'll be sleeping with him - something she isn't prepared to do. She's still hurt from Steve's betrayal and secretly has held onto her feelings for him. Can she continue to deny the truth about Steve? Will she ever accept Torr and allow herself to see him as her ideal man? Jessica Hart really fulfilled my every expectation when I picked up this book. NEWLYWEDS OF CONVENIENCE takes readers to a highly romanticized setting and puts a more realistic spin on it. Mallory and Torr are characters readers can easily empathize with - they've got hopes and dreams and are insecure about the future, but being in such an isolated location brings them together in a way neither of them ever anticipated. What surprised me about this story was how emotionally involved I got - at one point I was in tears and had to go in search of tissues. NEWLYWEDS OF CONVENIENCE is a heart-touching, charming read full of humor and heat. Early congratulations to Jessica Hart on her fiftieth novel, LAST-MINUTE PROPOSAL, due to be released in October. Chrissy Dionne (Courtesy of Romance Junkies)