| REVIEWED BY FROST |
| "A Marriage of Convenience" by Kate Hofman |
| Rating: 5 Swords A Marriage of Convenience Kate Hofman Dark Castle Lords October 2007 Contemporary Romance ISBN 978-1-921347-33-7 http://www.thedarkcastlelords.com 5 Swords Kate Hofman has outdone her already-excellent writing in A Marriage of Convenience. Chad Harwood is a famous writer with a dedicated amanuensis, Cara St. James, an intelligent woman who is an excellent foil for Chad’s authorial brainstorming. They share an unspoken mutual depth of feeling, but neither will admit that to Self, much less to Other. Cara cohabits with little emotion with an arrogant high-flying financier, Reese, who at best is shallow; at his worst he is psychologically abusive and pathologically controlling and unfaithful. Chad knows Cara could do better-much better-but out of respect and due to his own integrity of character he never pushes the issue, until she determines on her own to leave Reese and Reese’s lying nonsense. Chad makes an extra suite in his huge apartment available to her, and the work situation continues with growing emotional depth. Accompanying Chad on a fact-finding trip to Arizona to locate a locale for his next book, Chad and Cara find circumstances conspiring to force a relationship. Still, each is fearful of rejection, and miss clues the other puts out. Persisting through misunderstandings and miscommunications, Cara and Chad persevere to a happy and emotionally stable conclusion. A hero and heroine demonstrating the highest of moral integrity and depths of character, despite circumstances and emotional turmoil, create in A Marriage of Convenience a story qualifying as a multiple reread. This reviewer expects to return to this story again and again and again, for the sheer pleasure of sinking into the story and reliving the characters’ experiences. If you would like to be Reviewed by Frost, send an email to frost@jlfoster.biz or reviewed_by_frost@jlfoster.biz with the subject line "Submission." Include the author's name, title of book, publishing house, genre, page count, and an excerpt. |
