Husband Material - Brenda Jackson - 3.5/5 - My favorite story that I've read by this author thus far. You've got two Hollywood characters - Matthew and Carmen - and they're divorced. Carmen knew that Matthew was addicted to his work and sort of knew that he worked so he'd always be able to take care of Carmen, whom he loved more than life. But Carmen needed Matthew, not the security his work brought him, and all the arguments in the world couldn't convince Matthew to spend more time with her. When she found herself miscarrying their baby, alone, after Matthew stood her up to work, Carmen had had enough and filed for divorce. But Matthew didn't understand why and saw it as a betrayal of their love and marriage. So both of them come into this as flawed characters, neither is completely innocent and they'll have to work together if they want to be together again. And this worked pretty well. The two clearly still love each other a great deal and they know they have to work it out.
The Sheikh's Bargained Bride - Olivia Gates - 3/5 - It was during this story that I realized these were all part of a series, since I recognized some of the characters involved in the Polo business. This follows Sheikh Ahmad, the owner of the Polo ponies, who recently married Sabrina. Things started out well, Sabrina fell in love with Ahmad and they married, but then things fell apart and Sabrina can't figure out why her husband won't come anywhere near her anymore...and why he continuously looks at her like she's scheming her or something. Turns out, Ahmad married her after being coerced into a bargain with her father, and he thinks Sabrina was in on it. She thinks he married her only because of that. Really, he married her because he loved her, but became angry when he found out about the scheme and blames Sabrina. By the time he learns that she's innocent, it may be too late to win her back. And here this was an average story, but I wanted more grovel. I wanted Ahmad to feel a bit more panic that he'd lose Sabrina.