Una boda conveniente Aquella era la boda perfecta, que iba a llenar las páginas de sociedad del mundo entero. El guapísimo aristócrata británico Jarvis Larne iba a casarse con la bella heredera americana Meryl Winters. Pero, a pesar de esa idílica apariencia, todo era una farsa. Aquel matrimonio había sido la única manera que Jarvis había encontrado para salvar sus tierras, y eso había resultado muy duro para su orgullo. Pero después de la boda llegó la noche de bodas, que, por cierto, fue mucho más de lo que ambos habían esperado. ¿Acabaría aquel matrimonio de conveniencia siendo una unión verdadera? Un aniversario muy especial Durante aquella fiesta su marido había estado tan encantador como siempre. Por eso, y a pesar de estar separados, a Kelly le había resultado imposible resistirse a sus encantos... ¡y ahora estaba embarazada! Kelly no deseaba que Jake volviera a formar parte de su vida; ya les habían concedido el divorcio y no podía confesarle que iba a tener un hijo suyo. Pero Jake estaba empeñado en cuidar de Kelly, aun sin saber que él era el padre. Incluso estaba dispuesto a mudarse a vivir con ella. ¿Podrían salvar su matrimonio antes de que naciera el pequeño?
Christine Sparks was born in England, UK. She wanted to be a writer all her life, and began by working on a British women's magazine. As a features writer, she gained a wide variety of experience. She interviewed some of the world's most attractive and interesting men, including Warren Beatty, Richard Chamberlain, Charlton Heston, Sir Roger Moore, Sir Alec Guiness.
Single life was so enjoyable that she put marriage, and even romance, on the back burner, while she went about the world having a great time. Then, while on vacation in Venice, she met a tall, dark handsome Venetian artist, who changed all her ideas in a moment, and proposed on the second day. Three months later they were married. Her friends said a whirlwind romance would never last, but they celebrated their 25 anniversary, they are still married, still happy and in love.
After 13 years on the magazine Christine decided that it was now or never if she was ever going to write that novel. So she wrote Legacy of Fire which became a Silhouette Special Edition, followed by another, Enchantment in Venice. Then she did something crazy gave up her job. Since then she has concentrated entirely on writing romances for Mills & Boon, Harlequin and Silhouette and has written over 75 books. Her settings have been European and her heroes mainly English or Italian. Christine now claims to be an expert on one particular subject. Italian men are the most romantic in the world. They are also the best cooks.
A few years ago she and her husband returned to Venice and lived there for a couple of years. This proved the perfect base for exploring the rest of Italy, and she has given many of her books Italian settings: Venice (of course), Rome, Florence, Milan, Sicily, Tuscany. She has also used the Rhine in Germany for Song of the Lorelei, for which she won her first RITA Award, in 1991. Her second RITA came in 1998, with His Brother's Child, set in Rome.
Eventually Christine Fiorotto and her husband returned to England, where they now live. She write and he paints, they have no children, but have a cat and a dog.
Lucy Gordon and Susan Napier are two romance writers that can turn a typical plot, heroine and sometimes a hero on their ear. They are original, can turn a typical trope edgey and are often funny. LG has broken my heart on two occasions with some incredibly well-done romances, The Italian's Baby and Crown of Laurel.
The h wants to help her guy best friend launch his designer line, but has to be married to get her humungous oil fortune. She advertises for a husband in need of funds and a MOC, and the lordly H's irrepressible best friend sends a letter. The h arrives in England and an oil and water, tentative romance begins between the two MC's. The h is a saucy girl, afraid of nothing, and enjoys challenging the H who is more than a little stuck up. He is also emotionally shutdown as his father was very cold. In fact, as a child the H got home from school only to find out that his mother died weeks ago, and he was never told. Ouch. Plus there is a family legend about wealthy brides that desert their Lords. He is suspicious of the h which is helped along by his best friend's sister, a snooty, wannabe lady of the manor with an eye on the H. No major conniving, but subtle putdowns the h takes on stride and serves back with humor. The h has lots of self-confidence.
The h's presence at the estate galvanizes the workers. They assume Miss Moneybags is there to marry the H and solve the estate's worries. The only one not on board is the H. He finally succumbs and a sweet little wedding takes place. The H has a yen for his MOC wife and steals in for sex, but neither acknowledges their steamy night-time romps. The h is, by far, the savvier and more in touch of the two. She falls into being Lady of the Manor in the best possible way: supporting the tenants, finding ways the women can make more money, opening fetes, all without being condescending.
A trip back to the states to help her best friend get his clothing line in place as well as play matchmaker between him and his estranged wife backfires when the deadly, dull OW tells the H that his wife is cheating on him. Big fat idiot alert, he buys it.
Lucy Gordon's heroines are no pushovers. Despite loving her big fat idiot husband, she also loves the estate and feels in tune with the land and the people. However, her pride won't accept his accusations or what she feels is his lack of love. He goes into a romance hero decline and flies to New York to grovel. She holds hard and he leaves. Her BF scolds her so she flies to England again only to discover that the H in a fit of despair has gone out in a leaky boat in a storm. He gets rescued, of course, the evil OW slinks off after her brother gives her the stink eye (she's not so much an OW and not really evil).
I do a lot of used romance buying in thrift stores. I actually have a couple of amazing used bookstores in my area, but it’s always wonderfully serendipitous to arrive at a Goodwill the same day someone has off-loaded their complete collection of 1970s Harlequins. Or, in this case, a random Harlequin Romance from 2002 by new-to-me author Lucy Gordon. I picked it up because I noticed initials on the cover, a pretty good sign that it was intended to be passed around among a group of romance-reading friends. And then when I opened the cover, I saw a little note written inside that said EXTRA GOOD. Not just good. EXTRA GOOD. With a smiley face. And I have to say, I’ve got to agree.
This one is a contemporary marriage of convenience, a relative rarity in my experience. I love this trope in historical romances, but it can seem sort of contrived in contemporaries so A Convenient Wedding was a pleasant surprise. American oil heiress Meryl Winters advertises for a fortune hunter so she can gain control of her full fortune from her trustee. Jarvis Larne is an aristocrat with an impoverished estate. It’s a very 19th century set-up, but it never feels mired in the past.
Meryl, while a spoiled rich brat in the beginning, has other endearing qualities. She’s got good instincts for business and people and a flawless sense of style. Jarvis is gruff, growly and resentful of his need for funds. They’re both fairly strong-willed characters and it takes some doing for them to get over their initial dislike and distrust of each other. Plus both have some growing to do in different ways, which seemed realistic. It even had some sexytimes, not explicit, but not fade-to-black either. Meryl and Jarvis both have wicked tempers so the fact that they did eventually get down to business suited their passionate natures. I was relieved that they went for it.
If there was one persistent irritant in the book, it was the presence of an Evil Other Woman, a long-time friend of the hero’s family who seems to regard him as her property. She’s basically a walking, whining plot device and I never like to see women treated that way in romance. She eventually flees the scene, one assumes never to be heard from again, never mind that they’re neighbors. Also, I believe this author is British because the Americans in the book used some terms like “mobile” for cell phone and “clever” in ways that Americans just don’t. It’s a minor quibble in an otherwise astonishingly good book.
I loved the book overall. A Convenient Wedding is the sort of category romance I always hope to find when I scoop up random reads for pennies. And I’m EXTRA GLAD for TBR Challenge this month for finally inspiring me to pick up this EXTRA GOOD read.
Really 4.5 stars, not 5, but I really liked this one. Cute, plucky heroine, strong, brooding hero. Lighthearted, yet still some angst over whether they would end up together. Mostly, I rated this one so highly because I felt good after I read it -- I was happy for them, and what more can you ask of a Harlequin?
Ide ceritanya sih seperti HR tapi settingnya jaman now. Meryl yg super tajir perlu suami untuk memegang kekayaan sendiri atau berumur 27thn. Sampai saat itu semua pengeluaran dipegang walinya yaitu Larry. Si Larry sih ga jahat kok, soalnya Meryl ini terlalu naif (atau bodoh soal uang) & manja sehingga kerjaannya foya2 & menghamburkan uang untuk investasi & teman parasit. Ketemu dengan Jarvis, seorang bangsawan Inggris yg di ambang kebangkrutan. Awalnya Jarvis ini menolak mentah2 ide menikah demi uang, tetapi kredidur bank, para penyewa tanah yang membuat Jarvis tdk berkutik. Setelah nikah, Jarvis tetap keukeuh harga diri sebagai laki2 utk menerima uang lagi dari Meryl walaupun itu utk keperluan para penyewanya. Suka dengan usaha Meryl menaklukan hati Jarvis tanpa perlu merendahkan diri. Adu mulut mereka juga oke, tidak banyak melamunkan fisik masing2, masuknya Sarah (teman masa kecil yg tergila2 dgn Jarvis) & Benedict (temen dekat Meryl) menambah seru (atau runyam) hubungan mereka.
Es simple pero bonito, el un gruñón que no quiere aceptar nada y ella en la búsqueda de la independencia para ayudar a un amigo... Pero surge el amor antes de que se den cuenta.
Meryl Winters pewaris perusahaan minyak. Tapi dia belum bisa memegang sepenuhnya harta warisannya sebelum dia berusia 27 tahun. Atau sebelum dia menikah. Awalnya dia tak masalah, lama-kelamaan dia merasa risih karena sang wali Larry terlalu banyak mengatur kehidupannya, termasuk memakai uangnya sebagai investasi bisnis untuk sahabatnya, Benedict yang baru memulai karir sebagai perancang busana.
Di sisi lain, ada Jarvis Larne. Pria yang tak mewarisi apa-apa selain gelar bangsawan dan tanah yang miskin. Jarvis sangat membutuhkan uang untuk bisa terus mengurus tanah warisannya tersebut. Puri yang merupakan kediamannya perlu banyak perbaikan. Tanah-tanah petani perlu juga disokong dana. Tapi apa daya, Jarvis tak punya uang.
Meryl yang tak tahan dengan aturan Larry, akhirnya membuat sebuah iklan di koran yang bertuliskan bahwa ia sedang mencari pemburu harta untuk menjadi suaminya. Dan tak lama ia mendapat jawaban yang mengatasnamakan Jarvis Larne.
Nah nah nah sudah ketebak belum jalan ceritanya? :D Kocak banget pertemuan Meryl dan Jarvis... soalnya ternyata yang nulis surat buat Meryl bukan Jarvis, jadi timbullah benci-cinta gitu di antara mereka :D
Yang aku ga suka, konfliknya ga greget.... Mirip sinetron banget. Tapi memang begitu kali ya harlequin. Tapi masa sih pake foto lagi. >.<
Lumayan lama saya nggak baca Harlequin, program perluasan genre saya sepertinya berhasil, lama-lama saya mulai meninggalkan romance, bahkan saya sekarang agak malas membaca Harlequin. Bukannya udah nggak suka lagi, hanya saja bosan, ceritanya itu-itu melulu, laki-laki keren, kaya raya, jatuh cinta sama gadis miskin, seputar itu terus. Cerita dibuku ini agak berbeda, kebalikannya, dan beberapa kali saya membaca karya Lucy Gordon dan memasukkannya ke dalam penulis Harlequin yang bukunya wajib dilirik. Sayangnya, kali ini harapan saya terlalu muluk-muluk.
Meryl ingin mendapatkan warisan dengan penuh, dia ingin membantu sahabatnya yang seorang desainer untuk membuka sebuah butik. Sayangnya, si pengacara sekaligus teman ayahnya tidak membolehkannya, dia akan memberikan warisan tersebut kalau Meryl sudah menikah, tidak ingin menghabur-hamburkannya lagi. Karena tidak ada cara lain, dia pun iseng memasang iklan mencari jodoh. Iklan tersebut sampai ke Inggris, *settingnya lupa bok* temen Jarvis melihatnya dan menawarkan iklan jodoh tersebut ke Jarvis, itung-itung mengatasi kemiskinannya. Tentu Jarvis emoh dong, cowok perkasa gitu, masak ngemis-ngemis ke cewek. Temen Jarvis ini *lupa namanya* menulis surat ke Meryl atas nama Jarvis, mengatakan kalau dia seorang bangsawan miskin dan ingin menikahinya. Wah ada kandidat bagus nih, Meryl langsung terbang saat itu juga dan menemui Jarvis, mereka bertemu *di perahu menuju rumah Jarvis kalo nggak salah* tapi Meryl nggak tahu kalau sipenunjuk arah itu adalah Jarvis sesungguhnya, dan Jarvis sudah memberikan pesan samar-samar kalau Jarvis nggak ingin menikahinya. Nggak mau tahu, dengan sifat keras kepalanya, Meryl akan terus dan terus membujuk Jarvis untuk menikahinya. Hmmmm, gimana usaha Meryl selanjutkan? Akankah Jarvis bertekuk lutut dengan pesona dan kekayaan Meryl? Baca sendiri ya, saya sarankan nyewa aja kayak saya :)).
Komennya singkat, biasa aja. Nggak ada yang special, saya juga nggak terlena sama tokoh Jarvis, cuman takjub aja miskin tapi estatnya bok, adegan hotnya nggak banyak, saya kasih 2 sayap aja deh. Untuk keseluruhannya 2 sayap cukup.
Meryl Winters amat sangat kaya, impulsif, dan periang. Sedang mencari suami dan dengan nekat memasang iklan untuk mencari suami. Jarvis, bangsawan yg sdh jatuh miskin tidak menyadari bahwa Ferdy (sahabat karibnya) menjawab iklan dari Meryl. Meryl segera saja pergi menyambut calon suaminya dan bertandang ke Yorkshire. Bisa diduga kesalahpahaman terjadi dan nyaris saja Meryl disuruh pulang kandang kembali oleh Jarvis. Jarvis akhirnya terpaksa mengakui bahwa dia memang sangat membutuhkan uang yg ditawarkan oleh Meryl, dan secara tidak sadar bahwa dia mulai mengagumi Meryl dan melihat sisi positifnya. Demikian pula Meryl, dia sudah jatuh cinta pada desa Larne dan juga mulai jatuh cinta pada pemiliknya. Sayang sekali hubungan mereka terganggu oleh benih-benih kecemburuan Jarvis terhadap Meryl. Dan Meryl merasa Jarvis tidak mencintainya. Tetapi pada akhirnya mereka berhasil mengatasi segala perbedaan itu dan mengakui perasaan terhadap satu sama lain.
ضاعت العروس لوسي غودون (المطلوب صائد ثروات للزواج من وريثة ثروة ضخمة . مليونيرة تبحث عن زوج بالاسم كي تتحكم بثروتها الخاصة .الشروط مغرية للرجل المناسب) إعلان في الصحيفة ووصل الرد إلى ميريل وينترز بسرعة : (القصر ينهار . التشققات في كل مكان والأغراض الأساسية تنفذ المطلوب وريثة غنية على جناح السرعة ) اللود جار*** لارن لن تلوم ميريل إلا نفسها على هذا الاعلان فهي التي جلبت لنفسها المتاعب ... ووجع القلب!
Baca ini pas lagi mellow, jadi dapat feelnya. Ikut emosi pas Jarvis+Meryl bertengkar, ikut pengin nonjok Sarah yg enak aja mitnah orang. Weeeeeell...meski agak gak sabar coz masa2 before married couple d buku ini lumayan panjang diceritakan.