Comments on: REVIEW: Billionaire’s Bride of Convenience by Miranda Lee

By: Dear Author Recommend Reads for October 2009 | Dear Author: Romance Novel Reviews, Industry News, and Commentary

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:24:25 +0000

[...] Bride of Covenience by Miranda Lee recommended by Jane (I bought five copies & gave them away. Does this mean I can talk about the book without a [...]

By: Claire

Claire — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 14:37:52 +0000

I haven’t bought a HP in a while but think I might get this one. I like “affair under the marriage of convenience” story plots and the guy doesn’t sound like a complete jerk like so many HP hero’s. THe dialogue looks interesting too. The cover is very nice. Something about the guy doesn’t look like the typical cover hero and thats a nice change.

By: mq

mq — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 06:30:02 +0000

@Anne Calhoun:

i have trouble taking my eyes off the cover too! i think it’s because he doesn’t have the usual harlequin hero hair. And he doesn’t seem tall and buff- but really compact and sleek. and the heroine is almost his height so they can really look into each other’s eyes without neck strain. and they’re both clothed and he doesn’t look like he’s going to dry dump her or grab at her boob. it’s just a really romantic looking pose

i might pick this up one day. the part with him nearly salivating over how hot she would be pregnant sounds a bit like fetishism to me- but the heroine seems cool.

By: maddie

maddie — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 01:26:06 +0000

I love Miranda Lee she is one of my auto buys from HP, I hope you do the 3rd book from this series.

I liked this the second book better than the first book, but I can’t wait to get my hands on the third.

From what was implied in the other first and second books, sounds like the hero needs some butt kicking to mend his alpha dog ways.

By: willaful

willaful — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:18:23 +0000

I don’t always enjoy Miranda Lee’s books but I do appreciate the way she regularly breaks HP tradition – as in, OMG! having a heroine who enjoyed sex with someone else besides the hero, usually a huge no-no.

By: SonomaLass

SonomaLass — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 23:37:44 +0000

I don’t think I enjoyed this one as much as Jane did. I am not a regular category reader, and haven’t read a Presents in over 30 years, but I gave this one a shot, and for me it was more in the C range. I liked the Australian setting and the looks we got at various areas of New South Wales, as well as some of the little differences in language, food, et cetera. I liked Kathryn being curvy, worried about her weight and how she looked naked compared to the models that Hugh had dated, and I loved that she had previous positive sexual experiences — she knew she liked sex already, although of course the sex with Hugh was OMG better than anything (hey, has to be, this is romance!).

I didn’t like the manipulation, though. I didn’t like how easy it was for Hugh to say and do things that hurt Kathryn, or to use her feelings or desires to make her do things the way he wanted. Of course this was all while he didn’t admit that he loved her, but he claimed to respect her, and IMO his treatment of her a lot of the time was selfish and cruel. Not as cruel as some Presents heroes, from reviews I’ve read — maybe it’s just part of the whole alpha tycoon thing, and maybe those just aren’t for me. It’s what I remember most vividly from the ones I read as a teenager: the hero would get angry at the heroine for being so attractive, irresistible, innocent, or whatever else turned him on, and he would punish her for it. This book doesn’t take it that far, which is why I could give it a C.

By: Jennie

Jennie — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 23:14:41 +0000

…her wide, child-bearing hips…

Wow, that’s some sexy interior monologue. “Honey, do you love me for my lush bosom?” “Well, that and those wide, child-bearing hips of yours…perfect for dropping my babies and then going on with your day as if nothing had happened…”

By: Gail Dayton

Gail Dayton — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 23:03:08 +0000

I like stroppy, sarcastic heroines too. This one seems not the usual jerk hero-doormat heroine of the Presents. Think I shall look this one up at the sony store…

By: Jill Sorenson

Jill Sorenson — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 22:50:41 +0000

I read an HP the other day (my first!) and I was shocked by the closed-door love scenes. I thought HPs were tawdry and smoldering. Where did I get that idea? Wishful thinking, I guess.

By: Anne Calhoun

Anne Calhoun — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:31:49 +0000

I’ve never bought a Presents in my life, but I’m going to buy this one based a) on the dialogue you quoted and b) the cover. Something about that cover is completely doing it for me. Well done, Harlequin Art Dept!

Anne *is off to bookstore*