Riley’s past comes back to haunt him both professionally and personally.
His
dead brother left more than just bitter memories for Riley to deal
with. The FBI get involved and suddenly it is more than his good name
that is on the line. Jack is always there for him but how much more can
Riley’s husband reasonably be able to understand?
Especially when Riley finds out on his delayed honeymoon that he has an eight year old daughter he never knew existed...
Comment: Here's a short comment...This is the sequel for the first book set in Texas in this apparently developing series. In this second installment we follow the lives of Riley and Jack after they married for love in the end of the previous book.
This time someone from Riley's past returns to change his life again, now that things were looking up for him and his family. However, Riley has the support of many people, especially Jack, and whatever comes to surprise him won't be such a chore as he imagined...
I liked this story overall. Riley and Jack now have a more established relationship, more solid than before even despite the little things any couple has to deal with.
I liked the sense of family that we find in this story. Obviously family matters to both guys and many of their actions revolve around family issues. I still think there's a certain layer of soap opera in this, but not as much as in the first book.
I suppose the author didn't plan to write more? Well, if that was the case we can see why the suddenly touch to several subjects here, perhaps the course of action seems forced at times, jut to exist a justification about keeping up with the series after fan's requests, but considering the whole book, this wasn't a bad job. I had some fun reading this and I do confess I read it quite fast.
However, something just annoyed me so much that I found it influenced my final opinion...Despite the action being good enough and the romance maintaining a good sense of heartfelt feelings and mutual respect, it was annoying as everything to still have the expression "his husband" repeated over and over, likely in almost every paragraph! I get the point and the writing tactic but for a reader is just too much...or perhaps it was for me...one of the guys thinks something about the other and there it is....really distracting and I couldn't not thin about it.
In the end, a good attempt and effort, but really annoying writing habit that took me some enjoyment from the reading experience...
Grade: 6/10
Riley Hayes, the playboy of the Hayes family, is a young man who seems
to have it all: money, a career he loves, and his pick of beautiful
women. His father, CEO of HayesOil, passes control of the corporation
to his two sons; but a stipulation is attached to Riley's portion.
Concerned about Riley's lack of maturity, his father requires that
Riley 'marry and stay married for one year to someone he loves'.
Angered by the requirement, Riley seeks a means of father's
stipulation. Blackmailing Jack Campbell into marrying him "for love"
suits Riley's purpose. There is no mention in his father's documents
that the marriage had to be with a woman and Jack Campbell is the son of
Riley Senior's arch rival. Win win.
Riley marries Jack and abruptly his entire world is turned inside out.
Riley hadn't counted on the fact that Jack Campbell, quiet and
unassuming rancher, is a force of nature in his own right.
This is a story of murder, deceit, the struggle for power, lust and
love, the sprawling life of a rancher and the whirlwind existence of a
playboy. But under and through it all, as Riley learns over the months,
this is a tale about family and everything that that word means.
Comment: I've had this book to read for a long time, ever since I saw it had so many good opinions and a marriage of convenience in a contemporary. I was very curious to see how it all would play out.
This is the story of Riley Hayes, he is told by his father he only have any sort of control of the family company if he marries and has a more stable life. So Riley decides to go along with this and to ruin his father's plans of controlling him, he blackmails the son of one of his father's rivals to become his husband instead of finding a woman.
Jack accepts being blackmailed because it would mean a way to help his family. Pretending to be in love with Riley can seem stupid but he goes with it.
While the guys stumble through their new shared lives, things keep happening around them and there' even a mystery to solve.
This story was quite interesting to read. I haven't read anything by this author until this point but I liked how the story was done and structured. It shows how the author thought about what to insert and how to write things. I just thought some words were too repetitive, like husband. When the guys finally gave in to their attraction and admitted they had feelings for each other it was like the word husband suddenly wasn't enough. Every time one of them mentioned the other or was thinking about him, there the words "my husband" this and "my husband" that. It wasn't that special but after a while it was to evident to just ignore.
I had the impression the story was more seriously toned.That it would be more focused on the environment and the main characters, but there were lot of secondary ones and they all had a point of view scene here and there and would have an active part in the story. Usually I'm all for this, as I think it enriches a plot, but in this case there were too many secrets to bear in mind, so many "surprise!" moments and not always happy ones. At some point although the story was still interesting I couldn't help but think this was almost like a soap opera about all those Texan dynasties like we've seen on tv in the 80's.
There were mostly good things though. I liked the tension between the guys before they admitted they were in love and I liked how some family members were supportive after a while and there were many scenes engaging and I was eager to keep going. Overall, the feel of the story was a good one and I never stopped reading unless I had to. It's just that the good things, despite being more were not as memorable as the not so good things which remain more clear. But this isn't a bad book, it's just not exactly as I imagined.
Still, I plan to read the next one.
All in all, I liked the structure the story had. It gave it a sort of solid base to support the plot and the not so well done bits, and in general terms I enjoyed it quite much, in particular how Jake went after Riley after having decided he was his. It was a very good moment.
I'm curious to see what happens next and I hope it gets a more serious tone too, not that this was a comedy, it was far from it, but I hope it leaves the soap opera style.
