Married to the Enemy by Ann Major

Married to the Enemy (June Grooms, #2) by Ann Major

My rating: 4 .25 of 5 stars


This was a lovely little contemporary western romance with a prominent Gothic feel. Stormy Jones has not seen her father since she was five years old. In fact, she was told he died.  She has spent the majority of her life in her mother's women-centered commune, with little to no contact with men.  Yet she feels something missing from her life.   When Jonathan McBride enters her life, she is blown away by his rugged male appeal, and has a sinking feeling he is just what he was waiting for.  He's like the proverbial forbidden fruit, a virile male, and the epitome of what scares her mother and her followers about men. 

Jonathan came to Los Angeles to meet his employer's daughter and deliver important news.  Her father is sick and wants to see her before he dies.  One look at her tells her she's trouble.  He saves her life and ends up in her bed. He is sidetracked by an unfortunate attraction to Stormy that leads to a night of passion.  He wakes up the next day, determined to put Stormy at a distance. His experience with love in the past taught him that women could only destroy a man.  He feels enormous guilt at sleeping with Hugh's daughter, and just wants to forget about it. Unfortunately, Stormy is a hard woman to forget or to push away.   Plus, Stormy still needs to see her father, and when she blurts out a confession of her involvement with Jonathan, the conniving old man changes his will to require a marriage between the two at his death.  Jonathan doesn't want another wife, but he does want his inheritance from her father, and marriage is the only way to get it now.  Stormy feels deep inside that Jonathan is a man capable of love, no matter how hard he pushes her away.  And she's carrying his child, so she doesn't want to walk away.  The problem is, someone keeps trying to kill her. Stormy refuses to believe it's Jonathan, despite the cloud of rumors about his last wife's death hanging around him.

I really liked this book. It had a lot of emotion and intensity.  I liked the Gothic vibe, and I enjoyed the push/pull between Jonathan and Stormy. I love when the hero is hard and rough and wants to push the heroine away, but needs her and the love she shows him.  Jonathan was really quite tortured. He'd had a very rough life and it had taught him that loving and trusting others was a dicey proposition.  Stormy's innocent hope and vital passion was just what he needed in his life.  While he fights his love for her throughout the book, it was enjoyable to see him fall for her.

The western atmosphere was very well done as well. I felt like I was on a cattle ranch in Southwest Texas, where the land is closer to desert than anything else.  This book had a lot more suspenseful vibe than I associate with the typical Silhouette Desires, with someone trying to kill Stormy, and Jonathan's dark past.  I miss these old vintage Harlequins which are full of lots of drama and intensity. The newer books just don't have that zing.

I am glad I was able to read this book. Definitely worth looking up if you want a good vintage modern western contemporary romance.

Overall rating: 4.25/5.0 stars.




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