Monday, August 20, 2012

Sweet Surrender with the Millionaire by Helen Brooks

Sweet Surrender with the MillionaireSweet Surrender with the Millionaire by Helen Brooks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a really good book. I like how Helen Brooks takes two people who have no intention of getting romantically involved and shows them falling deeply in love.

In the case of Willow, she is recovering from a very toxic marriage, married to a man who abused her mentally, undermining every inch of her confidence in herself. She does not intend to trust any man with her life ever again. On the other hand, Morgan has no problem with sexual involvement with savvy career women who don't want any more emotional entanglement than he does. However, when they meet, the mutual determination to keep things light and to be 'just friends' doesn't work very well. Because the more time they spend together, the more they realize that nothing less than everything will qualify when it comes to each other.

I'll be the first to tell you that I don't usually go for heroes like Morgan, guys who eschew emotional involvement and settle for empty sexual relationships. However, I couldn't help but like him. He was actually a very good guy underneath all the city sophistication. More than anything, he was used to trying to control his life and compartmentalize things. He had his slick city existence, and his quiet country life, and he kept them both separate. Before he knows it, the country life and time spent with Willow (who was not at all likely to go for a light sexual affair) is what he wants more than anything. And when the time comes, he's brave enough to tell her he loves her, even knowing her emotional wounds will make her run in the other direction.

Helen Brooks writes a very romantic story. The writing felt fresh and modern, with characters who seemed relevant today. Despite that, I didn't feel like they were unrelatable. I had plenty of time to see the love develop between them, and their happy ending felt right and genuine. Willow is very down to earth, and despite his image, so is Morgan where it counts. I liked that he was generous with himself in a relationship with Willow even though he knew there wasn't going to be the usual payoff.

A good story about friends turning into lovers. I'd recommend it to people who enjoy this theme.

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