My introduction to Helen Brooks was His Christmas Bride which was part of the one Click December Buy. I really enjoyed it and have been buying as many Brooks books as I could lay my hands on. Imagine my excitement when The Billionaire's Marriage Mission was being offered. It was originally published as a Mills & Boon book in 2006.
Brooks books all have essentially the same plot: girl is terribly hurt by some past romance; strong, rich, aggressive male falls in love immediately and pursues girl; girl falls in love back; gets scared; runs away; and then runs back. I've read about 10 of her books now and for some reason, this theme or plot never gets tired for me.
The story opens with Beth Morton getting locked out of her cottage rental with her dog Harvey. It's raining. She's in her pyjamas and she's slipped in something smushy and dark. She hopes that it is dirt but from the smell suspects it is not. Travis Black comes driving by in his estate car on his way home when he spots Beth. He takes her home, allows her to clean up and the two of them just click.
But Beth is at her cottage, taking a six month leave of absence, trying to recover from a mini breakdown brought on by her parents' unexpected death and the revelation that her adored husband is a bigamist. The very last thing she is going to do is fall for Travis Black.
But Travis is an immovable mountain. He wants Beth and pursues her madly. I love the frank and honest way that Travis confronted Beth about her fear of loving again. I loved that Beth was just trying to get her feet under her again. Her inability to move forward was completely plausible given the emotional upheaval in her recent past.
Brooks' book depends heavily on the "one true love" theory and if you like that (and I do), she writes a very emotionally satisfying book.
