The Heir's Convenient Wife (The Wedding Planners) by Myrna MacKenzie (Harlequin Romance, May 2008)

Scandal or love? Emotional, tender second chance romance 2nd book in the Wedding Planners.

Myrna MacKenzie's The Heir's Convenient Wife, the second in the The Wedding Planners series is a short marriage of convenience romance that is not convenient marriage in the least little bit! Misunderstandings abound as an insecure heroine and a proper high society husband give their marriage a 2 month trial. Emotional, tender, and sweet, with just a touch of scandal for the high society snobs, The Heir's Convenient Wife brings romance and a bit of humor to hopeless situations.

Regina, photographer for The Wedding Belles wedding planners, doesn't dare tell her co-workers about her loveless marriage. Pregnant and alone, she married Dell O'Ryan from the famous high society O'Ryan family. A man with a sense of honor, he just could not stand by and watch her suffer without doing something to protect her. After all the tragedy she has suffered, Regina is finally awakening out of the emotional darkness of the past year. Plagued by guilt, she just can't live in a loveless marriage anymore. She can't make Dell pay for her mistakes. The only solution to her dilemma is to divorce Dell. Dell convinces Regina to give their marriage a 2 month try, to take things slowly and see if their marriage is worth saving. Can Regina and Dell find a way to put love into a marriage born not out of love?

Myrna MacKenzie's characterization adds depth to this romance while making the plot believable. Emerging from a dark time in her life and no longer wanting protection, Regina does not want to be stuck in a loveless marriage. Still insecure in many ways, she strives to free Dell of his obligation to her and do what is right for him. She knows she does not fit into the high society lifestyle. Now that she has set a two month reprieve, can she move beyond the idea of divorce and open her heart to love? Kind, gentle and patient, Dell feels the need to protect her, all the more so now that the possibility of divorce lingers in the future. Dell's family raised him to be responsible and to avoid scandal. He knows all the right things to do,but does he know how to put aside everything and reel in the woman with whom he finds himself falling in love? Can he make her the wife of his heart, not just his name?

The Heir's Convenient Wife is an exquisite addition to The Wedding Planners series, building on the second chance romance theme with a character skeptical of love also seen in Shirley Jump's preceding romance. Myrna MacKenzie brings love to an impossible situation and to two very different sorts of characters. Secondary characters make for humorous moments while also revealing the character of the hero and heroine. Myrna MacKenzie creates an unusual mix of sweetness and emotional, psychological depth with a perfectly timed plot that reveals a love developing gradually with patience and concern for the other. The reader feels both the doubt and the growing love as the two characters, and indeed the reader as well, get to truly know one another. Myrna MacKenzie does an excellent job of combining plot and characterization so that the reader gets inside the heads of both the hero and heroine. Tenderness makes way for passion in a way that provokes a wonderful mix of humor and tears of joy.

Personal notes
Myrna MacKenzie's The Heir's Convenient Wife is a great any time read. I read this book while in limbo, waiting to get in to see a dentist, an anxiety provoking time of waiting and not knowing. Life experience added even more depth and emotional understanding of these characters. All the power of this book is right there in the text, but I must add that for lovers of short romance who might be facing any kind of waiting game (medical, dental, job or school acceptance or any other kind of nerve-inspiring waiting game), this book will have even more power.

Typically, I prefer strong independent heroines but I was surprised to see myself feeling very in tune with this heroine and even her insecurities. Perfect pre-dental visit read.

AKA Merri
Family Challenge Team: The Spine Breakers with my dh Glenn AKA Phaedrus