Ruthless Boss, Hired Wife by Kate Hewitt

Gah!  Urg!  Eep!   I just read this book and I want to give the hero a fierce beating.  Usually the only reason I want to slap a hero is if he's been unfaithful.  That wasn't the case here... but he lied and used and manipulated in such a DELIBERATE way.  Even knowing she was a virgin he decided to seduce her and make her fall in love with him so he could use it to his advantage.  In the end he didn't end up taking her virginity as part of the manipulation, I'm glad for that.  But holy mackeral, what an utter pig....  If you set aside the hero, the book was otherwise good, a nice light story with no unpleasant other women popping in.  

I liked the premise, which set the conflict up nicely.  And the heroine was sympathetic, I felt for her.  But just don't expect the hero to be sympathetic, he has a poor childhood, but that didn't redeem him in my eyes. 

Hey Kate!  I sure did react to Cormac.  I was jotting notes like mad as I was reading.  I've never had this strong a reaction to a hero before!  The only heroes I've wanted to throttle/slap before were ones that were unfaithful.  This Cormac had me thinking about his life and how he could change and redeem himself... what he needed to settle down into a happy well-adjusted life. 

You definately succeeded here....  making him totally ruthless.  It's not all negative, him being ruthless: any alpha lover would be impressed and he's kind of a "love to hate him" character. 

I've been ruminating on it, and the hero's past pain seems to have been meant to show a vulnerable side and make him more sympathetic.  But it didn't seem quite enough, he almost needed to be a bit more vulnerable to the heroine and get a lesson in what it means to be used (so that in the future he doesn't keep bullying people).  A moment where everything got turned around on it's head would have been good.  A reversal of position between the hero/heroine.  That would have made me feel happier about the couple and more confident that they would be happy settling down.  

But yeah...  I really wanted to corner this hero in a back alley somewhere....  It was a knee jerk reaction.

So I didn't want his lousy childhood to justify his behavior--his behaviour *is* reprehensible, absolutely! But he's changed by love--as he says at the end, 'I love you because you loved me first.'

I liked that she didn't stoop. And it's nice to see selfless love.  

But it might be that with the harder heroes, you [the reader] want more grovelling or at least repentance at the end. He was pretty awful in the beginning, wasn't he? 

It's not about needing to see him grovel so much as needing to see that he's a better man NOW.  If he was that awful for so many years of his life, now that he has love in his life, will he magically be a new man?  What kind of principles is he going to live by NOW?  Is he still the kind of man who thinks it's ok to use and intimidate people less powerful then him?  I can see him being the kind of parent that TERRORIZES his kids' school teachers and is so reluctant to trust that he ends up a bitter divorced guy and falls down dead of a heart attack from stress.   What did he learn, what will change in his life?

It's funny too you mention the scene where Lizzie cries and he looks bored--in the first draft, he takes here into his arms and comforts her and it's kind of a breakthrough moment for both of them, but I ended up having to change it because he was coming across too soft!  

Heh!  I LOVE it when a hero reacts to his heroine crying.  I have a favourite scene to show you.  It's from "The Italian Boss's Mistress" by Lynne Graham.

Favourite Scene: (absolutely ADORED this scene, especially the "for the second time" and "but all that is absolutely ok!" line that the hero says to stop her from crying) 

‘Are you saying that you love me?’ Andreo shot at her incredulously.

‘To death…love you just so much,’ she stressed, suffering from emotional overload and very near to tears in her over-excitement.

Andreo focused on her with dazed dark golden eyes. ‘But you were leaving me again…’

Pippa nodded and compressed tremulous lips.

‘For the second time,’ Andreo emphasised.

Pippa nodded again, tears of regret clogging up her vocal cords.

‘Even though I’d asked you to marry me…’

The tears overflowed and streamed in a silent river down her cheeks.

‘But all that is absolutely OK!’ Andreo insisted in panic at the sight of those tears. ‘Honestly, I have no idea why I’m so full of complaints. I’m crazy about you and I’ll be crazy about our baby too. I can forgive you for anything. Please don’t cry, amore.’

Thanks, Janet