Header PromotionSweet as My Revenge by Susan Napier (HP 885)
Jessica Wright visits her step brother in England and learns he had had an affair and incriminating letters are being held hostage by the woman's soon to be ex-husband and may be used in a divorce trial! To help her brother who can't follow through on the plan to steal them with the woman's help due to a broken leg (he may not deserve the help but she's thinking of his wife and young Down's syndrome daughter who rely on him for support), she breaks in and burns the letters, but meets the man in question and knocks him out. She phones up to ensure Matthew Grieve's not in need of medical attention and finds herself flirting with him, saying perhaps she was Love, there to punish him! Months later, he's through the painful divorce, and down under. He strongly implies that she has to come pretend to be his mistress (he's trying to close a business deal and the man's wife is trying to get with him) or else he might prosecute (with taped confession and faked evidence of missing jewels he used to get the police to investigate the missing letters)...
Another well written Susan Napier. What's refreshing here is how Matt never really means to go so far with the blackmail and all - he intends to just scare her or give her a talking to, but is too tempted by Jessica herself. Matt was utterly destroyed in his marriage - he knew his wife was cheating, but that wasn't the problem - the problem was the way she emasculated him by taunting him with him not being able to turn her on. It went so far that he was unable to get aroused even with other women, but he does get turned on by his encounter with Love. Jessica on the other hand is a virgin, but a strong confident woman none the less! She even does judo, and is well matched for Matt in that they are both brown belts and enjoy sparing together! Matt's place in Australia is also deliciously described and I really wish I could go to visit and stay over there!
Read it a long time ago,
Read it a long time ago, it's only vaguely familiar now. :( I checked my list of books I have though, and this ain't on it, I don't have a copy, must have read it from a library at the time. I'll try to grab a copy in my hunting.