Review: Enjoyable
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 11, 2013
A couple who live oceans apart are forced to playact their long-dead romance for business, and instead they discover what originally brought them together, but is that enough to overcome the reasons why they couldn't work before?The tropical setting of WIFE IN NAME ONLY was nicely done, and I did feel whisked away, but I had a hard time forming an attachment to either character (carefree, warm but dedicated businesswoman Zoe Hughes or flinty-but-supposed-to-be-sexy hardcore CEO Rory Hughes)and most of the book I was worried for the dog (SPOILER which I think is necessary: the dog is okay. Nothing critically bad happens to the little poochie.)A good number of times I put the book down, and about a third of the way, or maybe even halfway through, I finally connected with the characters and I read the rest of the book in one or two sittings, and I enjoyed the experience.I liked how Ms. Manning plots the relationship development, though the initial use of "babe" reminded me of someone talking about their piece of meat--there didn't seem to be any genuine affection present, and I read romance novels for the affection between characters on whatever level, not just the Let's Get It On vibe. But that changes and the ending was very well put together.I loved that in the end, both characters give each other the strength to overcome their fears, and they have the chance to discover what truly made them a couple, and actually gave them happiness, to begin with.Reviewed by JCCelestefor TheRomanceReviews.com