Take two sisters, their grandfather's will and a man to whom their
grandfather owed a debt from the past and you have the beginnings of a story
of inheritance by marriage.
The story opens with Anne and Laura Grenville, and the hero, Ryder
Marshall, sitting in the lawyers office after the reading of Anne and
Laura's grandfather's will. The terms of the will stipulate that, in order
to inherit, Ryder must marry one of the sisters for 6 months and live at his
orange grove farm. Anne, not being as obviously beautiful nor as shallow as
her sister, is not surprised when Ryder and Laura announce that they'll be
fulfilling the terms of the will.
Within a few days, the three of them head out to the orange grove, where
Ryder makes it clear that he intends to live there, rather than spend his
time at his casino. Laura pitches a fit and leaves, fully expecting Ryder
to come after her, because, after all, of course he has no option. He must
marry one of the sisters, and when he can have Laura, why should he look
twice at Anne (nice, isn't she)?
Well, is Laura out to be surprised! Anne is attracted to Ryder and offers to
take Laura's place in a platonic marriage. Ryder, unbeknownst (love that
word!) to Anne, is falling in love with her, so her offer is exactly what he
wants….except for the platonic part. Oh, well, he figures he can wear her
down and get around that platonic nonsense.
Naturally, these two aren't sharing their personal affectionate feelings
with one another. This leads to attempts to make each other jealous (which
work, much to their dismay).
I won't tell you anymore because we aren't supposed to tell the whole story,
got it?
These characters are the kind we like. Although the hero is a little more
macho than current day norms, he is still very likable and Anne is pretty
independent. Honor, trust and truth play a big part in the hero and
heroine's approach to life, as is the case with all of Jayne's main
characters - wouldn't have it any other way. One last comment, I would like
to thank the heroine for dumping the contents of the vase, filled with the
roses and water, all over Laura's evening gown - she deserved that and a
whole lot more, the total creeper!
Read the book if you can get your hands on it. It's fun.
Carole Coonrod
