The Ruthless Groom by Bronwyn Jameson

HE NEEDED A WIFE. AND HE NEEDED HER TONIGHT, IF NOT SOONER.

Enter Zara Lovett. His ex-fiancee’s best friend. Her hair a spill of honeyed silk framing whiskey eyes. Zara, who’d strode into Alex Carlisle’s life on killer legs and lit a powder keg in his gut.

It was chemistry, the kind of powerful, explosive mix Alex made a habit of avoiding—until today. Because the fireworks between them changed nothing. He still needed to satisfy the terms of his father’s will. That was his goal. That was his duty.

This was a 2-in-1 book along with Engagement Between Enemies by Kathie DeNosky, but in the same way I discovered DeNosky because her story was in a book with a Nalini Singh book, I read this book because of it was there, not because I had heard anything about it. And for a book that I had never heard of, by an author I had never read before I thought it was pretty darned good. The only problem is that, as always seems to be the case, these are never the first book in the linked series!

When Alex Carlisle is basically stood up on his wedding day, he is determined to find his fiancee and get an explanation. It was a marriage to meet the terms of his father's will - and very much not a love match. What he doesn't count on is meeting Zara Lovett, a friend of his fiancee, or to feel the intense spark of attraction with her. Zara is headstrong and passionate, studying to be a doctor and definitely not ready to have a relationship with a man like Alex, a man who is very visible in the press and who is used to getting what he wants.

One of the things that was interesting was that there was a glossary of Australian terms, even a couple that I didn't remember reading in the text! I don't really read a romances with Australian setting, but I do suspect that I might end up reading at least the other two books that are connected to this one.

Definitely an enjoyable read!

Rating: 4/5