Author: DIANE ALBERTS
Genre: CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Published: February 2012, EVER AFTERS (ENTANGLED PUBLISHING)
Series: none
Source: Publisher, no other compensation given for an honest review
OCD kindergarten teacher Johanna hates Valentine’s Day. She hates romance, hates commercialism, and definitely hates her school’s annual charity date auction. She never expects her pre-auction night of drinking to land a sexy Brit in her bed. Or for that Brit to show up at the auction, bid thousands just to talk to her again, and get down on one knee in front of everyone and ask her to marry him.
Viscount Damon Hayes has never met anyone like Johanna. She’s neurotic, fascinating, and fun. She also doesn’t care about his title and doesn’t want his money, which makes Johanna perfect to fulfill a surprise clause in his father’s will: marry within three months and remain married for a year, or lose his fortune. A relationship is out of the question, but when passions ignite and the two fall in love, their marriage of convenience becomes anything but.
My Review:
ON ONE CONDITION was one of those novellas that seemed to tick all of the boxes that I want to fulfill for a short, contemporary romance. Though, Johanna and Damon start of their relationship with what appears to be a one-night stand. Damon has his own agenda for wanting Johanna to stay with him for longer, but Johanna doesn't seem to be much of a romantic at the start anyway.
Diane Alberts throws her characters together for the second time at a charity auction, and I was rooting for the two for the rest of the novella. Alberts' language and style of writing was easy to immerse myself in, and even if I wasn't already such an anglophile, I would have found no issue following along with Damon's dialog.
It's no secret that I love a British hero, and Damon Hayes doesn't disappoint on that front. His side of the relationship that he and Johanna conducts is to save his inheritance. Though this type of situation usually means that I have to grow to like the hero, I liked Damon from the beginning. ON ONE CONDITION really showcases two people who have their own issues and aren't, by any means, perfect. But, it also showcases two likeable people, even if they did enter into a marriage for the wrong underlying reasons.
Alberts did a fantastic job making me feel as if I was reading a novel-length story. Johanna and Damon's characters were both people that I could see as three dimensional. The story line necessitated an abbreviated romance, but it still felt real. Kudos to Alberts for this HEA novella, and kudos to her also, for whetting my appetite for more of her writing.
4/5 for plot
4.5/5 for characters
4/5 for language
My Rating: 12.5/15 (3.5 stars) Highly Recommend
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