"A Love Contest"
Taylor is a psychologist. She has worked hard for her
degree and has written a book regarding marriage. Her
theory is that like should marry like to have a compatible
relationship. She is on a talk show with her old college
love of seventeen years before. Jonathan has a totally
different take on what makes a good marriage. He thinks
that opposites attract and make the best marriages.
During their argument, he challenges her to do an
experiment regarding their different ideas. The talk show
director loves the idea and it is decided to have forty
couples take part in the experiment. Each couple must
stay together for one month -- twenty couples that are the
opposite of each other and twenty couples that have similar
tastes. The winning couple will win one million dollars.
Jonathan is unaware that he has fathered a child with
Taylor. His daughter, Linnie, is now sixteen years old. One of the participants in the experiment is Marnie
(Taylor's good friend). Marnie is a gorgeous woman looking
for a stable relationship. She is attracted to a nerdy man
who she sees at the coffee shop she frequents. Marnie
visits the man setting up the couples and talks him into
putting them together. Chris and Rio had been married and divorced. They are
total opposites -- like chalk and cheese. Rio, a charming
and sexy guy, is having trouble paying child support for
his three children and Chris is working hard keeping hunger
away from their door. Rio talks her into joining the
experiment so that they can win the million dollars. Grace and Nelson are an elderly couple. Grace had been in
an abusive relationship. She prays that she can meet a
kind and gentle man to alleviate her loneliness. MARRIED FOR A MONTH is a tale of two people that had fallen
in love when they were much too young to realize the
precious thing they had found in each other. It takes
life's experiences and time for them to find each other
again. I really enjoyed their story and also enjoyed the
story of Marnie and Will. Marnie looked like a sex pot but
was really an intelligent, nice woman while Will wanted a
relationship but didn't know how to go about it. He only
knew about computers. MARRIED FOR A MONTH has an
unusual, original story line and Susan Mallery does a great
job with the longer format. She is known for her
excellence in the Silhouette books so it is good to see her
writing the longer single titles. MARRIED FOR A MONTH is a
touching story and a thoroughly enjoyable book.
Reviewed by Marilyn Heyman
Posted January 9, 2002
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