The Bachelor’s Stand-In Wife
Tycoon David Falcon needed a wife. Not someone to actually marry, but a superefficient, multitasking woman who'd keep his household humming along smoothly. Single mother Valerie Sinclair seemed the ideal candidate. Until an evening out led to an unexpected kiss.
Organizing the businessman's hectic life was one thing. Wanting to share his life wasn't part of the deal. But once Valerie got a taste of being David's girlfriend even just for one night how could she go back to being his stand-in spouse?
User Reviews
Well, I guess most hard core feminists don't read romance novels and this author pins down why they would not. This is a story that raises the issue of women being tired of doing everything all by themselves. The author goes into so much delicious feminists issues, such as raising a child alone, the relationship between a man and a woman... and who makes the final decisions. The answers at the end will have a hard core feminist cringing.
Okay, so this book did not rock my boat with the story. I've read too many of these, but it is much better than most I've read. The three brothers are delicious and I'd love to read their stories in the future. This is a quick read, but so much is packed in, that it doesn't feel like it. The hero and heroine tread through a lot of mucky waters. There is so much said about employer/employee relations too. Lots of diving into PC stuff here.
The author tackles so much on a sociology level between men, women, children and work, the story can get a bit lost... then again it is the story. The hero David Falcon doesn't have the best example of a childhood and neither does the heroine Valerie Sinclair. Spoiler alerts to come... She has an 8 year old daughter and is in a desperate situation. She is like many single mothers. The father's nowhere to be found, she's proud and independent, but one bad turn of luck and she is nearly on the street, needing a job badly. Why the hero hires her, knowing she's in debt, seems a sympathy move on his part.
He's smart and gives her one month to prove herself. Of course the sparks fly, but Valerie has learned not to trust men and has learned to do things on her own. David has learned that marriage isn't forever, yet he's falling for Valerie and she for him. He's getting attached to her daughter and as the story moves on, he is more and more protective of them, as certain events unfold. This is strange to Valerie and many feminists may cringe that in the end, a man does save her. Really, if they marry, is he going to hold her to paying off her debt or is he going to do it for her? He sets up a debt payment, but you know he's going to wipe it away if they marry. He doesn't see it as her fault and it isn't.
She tries to stay a strong independent woman to the end, but he breaks down the barriers and lets his protective male instincts out. Whether or not feminists like it, men want to be needed and wanted. Too many women today are tired of being all things to all people, while struggling to raise children alone. Men are tired of feeling they aren't necessary. In the end, Valerie has to accept that our hero is going to take care of her, whether she likes it or not. This is why romance books are so popular. Women may be smart and independent, but isn't it nice to have a man who loves you enough to, once in a while, step in and take the burden off of you?
Romance books wouldn't be popular if this theme wasn't in so many of them. This author just nails what troubles many women with children, who have fathers that have dumped them and what they face in life. However, sadly, that really isn't the case in the end. That is the one part that bothered me. Her daughter Hannah never got to meet her real father and that whole issue was just sad and not the father's fault or Valerie's. I felt it unfair for Hannah to still think her father didn't want her. I think Hannah needed to hear it and soon from the grandfather how devious he was in keeping her separated. I didn't like that left up in the air.
In the end, David learns that perhaps marriage isn't so scary and children are a nice bonus. He finds he wants to be needed, wants to make some of the decisions that he feel are necessary to a marriage and Valerie either takes him that way or not at all. She takes him, as her barriers come crashing down and she lets herself trust a man. -- Not a book for hard core feminists.
The Falcon brothers had a messed up childhood. They're ready to move on, one at a time. This story was the first I read of the 3, and was good enough to make me want to buy and read the other two. -- Best of the 3
i brought it on my kindle and it was goood! i read the rest of the books and they r good too and i love tat they bring the other familes in their books soo this book was worth it :] -- it was awesome
I really enjoyed this book. Its a good romance w/o a bunch of sex. I think it ended kind of quickly and should have had another chapter but otherwise it was really good. Good characters and a good plot. -- Megan M.
Just finish reading this book. Really enjoy the book. It was worth buying. -- Enjoy the book