Threat of Love

The Threat Of Love (Harlequin Presents, No 1435) - Charlotte Lamb Heroine works in accounting department of her father's successful corporation & is investigating the financial situation of Hero's family-owned retail store for a possible takeover. She meets Hero after she was detained for shoplifting suspicions by Hero's store security & sparks fly b/w them. Hero is against her grandmother's plan to sell her store to heroine's father & severely restricts heroine's access to the store's financial records. Spending time close to Hero fires up their verbal altercations as well as their physical attraction to each other. But she thinks Hero can't really be attracted to her plain looks & only sees her as a temporary diversion.

An overall boring & unromantic read. Romance was lacking in emotional depth & investment b/w Hero & heroine. They spent more time arguing about work-related issues than getting to know each other. Physical attraction was present but that's about as intense as it got. I wasn't convinced that they fell in love with each other. Heroine was too wrapped up in her insecurities. She didn't think any man would love her for herself b/c she wasn't beautiful. And Hero repeatedly confirmed it by telling her she wasn't beautiful to look at but she at least had a desirable body. Hero was too wrapped up on saving his family's company & was suspicious of heroine's motives most of the time. She didn't seem that special to him. Heroine seemed like a convenient lover potential to him. He was clear about not wanting to marry her after they had sex so it was out of the blue for him to suddenly propose marriage to her. He didn't seem emotionally tied to her at all. The future of their r/s was still in question at the very end. Heroine rejected his marriage proposal & instead proposed to live with him until she was more certain about their r/s. Even she wasn't convinced of his love for her. At least she showed some wisdom in that decision.

May want to skip this book if you're looking for a solid HEA(happily ever after).