For Pleasure...Or Marriage? (Harlequin Presents)

For Pleasure...or Marriage? - Julia James Simple & beautiful heroine has been blissfully living with dynamic Greek hero for 6 months since they met during her 1st travel endeavor, travelling with him when he can & waiting for him when they're in town. So she is shocked to hear that hero only considers her his mistress & that she will get the boot if she gets pregnant to chain him to her b/c he will never marry. The last straw was when his supposed-fiance's mother pays heroine off to leave hero. Heroine does but in her own way...unannounced, with only her simpler wardrobe, & not informing him of her pregnancy. When hero finds out she left him, he goes ballistic & tries to forget her but to no avail.

This James' book has a lot of good things going for it: the dialogue, emotional pull, sexual tension, love scenes, & romance. I'm only giving it 3-stars b/c the heroine was a doormat. She blindly focused on hero for the 6 months they were together, submitting to all his demands & careful about not making any demands of her own. She avoided thinking about & discussing their r/s & its future, which hints at heroine's fear of the truth about who she is to hero. Heroine also allowed hero to treat her like his current favorite toy, dressing according to his tastes & making sure she was as attractive to him as possible (thus, the daily exercise routine & watching her food intake). She also let hero off the hook too easily at the end. Hero made some vile accusations & judgments about her so she should've made him show her how sorry he really was for being such a jerk! But I guess saying sorry and "I'll take care of you & the baby." was enough for her. Hero wasn't a prince either, with his self-centeredness, narcissism, & judgmental attitude. I foresee the need for marital therapy during their marriage.

Limited recommendation