Customer Reviews

Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It (Zebra Contemporary Romance)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It is a follow-up book on Marcus Danvers and Veronica Richards who we first encountered in Come Up And See Me Sometime. Spin ahead eighteen months when Marcus is hired by Kline Technologies to find a mole and encounters Veronica again. The sexual tensions between them is hard to deny, but the overwhelming circumstances and misconceptions that both have to overcome makes this a page turning book. It is one I did not want to put down and factored into it all is the other secret that Veronica has withheld from Marcus. This is a magnificent book that has you angry at times, wanting to cry at others and on an emotional roller coaster along with Marcus and Veronica. You can feel what they are feeling. It is also nice to catch up with Alex and Isabel and to interact with the other sub plot that runs through the book. All in all this is a great book and a must read for the true romantic.

Corporate investigator Marcus Danvers has been hired to locate a mole in at Kline Electronics. The last person he expects to see on the payroll is former flame Veronica Richards, who sold corporate secrets from his firm before disappearing. Working undercover, Marcus tries to resist Veronica, but soon the two resume their affair, despite a lack of trust (and even though Veronica knows that once she reveals a secret she has kept the last 18 months, he won't be able to forgive her).

A sequel to Monroe's "Come Up and See me Sometime," this one is just a rehashing of the same theme, and falls short of even that. Even the constant sexual couplings lack heat. Lack of chemistry, too-thin plot, lame secondary love story, and too much introspection (did we have to "hear" them constantly remembering things they told each other in italics?) keep the story from gaining a passing interest. As for the mysterious mole... it was laughable, as the revealing of the culprit and his reaction to being caught was simply revealed in a character's summation in the epilogue. Marcus seemed like an engaging, sexy and charming devil in the first book. In this one, he is reduced to a too easily manipulated, wardrobe challenged (tacky Hawaiian shirts) dolt tamed by a woman who repeatedly lied and kept a pretty damning secret.

George Kline suspects that a corporate spy is at work in the marketing department of Kline Electronics, so he hires business consultant Marcus Danvers to secretly investigate. Marcus is shocked to discover that one of the employees is Veronica Richards, the very woman who sold out CIS, the company he is now a partner in, when she also used to work there. Veronica vanished, along w/ her payoff, eighteen months previously and Marcus hadn't seen her since. In addition to her now becoming the primary suspect at Kline Electronics, Marcus is determined his former lover will provide a long-overdue explanation for her betrayal and disappearance.

Veronica is an efficient administrative assistant--calm and collected to the point where she seems to verge on icicle status. The only man who has ever come close to melting her was Marcus, but she has kept more secrets than just corporate espionage from him. His reappearance in her life threatens both her professional and personal well-being, so she is as determined to keep him at arms' length as Marcus is on getting her back in his arms.

This book is a continuation of a story begun in Come Up and See Me Sometime. You don't need to have read CUASMS to read this book, but there are a lot of references to that earlier story and Veronica's motivations for her previous actions are revealed. In fact, one of the most interesting aspects of this book was peeling the onion layers of Veronica's life back and showing her truly touching relationship w/ her family.

Despite her seeming coldness, Veronica is a fairly sympathetic character. Her reserve is the result of overwhelming personal burdens and the need to be self-reliant. Marcus was somewhat less sympathetic to me. He seemed immature, self-absorbed, and self-indulgent, but he redeemed himself as he opened his heart to Veronica and revealed some of his own past heartache.

Overall, this was a pleasant story, but it did have some drawbacks for me:

--I was never really "sold" on the relationship between Veronica and Marcus.

--As another reviewer noted, the whole story had a decidedly dated quality to it. If I hadn't known this book was copyrighted in 2005, I would have sworn I was reading a 1985-era office romance--and that's not a compliment.

--In addition to feeling out of time, the book also felt out of place somehow. The setting is Seattle but, aside from a few references, could be "anyplace." This feeling was exacerbated by a very British reference to a "car park," rather than a "parking lot."

--I hated the side story of the relationship between George Kline and his secretary/executive assistant. His controlling attitude and the whole sleeping w/ his subordinate thing had an icky and 80s feel to it. (My vindictive streak is coming out again--I wish the assistant had walked out on him for good.)

--The mystery of the identity of the corporate spy wasn't especially deep or hard to figure out.

--And, for the really petty complaint, the cover of this book was terrible and had nothing to do w/ the story. (The dark-haired man in the tux certainly wasn't the fair-haired Marcus who favored Hawaiian shirts.)

I don't mean to be overly harsh or overstate the negatives. As I mentioned, it was a pleasant enough, if not memorable, story and worth spending a few hours of your entertainment time on. Other readers might be better able to ignore the peeves I had and concentrate on the unfolding story of Veronica and Marcus and their feelings for one another.

WoW i just loved this book. I could not wait to read this book after i read Come up and see me sometime. I really wanted to known more about ronny and Marcus's relationship. Since so little was given. This book had so much emotion in it i was actually feeling what the characters were feeling. Both of them had some trust issues that they had to overcome in order to be with one another and they did. Marcus is hired to find a spy in Kline industires and surprize surprize he finds the women responbile for his 18 month celibacy. oh and not to mention the women reponsible for betraying him and his company when she sold it's sercets and for turning her back on him. Veronica had just started to get her life back on track and the last thing she needs is to get fired from her job but of what happened with Marcus and her. They are not happy to be working together but soon sparks fly and things get heated up again, but Marcus wants some answers and he's deterimed to get them one way or another

Marcus Danvers has been celibate for eighteen months. He blames his former lover and trusted employee, Veronica Richards. She betrayed him both personally and professionally, then she disappeared. When an unexpected situation brings them together again, neither one is happy!

Wow! GOODNESS HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT is an incredible sequel to COME UP AND SEE ME SOMETIME. The story easily stands alone, but readers of the earlier book in the series will appreciate the insight into returning characters. I loved getting to know a whole lot more about Marcus Danvers. I wondered what had happened to trigger Veronica's betrayal and I hoped there would be a logical explanation. The steamy, sizzling chemistry between Marcus and Ronnie and the mystery of the corporate spy kept me turning pages long into the night. It was worth every second of lost sleep!

I did not like the prequel of this book, "COME UP AND SEE ME SOMETIME", but in a moment of weakness I decided to give this novel a chance, hoping that Ms. Monroe would go back to the promise she showed in "THE REAL DEAL". Sadly, I was very dissapointed. The characters are flat, stereotypical, and annoying. They never show trust in one another. Almost up to the last page they are doubting each other's actions and intentions. Ms. Monroe's writing is also annoying because she keeps repeating and rehashing thoughts, emotions, and worse, the events that happened 18 months ago. This shows little respect for the readers' intelligence and tolerance. I won't be giving this author another chance.

I loved this book. I was very caught up in the whole mystery. I felt very connected to Veronica. I was completly lost in the whole story. It was a good follow up book to Come Up and See Me Sometime. It also answered all the questions from the first book. Marcus and Veronica had more awesome chemistry and we got to watch the grow together and get past their past.
I thought this was a great story. I cant wait for more to come out. Already have all that is there and they keep getting better and better.

When Marcus is hired to do a job the least thing he had thought of finding is the woman, that many months ago had turned her back on him and betrayed him and the company they worked for. Veronica had just recently started to get her life back on track and the last thing she needed was the past interfering with her plans. None of them are happy about working together but duty calls and responsibility is a big deciding factor to give their best, but before either of them realize what is going on sparks fly between them. This is a story about second chances and new beginnings. Lucy Monroe had weaved a masterful story full of emotion and suspense combined with sensual tones and sexy characters. As a connecting book this one can be read alone and be understood without problem. But Come up and see me sometime its an excellent book and I think you would enjoy both. Besides, you can never go wrong with one of her books.

I loved the premise of the book, in which two people who've had a passionate relationship go bad are reunited and have another go at it. What made the premise of this book so interesting is that the heroine did a really, REALLY bad thing that caused the break-up. Once all the details are revealed, her actions are understandable, but still not admirable. So I was very much looking forward to a story that explores the dicey, tricky issues of forgiveness, trust and communication as these two worked through the problem.

Unfortunately, the book completely fell apart after the great set-up. The characters were one-dimensional and seemed to have nothing going for them other than lust. I believe the hero forgives Ronnie too easily for her actions 18 months ago. As soon as he learns the details, he essentially shrugs and pushes forward with the relationship.

I couldn't help comparing this book to Susan Elizabeth Phillip's "Ain't She Sweet," which also has a heroine who has done wretched, horrible things in her past, then must seek atonement from the very people she victimized. Monroe's book takes the easy way out.... the heroine isn't all that bad, and the hero blithley accepts her actions. The whole thing just fell a little flat.

Ms Monroe's stuff is pretty hit or miss for me. I loved THE REAL DEAL and READY but not much else so far. I had mixed feelings about the prequel to this one, COME UP AND SEE ME SOMETIME which I gave three stars. I actually thought that I would like this one more because in CUASMS, Marcus was a more likable character than Alex. Alas, I was wrong. I didn't care for this book and found it even more frustrating than CUASMS.

Marcus Danvers first met Veronica "Ronnie" Richards when they both worked for the same company. They had an affair which ended when Ronnie confessed to selling company secrets and then disappeared. Marcus is left confused and bitter wondering if he ever knew her at all.

Now, eighteen months later, Marcus has been hired by Kline Electronics to ferret out a corporate spy. And who just happens to work as an admin/assistant in the Marketing department but his old flame Veronica Richards. Well, well, is she up to her old tricks? He has lots of questions for her and he is determined to get some answers.

Unfortunately, Ronnie isn't interested in talking. She is stunned when Marcus shows up in her life again and also frightened. He knows enough to threaten her job and if he finds out about her biggest secret, he could also threaten her personal life. But it looks like she will have to face him as he's not going anywhere and he wants to know why she did what she did two years ago and if she's doing it again.

This couple drove me nuts. They are madly attracted but neither one has an iota of trust in the other. They cannot communicate worth a damn and basically both are pretty immature. And for some reason, in Ms Monroe's hands words like "affair" and "mistress" and "lovers" just have such an old-fashioned almost prim feel to them. Well, I just did not believe that this couple was really going to make it in the end. I will still give Ms Monroe's stuff a chance, but I'll be more selective and read reviews first. I did purchase WILLING from her Mercenary trilogy because I liked READY. Hope I didn't make a mistake!