Customer Reviews

Montana Mistress (Silhouette Desire)

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I had high hopes for this book upon reading that Orwig has a master's in English, but apparently she didn't learn much about character development during grad school. The writing is grammatically correct, but the characters have no, well, character.

Laurel is trying to sell her family's hotel, which is mortgaged to the hilt due to her father's gambling problems (something Laurel never seems very upset about). I assume we're supposed to think she's noble and good because she visits her comatose father in the hospital and is planning for her younger sisters' futures, and that she's successful and independent because she has a landscaping business in Texas. But instead she seems like a greedy prostitute. When tycoon Chase Bennett offers to buy her hotel and throw in half a million dollars if she sleeps with him for a month, Laurel makes a counteroffer: $750,000 for a month of sex. No compelling reason is given for her to have to make this deal or why she couldn't wait for another buyer.

What bothers me more than her greed is her stupidity. For example, when Chase starts to use a condom, she stops him because she's on the pill. The pill doesn't prevent STDs. She doesn't know this guy from Adam. How does she know he doesn't have herpes or AIDS? And when they're driving on the highway, she unbuckles her seat belt, saying she totally trusts him -- to which Chase responds, "This is damn good, Laurel. I knew it would be." Huh?

Chase is just a flat stock character, handsome and cocky. He's adverse to marriage, for no good reason. I didn't find him particularly sexy, perhaps because he has no personality and doesn't seem to be interested in anything except making money. The boring and generic description doesn't help. Here's a typical description of Laural and Chase kissing: "Standing on tiptoe, she kissed him ardently and once more was swept away by heart-pounding kisses she wanted to continue all night." That's just BORING, which is how I'd describe the whole book.

I have been reading romance novels for years, in fact even got my mother hooked on them. I love the western themed ones. But this one was ridiculous. Not only was he propositioning her to be a mistress for a month but she countered with an alternate offer. The heroine spent most of the book trying to convince herself she was making a rational decision. Essentially she became a prostitute. The characters were not well developed and the story line was weak.