Not The Marrying Kind [Mass Market Paperback]

Hailey North (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 30, 2007

Sixteen years ago, world-famous artist Harriet P. Smith was the nerdiest girl at Doolittle High School, and Jake Porter was the new boy in town. Charismatic, handsome, and instantly popular, Jake was way out of her league. Harriet was shocked when he asked her to the graduation dance . . . and devastated when he left town for good the next morning.

Only his father's remarriage could bring Jake, now a hot shot L.A. music exec, back to small-town Arkansas. His only consolation is the stunning woman with the mysterious green eyes he meets at a local bar. He's got no idea he was a part of one of the best nights of her life--or that he's about to fall for her as hard as she once did for him. Jake's never been the marrying kind, but another night with Harriet might make him change his mind.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Avon (October 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060582472
• ISBN-13: 978-0060582470
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,388,162 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars You can go home, December 11, 2007

By 

Tracy Vest (Northern California) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Not The Marrying Kind (Mass Market Paperback)

Nerdy and heavy Harriet Rogers had a dream date at the prom with football captain Jake Porter that ended in passion. The next morning, Jake disappeared and she soon discovered she was pregnant. Turning to her best friend (and fellow social outcast), Donnie, the two married and moved to the Big Apple, where Donnie became a musician and Harriet a renowned artist. But Donnie's untimely death meant that she had to accompany their son to Doolittle when his gran is sick, and when Harriet runs into grown up music producer Jake, who's in town to meet his father's fiance, he doesn't realize that she's the Harriet from his past, as he sets about wooing her. What happens when he runs into the son he never knew he had?

North's breezy romantic comedy has a bit of a recycled plot, but the lead characters keep it from being just another hefty girl gone thin and getting the boy story mixed with the love child angle. Despite the familiarity of the material and the lack of secondary character development, she tells a funny and bittersweet story featuring two characters that have sworn off marriage until they find each other.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great! Great! Great!, January 23, 2008

By 

N. A. Genovese (Southeast Louisiana, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Not The Marrying Kind (Mass Market Paperback)

Harriet Rogers gets pregnant on her prom night and the next day Drop Dead Gorgeous Jake Porter, the boy responsible, disappears from the face of the Earth never to be seen again. Harriet quickly marries Donnie, her childhood friend and they move to New York where Donnie becomes a musician and Harriet a famous artist. Ten years later Donnie dies in an accident and Harriet and her son Zack remain in New York.

Six years later, at Christmas time, Harriet and Zach travel to Harriet's home town in Doolittle, Arkansas to visit Zach's ailing grandmother. Harriet makes reservations in Doolittle at a renovated school house turned B & B.

Jake Porter makes Christmas reservations at the same B & B to meet his single dad's fiancé that he met on the internet.

The fun starts when Jake meets Harriet in a Doolittle bar and Jake is smitten by the woman in the red cashmere coat. Little does he know that he is meeting this woman for the second time in his life and she has his son he knows nothing about.

The story captured my interest and I couldn't put the book down until I finished. The main characters are interesting and realistic and the sexual tension between them mounts until neither can control themselves. Even the secondary characters are interesting. Ms. North is so vivid and evocative in her writing that I feel like I saw a movie when I think back about the story.

I really enjoyed the pleasant surprise in chapter 10 which I won't reveal here because I don't want to spoil the story but it made my skin tingle when it happened. Also, the very last page has a fine conflict resolution but just one sentence made it top notch and gave me goose bumps when I read it. Reading the last page won't help. It matters only if you've read the entire story. The story is great and I highly recommend it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Everything you read romance for, April 23, 2008

By 

Barb "Avid reader" (CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Not The Marrying Kind (Mass Market Paperback)

Heartbreak, a child the father doesn't know about, chance meeting many years later. Attraction still there, complications ensue. All in all a pleasant read with a happy ending.