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This Harlequin Presents Plus is one of my son's favorites. Yea,
you read it right, I said "my son". When he pulled the book out of a box that was was stuffed in a closet he said "Hey, cool! This is the one with the pig and the fiddler and the broken hand and kneecap when the bad girlfriend almost drowns 'cause the guy beats up the girl. Hilarious!"
 
That's it in a nutshell, but let me elaborate. I don't want you to get the wrong impression. Sam is Philip Atmor's pet Vietnamese pig. Charlie McEnnaly is a violinist who breaks her hand taking a swing at Philip Atmor. Later in the story Charlie also trips over a stool and sprains her knee. When the old girlfriend, Emily, inevitably comes back into the picture, Charlie tells her Philip stepped on her hand and kicked her in the kneecap in two separate fits of anger. Philip's temperament (which favors ripping phones out of walls and tossing them through windows) supports Charlie's assertions. When Philip raises his voice in Emily's direction, the girl jumps into a leaky rowboat to escape. And yeah, it's pretty hilarious.
 
A few little snippets that had me chuckling:
 
"That'll make a great story in court," She mused, " 'Tycoon pushed into molestation by rampant pig.'"
 
"The only question she'd really meant to ask [the doctor] was "How do you get a glass of poisonous hemlock in these parts?"
 
"It was like a man lighting a match to see if there was any �gasoline in his tank."
 
Umm, so my sense of humor is a little warped. There are more little snippets. If I were a more seasoned reviewer I'd have highlighted them. But I'm not, so I didn't.
 
So enjoyable was the fighting I didn't notice the lack of sexual tension until the second to last, which is saying a lot because I love the "will they-- won't they" type conflict. They always do eventually, but I love the trip there.
 
Summer Storms. You'll laugh. You'll cry. O.K., you won't cry, but you will laugh.
One Harlequin Presents with stories from two of my favorite authors. How could I go wrong? They're Wedded Again by Penny Jordan and The Man She'll Marry by Carole Mortimer are the two novellas that comprise this book.
 
Penny Jordan's They're Wedded Again is a marvel in structure. She covers three different time frames; a present time wedding reception, the near past reconciliation of the protagonists and the breakdown of their marriage seven years prior. Ms Jordan does all of this in the tight confines of a novella and does it quite well.
 
 
 
Seven years ago: Bella is a self-absorbed, materialistic newlywed who makes more money than her husband and doesn't mind emasculating him in her fervor to get the things she wants. The bitch.
 
Luc spends his newlywedom nursing his wounded male pride until Bella finally packs up and leaves. The wimp.
 
Immediately prior to the reception: Bella's niece is marrying Luc's cousin. Batty great-aunt Alice is under the impression that Luc and Bella are still married and sends the wedding invitation to Luc --he still lives in the house Bella insisted on buying way back when. (Incidentally, I like the idea of giving a senile old woman the job of sending out wedding invitations. It gives the whole wedding process that extra touch of unpredictability such things lack.)
 
Luc hand delivers the joint invitation to Bella. The love that never died is rekindled. They spend a lot of time acknowledging what jerks they were seven years ago.
 
At the reception: Everyone at the wedding is amazed at how well Bella and Luc are getting along considering the circumstance. Given the name of this novella it should come as no surprise to the reader that. . .They Are Wedded Again.
 
*Special Note-- Bella is also expecting twins. Apparently there is some kind of test you can take at the doctor's office. It seems to be like a pregnancy test and you have to wait around for the results to be phoned to you.  
 
The Man She'll Marry by Carole Mortimer has all the elements of a typical Presents played on fast-foward.
 
Day one: Zack storms into Merry's house to bitch about his nephew David's plan to marry Merry's daughter Dani. Day one includes such typical contrivances as:  --Zack thinks that Merry is Dani's sister.  --Zack is wrong about any secret engagement.  --Merry is outrageously rude to Zack.  
Day two: Zack invites himself over to dinner where he announces that Merry's rudeness as caused him to fall madly in love with her. He tells her that they will soon be married.
 
Day three: Merry accompanies Zack to a cocktail party where --after nineteen years of never seeing anyone in her family-- Merry runs into her sister-in-law. Coincidence or plot maneuvering? --You decide.
 
Anyhoo. . . at this party we find out that Merry comes from a rich family and Dani's father was, and presumably still is, a married man.  �   By the end of day three Zack realizes he's been steamrolling Merry. Unless and until Merry decides that she does indeed love him and wants to marry him, Zack will stay away and not see Merry anymore. Oh and Dani and David really do get engaged.  �   A week passes. Merry takes Dani to visit her rich grandparents. Zack and David are waiting for them upon their return. David takes Dani off somewhere. Merry tells Zack she loves him and will marry him. The End.  �   *Special Note--Both Merry and Dani suffer from some terrible disease that prevents them from taking the pill. This means that they can become pregnant at any moment. There doesn't seem to be any other form of birth control in Harlequin World besides the pill.
 
My sarcastic comments aside, I did enjoy reading Wedded Bliss. It was fluffy and sweet and very easy to digest.  
 
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