Reviewer: Janet Davies
Title: Pretend You Love Me
Author: Stacia Wolf
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
E-book ISBN: 1-59998-177-7
Release Date: December 2006
Genre/Sub-genre: Contemporary Romance
Year/Setting: Present day - Seattle
Overall Rating: 4.0
Sexual Content Rating: Sensual
Language (Profanity) Rating: None
Violent Content Rating: Minimal
Stacia's Website: www.staciawolf.com
When Cassie Delistraty’s wild, glamorous mother, Lucia, decides her daughter needs to meet a man, Cassie is neither happy nor interested in going along with her mothers plans. Cassie has loved the boy next door Mike Ashford since they were kids. However she knows Mike has only ever seen her as a little sister. As for Mike, he needs to distract the attentions of a flirtatious employee. The problem is solved when he and Cassie decide become a ‘couple’ to deflect attention and schemes.
Pretending to be in love with Cassie is not a stretch for Mike. He has wanted Cassie for years. Two things have held him back - past history and other people’s opinions. Firstly, he does not want to repeat the past mistakes of his marriage to his ex-wife, a woman who bears a strong resemblance to Cassie. And secondly, the opinions of his mother have colored his judgment when it comes to the Delistraty women. Does he want to get involved with a wild, flighty Delistraty woman?
Crusading Lawyer Cassie is not about to let this chance with Mike go. She knows he’s interested but reluctant to get too deeply involved. Is it the Delistraty ‘curse’ striking again? Like her mother, Lucia, Cassie is cursed as she cannot find love with the right man. Is there any future in lusting after a man that doesn’t want her? Are lies and misconceptions going to ruin any chance she has? But the possibilities of love are not the only problem Cassie and Mike face. There are manipulating parents, the outdated ideas of old family ties, a mad man with a gun and a legacy of lies to deal with.
There are so many themes in Pretend That You Love Me that you can easily identify with. There is the ‘what if’ the person you secretly loved gave you a chance to be with them and what would you do to make that chance to succeed. But then how can you make a go of it when everything you do is caught up in the emotional baggage of someone else’s life and experience? Do you go with your heart and take a chance or do you worry about what everyone else says and thinks and miss out on that chance?
The characters of Cassie and Mike are realistic and likeable. They are toughened by experience but they are both still hopeful. Despite knowing each other for years, they discover that there is so much more to the other that they never knew and they like a lot. Their respective families are like anyone’s family – crazy, pushy and opinionated. Lucia, Cassie’s mother, is interesting. She is a woman that appears wild and flirtatious on the outside but you know she is covering up deep hurt under a false façade.
Pretend That You Love Me is full of lies, misconceptions and prejudice. There is love, lust and reality of really getting to know someone for who they are. The story is real and enjoyable.
Janet
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