The Marriage Bargain (Marriage to a Billionaire #1)

I absolutely LOVE this book! The story is fantastic, with a wonderful blend of romance, humor, and sensuality. Ms. Probst is a seasoned author, so as you might expect, the book is extremely well written, with three dimensional characters who are so well drawn that they seem real. Furthermore, the book is professionally published, so there are no amateurish editing issues, such as grammatical mistakes, incorrect spelling, or the like. Nick and Alexa are both wonderful characters; and I loved them equally (rare for me, as I usually like the H more than the h) Alexa is a fabulous heroine. She is feisty, smart, determined, witty, bubbly, impulsive, and quirky. Nicholas, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. He’s calm, always in control, super organized, and plans every step before making a move. When we meet Alexa and Nick for the first time, she is fourteen and he is sixteen. Alexa and Nick’s younger sister, Maggie, are best friend; Nick is Alexa’s nemesis. He lives to torment the poor girl, but she gives as good as she gets!

After the prologue, the story then jumps ahead thirteen years. Alexa and Maggie are still best friends; although Alexa and Nick haven’t seen each other in almost ten years. Alexa is in desperate need of $150,000 in order to help her family out of a financial crisis. She figures the easiest way to get this money is to find a man who has an extra hundred grand lying around. To achieve this end, Alexa performs a love spell–yes, you read right…a love spell!–asking the earth mother to provide a man who fulfills a specific list of requirements, including having the money that she needs for her family. Her number one requirement?–that he be a Mets fan. LOL

Nick too is in desperate need of a woman–although for completely different reasons. Nicholas is now a successful architect. He needs a wife for one year, in order to secure his inheritance. Getting married is the last thing that Nicholas wants, but his back is against the wall–it’s either get married and get control of his uncle’s architectural firm, or don’t get married and become a figure-head with no real power (these are the terms dictated in his Uncle’s will.) As far as Nick is concerned, the latter isn’t even an option. So a wife a is needed. Nick makes a list of all his requirements for a wife…none of which Alexa meet…well none, except for one “woman I can trust.”

When Maggie discovers that Alexa needs money, she comes up with the idea for Nick and Alexa to get married. He gets a wife for a year, and Alexa gets her $150,000. Nick’s first reaction when Maggie suggests Alexa as a potential wife, is a resounding, hell no! Alexa absolutely does not fit the image he has for his wife. She’s too stubborn, too impulsive, and absolutely too reckless! Unfortunately, Nick has no other candidates in mind, and has a deadline to meet, so Alexa it is. When the two finally meet to discuss the marriage contract, Nick immediately discovers yet another criteria Alexa does not fulfill, “a woman I do not desire to sleep with.” ROTFL Alexa is a hot siren, and Nick can barely concentrate. I laughed so much during the contract scene, my side started hurting. Nick tries to play hardball with Alexa, but she’s more than a match for him. I love the way the negotiations went down…

Alexa: “You have a list of requirements?”
Nick: Just a few qualities I’d like my wife to have.”
Alexa: You want a hostess, an orphan, and a robot all rolled into one…You want a Stepford wife without the sex. Haven’t you learned anything about women since you were fourteen?”

Nick: “As my wife, you’ll need a proper wardrobe. You’ll get an allowance and have access to my personal shopper.”
Alexa: “I’ll wear what I want, when I want, and pay my own damn way.”
Nick: “I have a huge deal on the line, so you’ll need to make nice with the other wives.”
Alexa: “I can manage to keep my elbows off the table and laugh at their stupid jokes. But I need to be free to run my own business and enjoy my own social life.”

And when it came to the sex clause! OMG! I almost choked, I was laughing so hard! In any event, an agreement is reached and the two get married. From there the story progresses to the HEA. Of course the nice, easy, unemotional, business deal of a marriage that Nick envisioned is anything but. Pretty soon he and Alexa toss the “no sex” clause out the window and the two are knocking boots. I’m happy to say that this does not happen right away, and when the two finally do have sex, I thought the timing was perfect. The sex scenes are hot and steamy, and are tastefully done–no crude language!–and add a nice element of sensuality, without overwhelming the story. As time passes, feelings begin to develop between the two and love blossoms.

Nick is terrified of marriage, commitment, and family. He and Maggie had a horrible childhood, being raised by selfish indifferent parents, who had no use for their children, other than as pawns to use against each other. Nick’s biggest fear is that he will turn out like his father, and he doesn’t want to subject a child of his own to the same suffering he had to endure. In Nick’s mind, marriage equals messy emotions, which eventually lead to heartache, and inevitably divorce. As for Alexa, she accepts that at the end of the year her time with Nick will come to an end, but is decided to accept whatever he is willing to give her, and make the most of the time she has with the man she loves. The story that unfolds is sweet, touching, and absolutely captivating! It held me hostage from beginning to end!

The book is just about perfect. It has everything from romance, to humor, to steamy sex. Shoot it even has an epilogue–I love epilogues–where you get to see Nick and Alexa some months after they declare their love, which is very sweet. The book is so wonderful that this is the second time that I’ve read it–both times cover to cover! I loved it so much, that after I borrowed it from the library, I went and bought my own copy. So, if you’re in the mood for a good, grown-up, realistic romance, look no further. Just get yourself a copy of this book, sit back, and enjoy. Happy reading!

FYI, the epilogue in this book is a perfect set-up for book two,

The Marriage Trap (Marriage to a Billionaire Book 2)

. As a matter of fact, the real focus of the epilogue is Maggie, as evidenced by the fact that the chapter is labeled “Maggie.” LOL In any event, Maggie and Michael are the h and H in book two. Both characters are introduced in this book, and the two even have a dinner date, although we, the readers, only hear about it after the fact; apparently it didn’t go well. LOL In the epilogue we get to see Maggie and Michael together for the first time. Michael is a business contact of Nick’s, who appears in the story, and eventually becomes a close friend. Maggie, however, is convinced that Michael is in love with Alexa, and worries that he is a threat to her brother’s marriage. She doesn’t hide her feelings and is very hostile towards Michael. It’s this love that Michael supposedly has for Alexa that he uses manipulate Maggie into agreeing to pretend to be his fiancee in book two. I had to laugh when I read the blurb for that book, because while Michael obviously is very fond of Alexa, I don’t for one second believe that he is in love with her. IMO, Michale has the hots for Maggie, but she can’t see the forest for the trees. I can’t wait to read that book! I have it on hold at my library, but if it’s half as good as this one, I’ll end up getting my own copy of that book too. My poor wallet. Sigh! I just pray I wont have to wait too long for a copy to become available.