TEST
There’s nothing wrong with the plot of Temporary Wife Temptation, which is probably why it’s been used by a lot of other authors in a lot of similar books.
Almost-CEO Garrett Song needs to win the approval of the board of Hansol, Inc – including, most importantly, his grandmother – to get that final promotion. But his grandmother wants him to make a corporate and family alliance by marrying the daughter of a major Korean chaebol family (it’s spelled “jae-bul” in this book, but it’s usually written chaebol, and it means “multifarious mega-corporation.” Compare Garrett’s intended to a Walton of the Wal-Mart Waltons, if Wal-Mart also owned apartment buildings and shipping lines). But Garrett has no intention of making a marriage that never lets him off the clock. If Garrett has to marry to win the job, he’s going to do it on his own terms – and he picks Hansol HR executive Natalie Sobol.
After losing her sister and brother-in-law to a car accident, Natalie is battling her niece’s grandparents to win custody of the baby. She knows a settled, married family will look better to the court than a single businesswoman. So she agrees to a temporary marriage with Garrett: they’ll stay together for the year it should take for him to win his promotion and her to win custody.
I have heard but not personally confirmed that this is Harlequin’s first contemp with two Asian leads (Garrett is Korean-American; Natalie is half-Korean), which is… about time. It’s fun to read a wedding scene that includes Korean traditions, like wearing hanbok and catching jujubes in the bride’s skirt. Garrett being Korean adds a dimension to the arranged marriage plot, since families are at the core of chaebols in a way they aren’t in the vast majority of Western corporations.
At the same time, though, the rest of the story breaks no new ground. Garrett has the standard betrayal-by-past-fiancée trust issues, which culminate in the same oh-no-Natalie-betrayed-me-too plot point. Garrett and Natalie take to parenting like ducks to water, and have no trouble balancing two high-pressure careers with childcare. Natalie has a clucky older-lady neighbor, and even if the neighbor is Korean, it’s same old, same old.
Who should read this book? If you like Harlequin billionaire books, if the familiar rhythms of those plots suit you or are a comfort read for you, this will be exactly what you like. If you are as excited as I was to see a Korean couple on the cover of a Harlequin (especially looking THAT GOOD), you should buy this book. Just don’t expect the inside to be as original as the cover.
Buy it at: Amazon
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Grade: B-
Book Type: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 01/02/20
Publication Date: 02/2020
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
I'm a history geek and educator, and I've lived in five different countries in North America, Asia, and Europe. In addition to the usual subgenres, I'm partial to YA, Sci-fi/Fantasy, and graphic novels. I love to cook.
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I just finished reading Temporary Wife Temptation and agree with Caroline’s assessment. The Korean wedding traditions were probably the most interesting part of the story, as were the overarching cultural implications of coming from an ethnic family. I appreciated, for example, that Garret’s culturally ingrained deference to his Grandmother, and the fact he lived with his parents until shortly before the story begins, is respected by both the heroine and other characters rather than treated as a source of ridicule. It is difficult to find contemporary American books in any genre that don’t sneer or scoff at unmarried adults living with their parents, especially men. So I was pleased to see this living arrangement, which is common in many parts of the world, treated with respect.
The rest of the book, unfortunately, comes across as a bit flat to me. Like Caroline said, it doesn’t break new ground in the plot department. In that regard, the story is just “okay.” If it weren’t for the integration of cultural conflicts into the mix, I probably would not have finished reading.
However, for a debut title, it is a decent start. Jayci Lee has a way with poetic language that is pleasant to read but does tend to lean toward purple prose and writerly turns of phrase. In other words, I am highly aware that I am reading something literary rather than getting sucked into the story through dialogue and direct action. But I’m sure a lot of that has to do with the category line she is writing for as well as her own style preferences. I don’t know whether I will read future books in the series she has planned (but many congratulations to her for a multi-book contract!), but I will probably keep an eye on her future projects to see what direction her writing takes her.
P.S. I did enjoy Mrs. Kim, the “clucky older-lady neighbor.” I honestly wouldn’t mind reading about her getting a second romance in her own book. (*Hint hint* Ms. Lee!)
Thanks so much for the info!!!! I have been trying to find out more about this but it’s really hard to search Harlequins. The Lockwood cover is beautiful!
You’re right about it being difficult to search for Harlequin titles, but I’ve discovered a little trick you might find useful.
Step 1: Click “Series” and select the category (Desire, Intrigue, etc.)
Step 2: Look on the left-hand side of the screen and scroll down until you see the word “Category” in bold.
Step 3: Click “more” under “Category” and look for the tag “Multicultural & Interracial Romance” (the tags are arranged by number of titles, not alphabetically)
Step 4: Click the checkbox for “Multicultural & Interracial Romance” You should now be able to see the titles under the category. The first one I noticed under the Desire line, for example, is “Black Tie Billionaire” which has a black heroine and Asian hero as cover models.
It’s not the first Harlequin with two Asian leads…it’s the third (which isn’t much better).
Karen Templeton’s Wedding? Impossible! was the first (as far as I can tell). It’s also a book where the publisher didn’t show the main characters on the front cover or use their last names on the back.
https://www.amazon.com/Wedding-Impossible-Weddings-Karen-Templeton-ebook/dp/B0056I05C4
The Big Break by Cara Lockwood was the first with Asian leads on the front cover, but the Superromance wasn’t really being distributed in stores at that point.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014CZU07G
This is the first Harlequin with two Asian leads on the front cover getting wide distribution.
**Harlequin contemporary, that is. There was of course Jeannie Lin in the Historicals line, and Jade Lee had a Blaze Historical with two Asian leads.
I miss Jeannie Lin’s Harlequin titles so much. She is extremely talented at world-building, and her novels always had a much stronger sense of place than just about anything else out there.