REVIEW: Kostas’s Convenient Bride by Lucy Monroe

Kostas’s Convenient Bride by Lucy Monroe is a delightful second chance romance for a couple with a complicated past and present who finally see that they have a real future together.

Kayla Jones is devastated to discover that her boss and friend Andreas Kostas has hired a wedding planner to find himself a bride. Not only that, he plans to sell the company, a place she considers her home. As the director of research and development for their software firm, she’s devoted years of her life to their success and she’s not ready to call it quits.

Kayla and Andreas have had their share of ups and downs. They’d had a friends with benefits relationship at first, while Andreas had been conceiving of the company as a way to show his Greek relatives who’d abandoned his mother when she was pregnant that he could succeed on his own. When Andreas had broken off their bedroom activities and hired her, she’d accepted that they’d only remain friends. She’d thought he’d always confide in her, so the idea that he’d hire someone to help him find a wife not only hurts from a friendship perspective, it’s also an arrow to her heart as she’s been secretly in love with him for years. Still, Andreas is clearly ready to move on without her.

Andreas doesn’t understand why Kayla is reacting the way she is, but he knows one thing – he didn’t sacrifice their lovers relationship all those years ago so that they could remain friends for it all to get ruined now. He’s determined to have her in his life, one way or another. In fact, marrying her would be the perfect solution! They work well together – in and out of bed. Will that be enough to convince Kayla to stay?

I really enjoyed this story! I love seeing women in smart scientific roles and Kayla is clearly an incredibly talented computer programmer and dedicated to her work. Like Andreas, she’s put in long hours to make the company a success, and the five percent in shares that she owns gives her the money to fund charity projects for foster children, a cause dear to her heart after her own upbringing in foster homes. It’s why the idea of leaving the company that has been her heart for the past few years is so devastating, as is the idea of Andreas moving on to a family without her. He’s been her family, even if he didn’t realize it, and she knows a wife and children will mean she has been replaced.

Andreas is, well, let’s just say he’s a bit clueless. He’s been so focused on making money, and being richer than his father that he’s taken Kayla for granted. In fact he does have very strong feelings for her. His plan to move forward investing in new opportunities and selling his company was always to bring Kayla with him, and when she balks, he’s struck with the realization that he might lose her after all. Following her to New York where she heads off on vacation to lick her wounds, the discovery that she’s planning a very different future than he’d envisioned has him working to make it up to her. Plus, succumbing to the attraction between them again leads to some steamy love scenes. Andreas realizes he loves Kayla and has to fix his mistakes before it’s too late, resulting in a very satisfying happy ending. I’m intrigued by some of the secondary characters in this romance and hope the author has plans to tell their stories too. It’s an exciting, sexy and very enjoyable romance!
 

Book Info:

Publication: April 17, 2018 | Harlequin Presents |

Her boss needs a bride… Can she step out of the shadows and down the aisle? Discovering her boss, billionaire tycoon Andreas Kostas, must marry is devastating for Kayla. Then Andreas proposes that Kayla wear his ring! Having experienced the incandescent pleasure of his touch, she’s hidden her yearning for him ever since. It’s the proposal Kayla’s always dreamed of, but dare she risk her body and heart to become a convenient wife?