BETWEEN MARRIAGE AND MERGER – Karen Booth
The Locke Legacy , Book 3
Harlequin Desire #2574
ISBN: 978-1-335-97134-0
February 2018
Contemporary Series Romance

New York City – Present Day

Lily Foster has worked for Noah Locke for several years and pretty much knows the company inside and out. When a PR scandal involving Noah threatens to derail a business merger, his family suggests a fake engagement to deter rumors he's a serial dater. Big problem is…who will be the fiancée? They look no further than Lily, who is beautiful and smart, and would be the perfect person to help charm their skittery investors. Now all Noah has to do is keep his hands off the delectable Lily

Lily has been in love with Noah for years, but he's never indicated any personal attraction in her.  Now they must pretend to be in love and stay in the same room at a Florida resort where they'll be attending the wedding of the investor's daughter. Lily is disappointed at first that Noah continues to ignore her even when she's in a bikini, but things soon heat up the night of the wedding and turn ultra-hot between them. They end up having explosive sex, but will it turn out that what happens in Florida stays there? What can go wrong if the investor finds out before the merger that he's being duped?

Unrequited love is a big wall that stands between Noah and Lily in BETWEEN MARRIAGE AND MERGER. It can be a blow to your esteem when your sexy boss, who dates women like they're this week's flavor, won't even try to make a pass at you. But Lily hopes that will change when they head to Florida for the wedding. Meanwhile, they're practicing the kissing—and it ends up cranking up the heat between them. Slowly and surely, the truth is revealed to Lily: Noah's brother forbade him to hook up with her when in reality he wanted her in his bed.

Noah and his brother and sister were raised by a conniving and unemotional father who is now out to destroy their lives and take back what he thinks is his: a grand hotel that was left to the kids by their great grandfather. Noah suspects it is his father who is leaking unsavory info to the press about him, so he has to counter the actions by cleaning up his image. Lily's grace and beauty beside Noah has him realizing she's the perfect fiancée. But can she also be the perfect wife? As Noah presses Lily to complete their own merger, she balks. Could it have something to do with a failed engagement in her own past?

BETWEEN MARRIAGE AND MERGER is the final book in  The Locke Legacy series by Karen Booth and can be read as a standalone. However, you can read the other books, PREGNANT BY THE BILLIONAIRE and LITTLE SECRETS: HOLIDAY BABY BOMBSHELL to see how Noah's siblings, Sawyer and Charlotte each find their happily-ever-after's.

It's a merger of the romance and business kind for Noah and Lily in BETWEEN MARRIAGE AND MERGER. Will they make it down the aisle? Find out in this enjoyable and scintillating tale.

Patti Fischer