Remember When

Judith McNaught

When Diana Foster was 14, her father did the best thing he could ever do for her. He remarried. He brought a wonderful woman and her 13 year old daughter to their wealthy Dallas home. Diana gained a family that made all of them richer in their relationship. Now, 17 years later, her family relies on her. Her father died when she was 22. To keep them going she started a business that is now flourishing. It's perfect for them as well as her.

Cole Harrison was the summer stable boy at one of Diana's friend's home while she was a teen. He knew even then that he was going to be wealthy some day. He lived on the outside looking in and knew the good and the bad with the rich people. Diana and her sister Corey didn't fit the mold and he liked them more for it. Now, all these years later, Cole is a wealthy entrepeneur who needs a wife. Diana is still single and needs something to help her image with the public. He offers her marriage the first night they re-meet. He thinks the business deal for a marriage would be just what both of them need at the moment.

Even as Cole convinces Diana to accept this business marriage (romance reader term - marriage of convenience) he learns he is being investigated by the Securites Commission for fraud on his last business acquisition. As his business life comes under scrutiny and jail is threatened, his personal life takes twists he doesn't expect. He is a loner with a poor family history and few people connections. The Diana he knew as a teen has grown into a fascinating, straightforward woman whose family is everything. Every time he thinks he knows her reaction to a situation, she does something different impresses him more.

This is a romance novel, nothing else. It's easy reading and heart warming. It didn't take the path I expected because Diana is a character who is honest and supportive as well as a strong person. When it comes to her family or her business, she is a confident person. For the romance to have its moments, though, her self doubts come into her own attractiveness to men. The first half of Remember When covers the years Diana and Cole interacted while she was a teen and he was in college working at the stable. The romance takes the second half of the book while the first part sets the scene. Judith McNaught has given the reader a light way to enjoy an afernoon at the beach. This is an enjoyable read.

Notice: Strong sexual content