Hank Mallone knows he's in trouble when Maggie Toone agrees to pretend to be his wife in order to improve his rogue's reputation. Will his harebrained scheme to get a bank loan for his business backfire once Maggie arrives in his small Vermont town and lets the gossips take a look?

Maggie never expected her employer to be drop-dead handsome, but she's too intrigued by his offer to say no . . . and too eager to escape a life that made her feel trapped. The deal is strictly business, both agree, until Hank turns out to be every fantasy she ever had.

The Prospective Husband with a Racy Past... — Hank Mallone spotted trouble when she sat down and said she'd marry him! Maggie Toone was a tempting firecracker who'd make his life delightful hell if he let her pretend to be his wife in order to improve his rogue's reputation. Would his harebrained scheme to get a bank loan for his business backfire once Maggie arrived in his small Vermont town and let the gossips take a look? Maggie never expected her employer to be drop-dead handsome, or to affect her like a belt of bourbon on her empty stomach, but she was too intrigued by his offer to say no... and too eager to escape a life that made her feel trapped. The deal was strictly business, both agreed... until Hank turned out to be every fantasy she'd ever had, and Maggie was so bright, funny, and downright irresistible that Hank fell head over heels in love! While the town watched, Hank wooed his wife with a charm that had never failed him yet. Could he make her dreams real by proving she belonged in his arms?



Marianne (Australia) (2016/12/27):
3 stars

Wife For Hire is a pre-Plum novel by popular American author, Janet Evanovich. It is the third book in the Elsie Hawkins series, on whom, Evanovich says, Grandma Mazur was modelled. Fans of the Plum series will be interested to know that in this book, Grandma Mazur’s famous big gun in the handbag has its prototype.

Maggie Toone needs to get away from Riverside, away from her mom and Aunt Marvina: she needs somewhere quiet to write her novel. Her Aunt Kitty was once a madam in a brothel, and she left Maggie her diaries. Hank Mallone’s job offer sounds just the ticket: pretend to be his wife for six months while she writes her book.

Hank Mallone needs to seem respectable: everyone in Skogen, Vermont knows about his rogue reputation, but he’s serious about his apple orchard and the cider press, bottling plant and apple pie bakery he wants to build. But the President of the bank (Hank’s dad) won’t approve his loan. With Maggie Toone as his wife he will look stable and settled.

This is a cute romance with plenty of zany characters. Instant attraction between hero and heroine, a bit of sexy action and a real marriage proposal make this a fun tale which, unfortunately, drags on just a bit too long.