The Marriage Contract by Katee Robert Series: The O'Malleys #1
Published by Forever
Publication Date: June 2nd 2015
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 368
Format: eBook
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New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Katee Robert begins a smoking hot new series about the O’Malley family-wealthy, powerful, dangerous and seething with scandal.
Teague O’Malley hates pretty much everything associated with his family’s name. And when his father orders him to marry Callista Sheridan to create a “business” alliance, Teague’s ready to tell his dad exactly where he can stuff his millions. But then Teague actually meets his new fiancée, sees the bruises on her neck and the fight still left in her big blue eyes, and vows he will do everything in his power to protect her.
Everyone knows the O’Malleys have a dangerous reputation. But Callie wasn’t aware just what that meant until she saw Teague, the embodiment of lethal grace and coiled power. His slightest touch sizzles through her. But the closer they get, the more trouble they’re in. Because Callie’s keeping a dark secret-and what Teague doesn’t know could get him killed.
Review
Passion and duty collide in a very spectacular way in this opening installment of the series. THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT is the start to what promises to be a great series, in my opinion and has everything that’s to love about romance – hope and possibilities.
Teague O’Malley and Callista Sheridan have been born into a life where they have no choices and are expected to dance to the whims of their fathers. Born to two of the top three Irish crime families in Boston, their lives are all about duty. For Callista, even more so because the death of her brother has left her as the sole heir to her father’s empire and she must step up to show that she is worthy of taking over. With the constant jostling for territory among these three families, a union between any two would be advantageous to them and detrimental to the third so the plans for Callie to marry Teague after the death of her fiancé (the heir to the third family) signal the start of a war among all the families.
Teague detests everything associated with his family’s name and is determined to get his younger siblings away from their power-hungry and ruthless father who has no compunction about using his own children to further his agenda. For her own part, Callie is determined to consolidate the family’s power and protect her men a lot more than her father is currently doing and she has plans just waiting to be implemented. As she gets to know Teague more and more, she realizes that he may just be the partner to help her achieve her goals. For both of them, the sexual attraction between them is unexpected but very welcome.
Teague is a very protective man by nature and his interest in Callie means that she’s become one of the many he’s determined to protect. However, Callie is strong, fearless and stubborn and does not need or want that protection. In spite of their chemistry and enjoyment of each other, Callie and Teague are not open and honest with each other and the lack of trust is understandable given their families and their history.
Callie and Teague’s struggle to accept the dictates of their fathers really emphasized that the lack of choice in the decisions affecting their lives is reality for some people and gave me a whole new appreciation for freedom. I may be in the minority but I’m not overly fond of the gun fights and killings of mafia lore, so even though the gritty and dangerous underworld is highlighted, I really love that Ms. Robert focused on the tender and heart-tugging romance between Teague and Callie. I think that the most poignant thing about this story is that that two people who have resigned themselves to their duty to their families are able to find love in the midst of that duty.
THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT is an intense, sexy, fast and engaging page-turner and I’m really excited about the next book in the series.
About Katee Robert
Katee Robert learned to tell stories at her grandpa’s knee. Her favorites then were the rather epic adventures of The Three Bears, but at age twelve she discovered romance novels and never looked back.
Though she dabbled in writing, life got in the way—as it often does—and she spent a few years traveling, living in both Philadelphia and Germany. In between traveling and raising her two wee ones, she had the crazy idea that she’d like to write a book and try to get published.
Her first novel was an epic fantasy that, God willing, will never see the light of day. From there, she dabbled in YA and horror, before finally finding speculative romance. Because, really, who wouldn’t want to write entire books about the smoking-hot relationships between two people?
She now spends her time—when not lost in Far Reach worlds—playing imaginary games with her wee ones, writing, ogling men, and planning for the inevitable zombie apocalypse.
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