Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It by Lucy Monroe

SURPRISE, SURPRISE
The last woman business consultant Marcus Danvers expects to find at Kline Electronics is Veronica Richards. He’s supposed to be rooting out a corporate spy, not rehashing an old love affair—with the woman who sold out the company they both used to work for and then took off without so much as a kiss goodbye. All the clues point to Ronnie as the firm’s newest mole, which means he’ll have to spend time with the stubbornly reticent—and mouthwateringly sexy—woman he hasn’t been able to forget, and uncover every last thing she has to hide…

FANCY SEEING YOU HERE
It’s just Ronnie’s luck. The one man she’d hoped never to see again is suddenly everywhere she looks—and taking up a starring role in her daydreams, too. Remembering the passion she and Marcus once shared certainly isn’t going to help, though, not when she has so many secrets, and no explanation for the way she left him eighteen months ago—or at least not one he’ll want to hear. The problem is, when Marcus is around all her good intentions go up in smoke…-- Lucy Monroe website

It had been 18 months since Veronica Richards had sold out their company. 18 months since Marcus Danvers had last seen her. And it had been 18 months, 2 weeks and 3 days since Marcus had slept with anyone. All because he couldn't get Veronica, the woman who shared his bed but nothing else, out of his system. Even knowing that she had betrayed him in more than just a professional way, wasn't enough to douse out what he still felt for her. So when Veronica is unexpectedly thrown back into his life during his investigation regarding a corporate spy, all hell breaks loose.

As exptected, Veronica tries to avoid Marcus like the plague, but Marcus is having none of that. From the moment he was appointed to do some digging around at Kline Electronics, he found a sure way back into Veronicas life too. But as determined as he is to catch the spy, (with Veronica's name shooting higher and higher up the suspects list) he also wants answers. Answers to questions that had been weighing down on him, ever since Veronica took off without so much as a thought to him. And what Marcus wants, Marcus gets. Which is what ultimately scares the crap out of Veronica. She knows that if he gets too close, he'll find his way back into her heart and then he's bound to find out the entire truth - something she definitely can't allow to happen. Not if she wants her carefully built life to stay in tact.

I was hooked into this one, right from the beginning. My nosy self had to find out what could have possibly motivated the prim and proper (or so we're made to think) Veronica to cash out on company secrets and then run and hide right after signing a confession. But even more so, I had to find out what became of the initial flirtation between Marcus and Veronica in Come Up & See Me Sometime. And after reading this, I wasn't disappointed.

Marcus Danvers is every bit as arrogant and possessive as Alex Trahern , which should tell you, that I absolutely loved him too. What I also loved was that even though Marcus knew that there was a significant chance that Veronica could very well be the corporate spy and even though she had professionally and emotionally betrayed him, he still wanted to protect Veronica any way he could - he cared about her even when he didn't want to. It was also nice to see that the heroine didn't have to be the only one who was vulnerable in this book. Marcus had some moments when his insecurities came to the surface..like when he admitted how he felt about her betrayal and desertion, or about his childhood.

I thought Veronica Richards was a likeable heroine, especially realising the motive behind her actions and the heavy responsibilities she had to handle all alone. Having solely raised her sister after their parents deaths, battling serious health issues and a baby - my admiration for her raised a fair few notches. I can't even begin to imagine how difficult or lonely it must have been for her. Or how the weight of guilt and worry consumed her. It doesn't mean those things completely excuse her choices and actions, but it did help me understand the situation more. And cheer her on for her HEA.

The only minor thing I didn't like was the overuse of endearments throughout the book. Don't get me wrong, I love to hear couples using endearments here and there, sometimes it even manages to make me awwww...but I just found too many "baby's" for my liking.

Bottom line: Finding out what became of Marcus and Veronica's hook up in Come Up & See Me Sometime , is definitely worth it. If you're looking for a great contemp read, I suggest giving this one a go. :o)

4.5/5

Related books:
Come Up & See Me Sometime