Review: Heiress Seeking Perfect Husband by Maris Soule

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Title: Heiress Seeking Perfect Husband

Author: Maris Soule

Release Date: October 11, 2016

Publisher: Amazon Digital Services

Category: Contemporary Romance

Type: Digital

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Maris Soule Website

Blurb:

Shannon Powell thinks the interview is over when she mentions that her late husband never wrote her love letters. She isn’t prepared for a headline that says, “Heiress Wants Love Letters.” When the letters start arriving, she decides to answer a few...to even meet some of the men. Clint Dawson isn’t sure what to do. His title is chauffeur, but Shannon’s late husband actually hired Clint to be her bodyguard. She’s said she doesn’t need a bodyguard and has threatened to fire him if that’s his job, which means he must keep Shannon from seeing him as he follows her on her dates. What’s worse, Clint ends up writing letters for one of the would-be suitors. It’s Cyrano de Bergerac all over again as Clint writes the words he’d love to tell her in person, if he only felt worthy.

Excerpt: (from Ms. Soule website)

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“Have you gotten to it yet?”

Shannon Powell looked up from her bowl of cereal and the Sunday edition of the Detroit News and Free Press. Her chauffeur stood on the opposite side of the mahogany dining table, his muscular arms crossed in front of his broad chest. The gesture stretched the fabric of his blue blazer to its limit, while a dark scowl etched creases across his forehead.

“Gotten to what?”she asked. Clint Dawson had been driving her around Grosse Point and the Detroit suburbs for three years. He usually checked with her in the morning to see what her plans were for the day, but rarely did he bother her during breakfast, and never had he sounded so accusing.

“To the ‘Metro’section,”he said, nodding at the newspaper on the table. “The article about you is in there.”

She turned to the section and saw the problem. How could she miss it? Smack dab in the center of the page was her picture . . . and right below was the headline: HEIRESS WANTS LOVE LETTERS.

Immediately, Shannon looked up at Clint. “How could she?”

He raised his eyebrows. “She?”

“The reporter. All through the interview, she assured me that this would be an article about the painting. How could she put that in?”

“You didn’t say it?”

“What I said was John never wrote me love letters. It was an offhanded remark. The interview was over, and she was putting away her notebook and tape recorder. My comment should have been off the record.”

Clint scoffed. “With reporters, nothing’s ‘off the record.’You should know that by now. What led you to say something like that?”

“I . . .”She stopped herself. She’d goofed, but she wasn’t going to make excuses. “That is my business.”

“And my business is to . . .”

He didn’t finish. A muscle in his jaw twitched and his arms dropped to his sides. She cocked her head. “Yes . . .? Your business is to what, Clint?”

She watched him take in a breath. “My business,”he answered, his voice level, “is to drive you places, to tend to your vehicles, and to oversee the estate’s security systems.”

Review:

Shannon Powell is a bit sheltered. Whisked away from a life of hardship and poverty at the young age of seventeen by her new acquaintance, turned husband – John continued to shelter Shannon within their life of luxury; almost keeping her child-like and not allowing her to grow up. But when John suddenly dies, Shannon immediately struggles with finding herself. A feat that can be a real trick when you aren’t privy to the dangers that surround you. 

Clint Dawson is her chauffeur. Sort of. He was actually hired to protect Shannon as a bodyguard following a botched kidnapping attempt. John refused to tell her the truth of the matter and swore Clint to secrecy when he hired him, so neither can Clint reveal the truth. But John has now been gone for over a year and Shannon’s lack of realization as to how much danger she really could be in as an heiress to a vast fortune could be more hazardous than revealing the truth. He knows he can never have her and her knows he has to get away from her. Falling in love with her was never a part of the plan and resisting her is getting more difficult; especially given the new passes she’s recently taken to making toward him. Even though he can’t have her, knowing she’s way too good for him, he struggles with telling her the truth. Possibly the worst part being that he is the unknown writer of her favorite love letters. What started as blackmail of sorts got a bit out of hand. But if she hates him, maybe it will make it easier to leave her … before they cross the threshold of no return.

This was a super-fast, entertaining read. I polished it off in about 3 hours. While there wasn’t a whole lot of time within the space of the pages to dig deep into these characters, I felt Ms. Soule did a very good job of bringing them to life. I understood where they were coming from and why. I also enjoyed watching their misconceptions of self interfere not only before they realized a mutual love, but also after as they struggled with different insecurities. They not only had to prove to each other that the gamble on love was worth it, but had to prove it to themselves and break past what each thought made them unworthy of such a love. 

The book progressed at a steady pace and kept me engaged. The characters were well developed and the secondary characters added the little bit of substance that would have been lacking otherwise. Overall, I enjoyed my time spent with Shannon and Clint. I was a little lost with the kidnapping aspect as it seemed to disappear. Had it been utilized a bit more, I would have welcomed the addition of suspense. Perhaps there wasn’t enough time. Beyond that minor criticism, I would recommend this book. It would be especially nice for the reader who doesn’t have a lot of time to dive into a full-length novel, but is looking to scratch the itch with a quick HEA.

Kindle version provided by Novel Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.