GRR Reviews The Marriage Trap (The Mackenzies Book by Diana Fraser

The Marriage Trap is a woman-in-peril / protector romantic suspense with a good amount of push-pull between the two characters. I find the weird-will trope a bit nonsensical, but overall it's a lot of fun.

Gemma Winter walked away from her life in London, her life under the strict control of her boyfriend Paul, who seems to have underworld connections. He gets insanely jealous of her even talking to any other men. She fled to the ends of the Earth... ALL the way to New Zealand, when her friend promised she can stay at a hut that she hadn't seen in a decade. She hopes to start anew. But just hours after landing, she was forcibly rescued by a hard cowboy Callum Mackenzie when a flash flood washed away her rental car and most of her belongings she managed to bring. And Gemma is allergic to controlling alpha types now... or is she?// Callum's wife died and since then he had not desired love, preferring solace on his land. He dreamed of reclaiming the land gambled away by his great-grandfather, but there's a weird will on it that prevent it from being sold. When the woman he just rescued mentioned that land and that she wanted to live on it, it immediately intrigued him, even as the storm forced them to stay together in the cottage, and they succumbed to their attraction. But the consequences of spending those passionate hours together will last a lifetime... to joy and sorrow... to relief and regret... as they both needed to face their worst fears in order to find what they truly want from life.

The psychopathic BF was written nicely, not the physically abusive kind, but enough to scare you into complying, that you're conditioned to obey when the tone turned sour. The complicated will and the tortuous path the two had to dance around each other for the rest of the book was interesting. And obviously, the psycho ex showed up for the end. I guess I don't really understand the weird will or the reconciliation. But I like the push-pull.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Can a woman who ran across the globe from her jealous BF find love in New Zealand with a handsome cowboy who saved her?

Tropes: woman in peril, protector, weird will, widower, forced proximity, triangle, scars, evil ex

Overall Rating:  4/5