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Rating: 
Summary: Second chances -- Highly recommended
Review: His father always said that his playboy second son would come to a bad end. A prison term proved his father right. But now Drew Pierce has paid his debt to society, serving the maximum time allowable. Six years ago Drew had been under orders from his father to cut corners wherever possible. He chose to repair a faulty valve on a propane gas tank instead of replacing it. A conflagration resulted, with several injuries, the loss of most of that year's crop, and a fire that spread to Stone's End. Between hefty fines and legal fees, the Pierces faced financial ruin in the community. With Drew incarcerated, they closed the sawmill, departing for more lucrative sites. Only a few days out of prison, Drew sits out the rainy night in a diner just before closing time. Olivia DeAngelis enters, stranded when her car breaks down. Overly friendly, rough-looking customers lead her to appealing to Drew to pretend to know her. She ordinary avoids men, which leads to the great comment: "It wasn't that she didn't like men; she simply didn't want one of her own." Drew does not want to be anyone's rescuer; yet he finds himself drawn into Olivia's life almost against his will. He attempts to repair her car. Since they are headed to the same destination, she insists on providing him with a ride. But the car breaks down again, stranding them together in an old cabin. Soon Olivia realizes that Drew would make an ideal husband to fulfill her grandfather's will. The terms of her grandfather's will demand that she marry to inherit Stone's End. For too long Drew had relied on his family's money and reputation for an easy life. Prison has changed him profoundly. Marriage to Olivia affords him the opportunity to start again, to give something back to the community his actions damaged. He'd originally planned to pick up his things and leave the area forever, but now he makes a commitment instead to help restore this town that once relied upon the sawmill for economic support. Strong chemistry raises the possibility of more than a marriage of convenience, though Drew doubts any woman like Olivia could truly ever want him. Author Lisette Belisle presents a powerful tale in THE WEDDING BARGAIN. This marriage of convenience plot is striking because it gives each partner equal power in the relationship. Olivia needs to marry in order to meet the terms of her grandfather's will, and Drew needs the timber on Olivia's land in order to supply his sawmill. Even the purchase of the sawmill becomes an equal partnership when Olivia offers her own money to meet the auction price. While both partners are hesitant to reveal their inner landscapes, both feel a strong attraction from the moment they meet; both are wounded by the past; both need healing. In addition, Drew is an outstanding hero in his own right. He's served five years in prison for his part in an explosion at the migrant camp, paying his debt to society. His return home provides another kind of accountability-to the people whose lives he damaged. Indeed, one of the most powerful scenes of the book occurs when he stands before a woman whose gone deaf as a result of the explosion. Highly recommended.
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