Fake engagements!

Dukes to the Left of Me, Princes to the Right - Kieran Kramer (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2010)

Crush on You - Christie Ridgway (Berkley Sensation, 2010)

Sorry folks, this is how it's going to be for awhile. In spite of all my past, present, and future mockery, few things are as stress-relieving for me as light-hearted romance novels.

And this time, instead of fake marriages, there are fake engagements! (Well, sort of.) Huzzah! First up is Poppy, who has gotten out of a slew of proposals by talking up her imaginary beau, the Duke of Drummond. This gets awkward when he shows up and pretty much backs her into a corner for his own purposes. Hence they are engaged, which infuriates Poppy, until it doesn't. Oh, and some Russian twins have their amorous eyes on the two of them as well. Good times.

Next is Alessandra, who deals more in almost-weddings. Tragedy marred what was supposed to be her wedding day, so it seems a little weird that she's refitting her family winery into a hot new wedding locale. But that's what you have to do to save the family business, sometimes. And then there's Penn, whose backstory is absurd, but he's the handsome host of one of those heartwarming home remodeling shows, and has reasons to help out with the winery. But they are not the most interesting couple in the book. The B plot here is superb. Clare's upcoming nuptials are the winery's path to salvation, but she's starting to look at her long-time BFF in a new way. So yeah, the fake engagement isn't particularly obvious from this synopsis, but it's sort of there, I promise.

And I'm going back to the library tomorrow :) On the other hand, I'm also reading Nabokov's memoir, so I think they even each other out.