For our April book club we chose a romance novel by Polly Dugan. She is a childhood friend of one of our members and we like to support local authors.
A sweetheart deal in the business world is an abnormally favorable contractual arrangement and that definition fits with this story perfectly. It’s revolves around Leo McGeary, his wife, Audrey, and his best friend, Garrett.
During an evening of hard drinking, Leo forces Garrett to sign a scrap of paper that states that Garrett will marry Audrey in the event of Leo’s death. Garrett doesn’t want to sign it, but Leo persists. Leo is a firefighter and knows the odds of something happening to him are higher than the average person, and with three sons to raise, Leo wants to make sure his family is taken care of.
The inevitable happens and Garrett quits his job at a college in Boston and moves in with Audrey and her sons in Portland to finish the addition that Leo had started in their home. Garrett and Audrey’s friendship grows and complications set in with Audrey’s sons and with Garrett’s unease about the scrap of paper Leo had him sign, which he brought with him from Boston. (more…)