Barely Mistaken (Harlequin Temptation #886)

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Synopsis

Small town librarian Olivia Cooper grew up with the stigma of being the daughter of the town drunk, so she's worked hard to gain the respect of the townspeople. That includes being willing to marry wealthy Adam Rutledge who she thinks can give her that, even though he utterly bores her and his kisses are completely uninspiring. The evening of the local costume party, Adam seemingly transforms into the daring, seductive man Olivia has been longing for, but with the dim lights and her not wearing her glasses, little does she know that it's actually Adam's brother, Luke, who gives her the most exciting night of her life both in bed and out. But even though he's everything she desires in a man, he can't give Olivia the one thing she craves above all else: respectability.

Luke may be a Rutledge, but he's the family black sheep with a reputation as the town bad boy. He's had a thing for Olivia since high school, but never felt good enough for a nice girl like her. After overhearing his father and Adam discussing a shady plan and realizing that his greedy brother is only wooing Olivia to get something from her, Luke decides to take Adam's place at the costume ball, hoping to find out more about what's really going on. He never intended for things to go as far with Olivia as they did, but once he's gotten her into bed, he doesn't want to let her go. However, once she realizes she's bedded the wrong guy, she doesn't want anything to do with him. Luckily his construction company is building a new addition to her library, which keeps him close enough to continue pressing his suit. It seems to be working until Adam lies to Olivia about who was really trying to take advantage of her and then she doesn't know who to believe.

Review

Barely Mistaken is a stand-alone contemporary romance, but it's part of the long-running, multi-author The Wrong Bed theme series from the Harlequin Temptation line in which all the stories center around couples who find themselves bedding the "wrong" person. Olivia is the youngest daughter of the town drunk who has spent most of her life trying to distance herself from the rest of her family and be a "good girl" so that the townspeople will see her differently. She now has a respectable job as the local librarian and recently started dating wealthy golden boy Adam Rutledge. In the month that they've been together, he's barely kissed her a few times and never set her heart fluttering the way she wants, but he's everything she thinks she needs until the night of a big costume ball. Little does she know that Adam's brother, Luke, has taken his place in the pirate costume Adam was supposed to wear. In the darkened ballroom, without her glasses, Olivia can't tell the difference except that suddenly "Adam" is now incredibly seductive and his kisses set her on fire. Luke has had a thing for Olivia since high school, so when he overhears his brother and father talking about how they're using Olivia for something, he has to find out what their plan is. Knowing that Adam is going out of town, he takes his brother's place at the ball. He never intended for things to go as far as they do with Olivia, but before he realizes what's happening he's had the most incredible sex of his life. When she discovers his real identity, though, she starts giving him the cold shoulder. Luke isn't about to be deterred so easily, but getting past Olivia's hangups about needing the town to respect her and getting her to see the truth about what his brother's real purpose is in dating her prove challenging.

Olivia's family has always been the subject of their small town's gossip mill. Her daddy had a reputation as the town drunk. Now her brother seems to have headed down the same path and her sister is notorious for changing men as often as she changes her nail polish. Wanting more for herself, Olivia has tried to cultivate a good girl image, always dressing conservatively and becoming a librarian. She just recently started dating Adam. He's perfectly boring and his kisses are uninspiring, but him being part a wealthy family and one of the most respected people in town is exactly what Olivia thinks she needs to get the townspeople to see her differently. The night of the costume ball, she thinks that Adam has finally become the exciting man she's been craving when he turns on the seductive charm, but it's not until she's had sex with him twice that she realizes it wasn't Adam, but his brother, Luke, the bad boy, black sheep of the Rutledge family. Olivia is upset with him, but even now knowing the truth, the sex was so mind-blowing that she still desires him. However, he doesn't fit in with her plans for respectability, so she blows him off. With Luke building a new addition to the library, though, she can't avoid him, and gradually finds herself warming up to him and eventually realizing that she's been hiding the real her behind a facade that only Luke can see through. But when Adam lies about Luke being the one who was using her to get to her father's prime property, she might fall into his trap.

I love librarian characters, so Olivia was very appealing to me. But there were two things about her that were a little off for me. The first was the extreme measures she took to "exorcise" Luke from her house after their love-making session. It was admittedly being played for laughs, but I just couldn't help wondering how she had the money to replace expensive items on a small-town librarian's salary. The other is that she maintains her desire for respectability over potential happiness with Luke for a little too long to the point that it became rather repetitive. But otherwise I liked her and was happy when she finally decided that she wasn't going to let what other people thought of her rule her life anymore.

With his reputation as a hellion, Luke has never really been accepted by either his family or the townspeople. He's gone a separate direction from the family business and created his own successful construction company. Ever since they were in high school, he's had a thing for Olivia but he never thought he was good enough for her. He kissed her once when she seemed upset about what some means girls were saying about her, but when she fled immediately afterward, he took it as a rejection. When he discovers his brother is using Olivia for some nefarious plan, he has to know exactly what's going on, so he decides to masquerade in his brother's pirate costume at the ball, hoping to get information. Instead, he finds himself with Olivia and can't seem to resist the magnetic pull she has over him. He didn't intend for things to go so far, but before he knows it, he's in her bed and she's everything he's ever dreamed of. When she finally realizes he's not Adam, she's understandably upset, but knowing that if he tells her that Adam is just using her, she won't believe him, he keeps quiet about that, hoping to find more information to back up his claim. In the meantime, his construction work on the new library wing keeps them in close proximity where he continues to press his suit. Eventually Olivia starts to warm up to him, but when Adam twists the truth about who was using whom, Luke realizes that perhaps Olivia's need for the respectability she's always craved may trump her desire for him.

Overall, I liked Luke a lot. He may be the town bad boy, but when he puts his mind to genuinely wooing Olivia, he can be pretty sweet. The only thing I wasn't entirely sure about was him essentially bowing out and taking the heat when his brother started lying. On the one hand, it was rather selfless in that he really thought he was giving Olivia the opportunity to have the respect she desired. On the other hand, he knew that Adam was just using Olivia to get her father's land, so a part of me wanted him to fight harder to protect her. But then there's also the issue of him not feeling quite worthy of her and him having fought for the whole story already, which made for a complicated situation that gave me mixed feelings.

Overall, I very much enjoyed Barely Mistaken. I came close to giving it keeper status, but a couple of things held me back, mainly Olivia fighting her feelings for Luke and taking so long to realize the truth about him and Luke not fighting harder to keep her. I understood the underlying issues that were causing Olivia's endless internal conflict loop between desiring respectability and desiring a life with Luke, but it just went on a little too long. Then Luke surprised me with his almost easy capitulation when his brother started lying to Olivia about him. Again, I understood his reasons, but given Adam's true motives, a part of me wanted Luke to fight it to save her from a potentially unpleasant fate. Sure, Olivia might not have believed him, but at least he would have tried. Otherwise, I didn't really have any other problems with the story. Some readers may be off-put by Luke sleeping with his brother's girlfriend, but given that Adam didn't really care about Olivia and had ulterior motives in dating her, I didn't view that as a problem. Still others might be bothered by the fact that he slept with her when she didn't fully realize it was him, but again, it wasn't an issue for me because I felt like deep down a part of her knew something was up when he wasn't behaving like Adam usually did. Your mileage may vary though. But for me, Barely Mistaken was a good story with some lighthearted moments, fun innuendo, and steamy interludes. This was my first read by Jennifer LaBrecque. It may not have been perfect, but it was good enough to make me interested in reading more from this author.

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Themes

Amazing Animals
Book Lovers
Opposite Sides of the Track
Physically Ordinary Heroines