Wild About Harry by Linda Lael Miller- a 1991 Silhouette Desire publication.
Amy lost her husband, Tyler very suddenly and now two years have past. She is working and raising her two children trying to convince herself that is enough. When she "sees" Tyler and the two begin to have conversations, Amy believes she is losing her mind. But, everything Tyler predicts seems to come true. One of those predictions is that an old dear friend of his from Australia will be paying Amy a visit. Sure enough the wealthy, handsome, charming Harry arrives as promised.
Amy and Harry embark on a whirlwind romance falling in love very quickly. However, real life intrudes and just as suddenly the two are having problems. Where is Tyler now that Amy needs him the most? Why isn't he helping?
This classic romance is really sweet and very much a product of it's time period. It's hard to believe that in the early 90's men were still adjusting to the changing roles women were embracing and daring to achieve. Amy was a woman ahead of her time in many ways. She rose to the occasion when push came to shove and Harry didn't know how to deal with it. There are compromises to be made and Tyler will have to intervene a few times before all the kinks can be worked out, but Amy and Harry and their combined family will enjoy a HEA and Tyler will be able to move on peacefully.
Harry is someone that I liked at first, but his true colors surface and wow! He was the very definition of sexist. So, of course I found that so off putting I couldn't warm back up to him. That is sometimes the problem with reading older contemporary romances. We tend to forgive a man for his actions if the setting is in ancient history, but with contemporary we are much harder on the man. Men did NOT want their wives to be as confident and successful as they were and often pouted if the wife wanted a career instead of pushing out babies and running a household. This book is a reminder of how difficult it was for women on so many fronts. Just a little over twenty years have passed since this book was written and there are many issues women are still fighting. However, I think we have made a great many positive steps since this book was written. Attitudes have relaxed and men have learned that having confident women with an education and a career is something desirable and worthy of respect. I don't think they would like going back to the way things were in 1991 either.
As to the romance it started off pretty hot, but cooled down a little too fast. The remainder of the book was more drama than romance. Linda Lael Miller is a seasoned author now with many series and novels under her belt. In fact, she is one of my favorite contemporary western romance novelist, a genre she has carved out a niche for herself in.
This one gets a C+