Review: A Deal in Her Pocket – Brenda W. Clough

Genre: Historical

LGBTQ+ Category: Ace, Gay, Poly

Reviewer: Linda, Paranormal Romance Guild

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About The Book

A man who hates surprises shouldn’t fall in love. And a woman who’s running a nation can’t dally with him. Right?

Star’s royal brothers bailed out after WW2, leaving her in charge. Now she discovers that a woman who’s running a nation has to be careful about looking for love. How many Mr. Rights does she have to dig up, before she can find one that makes everybody happy?

The Review

Star (Ziya) is the ruler of Singii, a kingdom in Asia. McKinlay (Mack) Spencer is an American lawyer. They have signed a deal with each other, but it’s not what you would expect. Star was the victim of rape during World War II, and Mack’s wife walked out on him for another man. Both needed a way to put the past behind them, so Mack came up with a perfect solution. Mack would teach Star about sex, and she would teach him how to cheat at cards.

Their deal is simple – no-strings-attached sex with no chance of marriage’ and no saying the word “love.” Mack puts the deal in writing, and they both sign it. Unfortunately, after a while, Mack can no longer keep to the letter of the deal. He asks her to marry him. As the Ziya, she is required to marry an Asian, which Mack is not.

Star is white, and is only the temporary ruler until her half-brother Stephen’s sons are old enough to take over. Since Stephen’s boys are very young, she takes her position very seriously, and does everything she can for Singii. Star has found who she believes is the perfect man for her, Jay Tinnie. She loves him, but isn’t in love with him. Then Jay turns her down.

Jay cares for Star, but he won’t reveal why he can’t marry her; he has a secret. Mack sees the handwriting on the wall and knows that it is time to break the deal they have and move on. He knows she must marry, and he knows it will never be him. Mack requests a transfer – he is an agent and works with Shell Oil.

While Star keeps pushing Jay to marry her, Mack is working on moving on. She knows that Mack is going to leave but begs him to do two favors for her: find out who her biological father was, and get information on Jay and his refusal to marry her. Mack can’t say no to her, and so he agrees.

Mack is jealous of Jay, and wants to put a stop to his possible relationship with Star.

Mack finds the answers, and must decide whether to reveal them, or just let them go. As a small country, Singii is working at getting its independence, and Star is counting on Mack to help.

She loves Mack and misses him when he isn’t with her, but she has no choice in the matter. Her people will not accept a foreigner, so it will take some innovative thinking to solve the problem.

This book is full of political wheeling and dealing, sex, surprises and secrets. Four stars.

The Reviewer

I am an avid reader the mother of 3 sons and grandmother to seven grandchildren. Since retiring I have been doing more reading while volunteering as a CASA worker. CASA is an organization that works with the family court system to ensure that children are in the best living situation. There are way too many children that get overlooked in the foster care system and I visit homes and make visits to the parents. I was born and raised in New York and my husband of 50 years and I live in Upstate New York.

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