Heidi Hart

Back before we had kids and thus sometimes had time to watch movies, every once in a while my wife and I would watch something that made us both so happy that when we came to the end, one of us would cry, "Again! Again!" and we'd start the movie over again. That was me with this book: I read the last page, then turned immediately to page one and read it all over. It's a quick enough read that I could read it twice in one day (I was home on maternity leave). 

Violet is Elizabeth's best friend; Martin is Elizabeth's fiancé. Apart from Elizabeth, they have nothing in common and can't stand each other: he's stuffy and conservative, she's reckless and impulsive. When Elizabeth calls off the engagement and flees to Australia, though, Martin and Violet unexpectedly find solace--and heat, and eventually love--together.

Usually books where the main characters start off fighting like cats and dogs don't do anything for me: either the initial animosity seems contrived just to set up dramatic conflict, or it seems too pat and simplistic that people who were at each other's throats should suddenly fall for one another. This story avoids those pitfalls: the animosity to rapprochement is deftly and believably plotted in a way that allows both Vi and Martin to be true to their characters.