How can you explain attraction? You can't, but strange as it may seem there definitely was something about Major David Lancaster that made Lady Jocelyn realize this was a man of great substance. At the ripe young age of four, Jocelyn learned a disheartening lesson about love. At this very impressionable age she lost people she loved, including her mother, and was unable to truly comprehend the situations that compelled these people to leave. So Jocelyn squarely blamed herself. Imagine growing up thinking you were defective and incapable of getting someone to truly love you forever. Rather than face losing any more people she loved, Jocelyn managed her life so any potential suitor was summarily dismissed as being after her fortune and title.

When her father's will was read, Jocelyn was shocked to learn that he put in a proviso that for her to keep things status quo she marry by the time she reached her twenty-fifth birthday. She felt utterly betrayed by the father who had been so dear to her and yet had to admit that their relationship was tainted after her mother left. There was an unwritten law in the house prohibiting mention of her mother and since Jocelyn felt her life teetered at an abyss there was no way she was going to broach the subject. Marriage just wasn't in the cards since she would never put herself in such a vulnerable position and yet here she was scheming to secure her future. Jocelyn was a warm and caring gentle woman with a wide range of friends.

Fate stepped in when she met David whose battle injuries were considered life threatening. David was resigned to his imminent death but worried about his sister's future. This bargain to wed would allow David to die in peace assuring his sister Sally and Jocelyn's future. But no one would imagine the lengths Sally would go to keep her dear brother alive. Never underestimate the love and bond between a sister and brother. For Jocelyn, security was of utmost importance but David yearned for passion and love. Since their bargain did not include any sort of real relationship or commitment it seemed inevitable that the marriage of convenience end. Neither expected that as they spent time together this relationship would become a friendship based on caring and trust. David recognized that he was quickly becoming enamored of this wife of his but at odds how to win her love in return. Jocelyn was determined to disavow any feelings she was developing towards David. She had a plan which she fully intended to follow through with and nothing was going to spoil it.

Putney provides a snapshot of a time where life often depended on miracles since medical science was still in its infancy. Her characters always have such great dimensions, and such is the case with THE BARGAIN. This story is a true ensemble piece. This reissue has lose ties to Putney's Fallen Angel series.