Review: A Natural Father by Sarah Mayberry

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Harlequin Superromance, #1551
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero:  Dominic Bianco
Heroine: Lucy Basso
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: March 10, 2009
Started On: March 27, 2010
Finished On: March 27, 2010

I seem to be on a Sarah Mayberry marathon after starting with her latest novel Her Best Friend which I reviewed around two to three days back. Though her novels are short contemporaries there is always something extra that Ms. Mayberry adds to the mixture that makes her books hard to put down and harder to forget once you have finished reading them.

This story from Harlequin Superromance is also an enchanting piece of work. The story focuses on two families who live in an Italian community in Melbourne, Australia. Lucy finds herself pregnant and Marcus her long term boyfriend of eight years and the father of the baby had abandoned her and moved onto greener pastures with his yoga instructor. With an unforeseeable future, Lucy is determined to do right by her baby. Her sister Rosie and her husband Andrew together with their mom Sophie tries to help Lucy along.

Lucy’s own business which just barely started off which dealt with delivering fresh groceries to restaurants around the neighborhood brings her into contact everyday with Dom, the son of the owner of her wholesaler. Dom has always had an interest in Lucy but the timing had never seemed to be right for him to show his interest in her. Dom had just recently being divorced and was finally thinking about approaching Lucy when he finds out that she is pregnant.

Problems with Dom’s father on the business front ends up Dom asking to be a partner in Lucy’s business since Lucy seemed to desperately need the capital needed to boost her business. Though Lucy and Dom are both very aware of one another, Lucy doesn’t want the added complication of another man in her life. But Dom and his patience, care and attentiveness all pretty soon convinces Lucy to give him a chance.

However things are far from over when Andrew and Rosie have troubles in their marriage which nearly drives them apart, which in turn causes Dom to pull away thinking that its the best thing he could do for Lucy rendering them both heartbroken. In the end its a happily ever after for all of them which never fails to put a smile on my face.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | BooksOnBoard | Kobo

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Review: Back To You by Sarah Mayberry

Format: E-book
Read with: Amazon Kindle
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Hot City Nights Anthalogy
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero:  Cal MacKenzie
Heroine: Becky Taylor
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: July 8, 2008
Started On: March 26, 2010
Finished On: March 27, 2010

This was a title released in a collection of  short novels bundled up as “Hot City Nights” together with two titles from two of my other favorite Harlequin authors Emilie Rose and Sandra Marton. I haven’t read the other two novels in this collection but am thinking I might give it a go since Sandra Marton and Emilie Rose do write wonderful romances.

Becky Taylor and Cal MacKenzie had the hottest and wildest time of their lives for four weeks when they were at the university together at the tender age of 20. Cal had broken things off with Becky quoting that he wasn’t ready to jump into another serious relationship when he had barely managed to step away from the first serious relationship of his life.

Ten years later, Cal and Becky meet again during a reunion. Becky is at first shocked to find Cal there when he is supposed to be in London with his wife. But unknown to Becky, Cal has been back in Sydney for over a year and is divorced. What happens to  be a chance encounter for Becky isn’t necessarily that for Cal. Cal had come to the reunion wanting to see whether Becky would show up and whether she could still make him feel the same way as he did when they both were 20 years old and going hot and heavy.

Ms. Mayberry has done a splendid job I would say in creating a short story such as this one intense enough so that I as the reader didn’t feel like I had been cheated out of something that could have been better. The intense connection between Becky and Cal burns stronger than ever and before they both know it, they are going hot and heavy with each other once more.

Becky thinking that she and Cal would never get their happily ever after decides to cool things off when she finds out that she is pregnant with Cal’s child. And Cal proves to Becky once and for all that he is committed to loving Becky for the rest of their lives if given half the chance.

A sweet and hot read you wouldn’t want to put down.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes&Noble

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