Originally published on December 17, 2013, The Dimitrakos Proposition by Lynne Graham is a marriage of convenience themed romance, featuring Acheron Dimitrakos (Ash), a man who is skeptical of relationships and a commitment-phobe to boot, who meets his match in Tabitha (Tabby) Glover, an independent woman with a difficult past. When Tabby becomes co-guardian to Amber, a six-month old orphaned child, the last thing that Tabby expects is an outrageous marriage proposal from Ash which sets the tone of the story.

Ash is the epitome of a Lynne Graham alpha hero—Greek, devastatingly handsome, and emotionally scarred. As the founder of DT Industries, Ash is a self-made billionaire who clawed his way to success despite a traumatic childhood spent in foster care. Cynical and emotionally detached, Ash believes love and family are myths—until a legal quirk in his father’s will forces him to marry or lose half of his company.

Tabby too spent her formative years in foster care, which makes her extra protective of Amber when she faces the same fate. When Ash proposes marriage to fulfill the conditions of his father’s will, it leaves Tabby in an untenable position given her desperation to retain custody of Amber. Thus marks the conflict between the two, which creates both sexual and emotional tension, giving readers some of the classic Ms. Graham feels to the story.

What neither expects is for their mutual antagonism to grow into sexual heat, and for that to stoke the fires of an emotional connection that neither can seem to deny. As is signature Graham, Tabby is a virgin with little to zero experience with the likes of men such as Ash, who is a serial womanizer, reaping the benefit of fast and loose women to satiate his hunger for physical intimacy.

Amber’s role as the heart of the story is beautifully portrayed. Her presence forces Ash to confront the pain of his childhood and re-imagine what family could mean. The custody battle adds a layer of emotional urgency, making the stakes feel real.

While I liked the overall premise of the story, I found myself questioning where Tabby was coming from. I must admit that what takes place between Ash and Tabby often had me bursting into laughter, but at the same time, I found myself piqued by how stubborn Tabby was under certain circumstances. While some readers may enjoy her spirited nature, I find that quality to be a bit tiresome when it does not add any value to the story.

The Dimitrakos Proposition, while it had all the right elements, I am sad to say, did not invoke the right emotions in me. Nevertheless, I would recommend it for those who love the fiery at heart stories from Lynne Graham.

Final Verdict: A marriage of convenience turning into a lifetime of love and commitment; delivers on the drama that we all look for in Ms. Graham’s novels!

Favorite Quotes

Acheron stared her up and down, his beautiful face curiously intent. Heat blossomed in her cheeks as he studied her with smouldering dark eyes, his tension palpable. Desire flickered low in her pelvis like kindling yearning for a spark, and she felt that craving shoot through every fibre of her body, from the dryness of her mouth to the swelling sensitivity of her nipples and the honeyed heat between her thighs. It made her feel light-headed and oddly intoxicated, and she blinked rapidly, severely disconcerted by the feelings.
‘That will do,’ he pronounced thickly.

Acheron closed a hand around her wrist and tugged her into the corridor, shutting the door behind him. ‘I like what I see,’ he informed her softly.
Tabby stared up at him with fulminating force, noting the dark shadow of stubble outlining his stubborn jaw line and how that overnight growth enhanced his sheer masculinity. ‘But I’m not offering myself.’
‘No?’ Acheron dipped his handsome head and nibbled at the corner of her inviting mouth, invading with his tongue as soon as she parted her succulent lips. Without further ado, he hauled her up against him, hands weaving across her slender back and then sliding up to glance over the taut peaks of her breasts in a caress that made her shiver.

He was very, very sexy, she acknowledged dimly, as if it was an excuse, and as he hoisted her higher to get a better grip on her slight body he let go of her hands and, instead of using them to get free of his hold, she balanced one on a broad shoulder and delved the fingers of the other into the springy, luxuriant depths of his black hair. With a guttural sound low in his throat he brought her down on something soft and yielding and then sealed her fast to the hard, driving length of his powerful frame.

‘You’re so tight,’ he rasped, shifting with an athletic lift of his lean hips to surge into her again, deeper, further, harder in a technique that met every physical craving she hadn’t known she had. ‘I’m incredibly turned on.’
The flood of sensation returned as he withdrew and plunged back into her again, ensuring that she felt every inch of his penetration. The intensity of sensation shocked her and the powerful contracting bands in her pelvis turned her into a fizzing firework of wild excitement. He moved faster and she clung, riding out the electrifying storm of passion with a heart that seemed to be thumping in her eardrums. The explosion of raw pleasure that followed stunned her as the inner convulsions of her body clenched her every muscle tight as a fist. He vented a shuddering groan of completion while the waves of delight went on and on and on, coursing through her thoroughly fulfilled body.

‘Hot, tight, ready,’ Acheron growled hungrily in her ear as she arched back into his lean, hard body, instinctively seeking the fulfilment that only he could give while he angled away from her to don a condom. ‘I’ve been fantasising about this for days.’
‘Days?’ she parroted in surprise as he lifted her undamaged leg to spread her open for him.
‘Every night since that first night, every day I saw you in that teeny tiny bikini, glyka mou,’ Acheron confided, tilting her forward, long fingers tightening their hold on her slender thigh as he entered her with a groan of intense masculine satisfaction.
A muffled scream of pleasure was torn from Tabby’s throat as her body was forced to adjust to his size, her inner channel stretching to the brink of insane pleasure.

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