Cate C. Wells’ Return to Monte Carlo is a marriage-in-trouble romance, which turned out to be my very first sampling of Ms. Wells’ work.

Diane de Noli has had enough of being invisible in her husband’s world of privilege and glamour, where work defines Marco de Noli’s life. Wealthy and exerting control over himself like second skin, Marco is the kind of man who hides his emotions so well that even his wife starts to wonder if she ever truly knew him at all. When she leaves Monte Carlo, she believes that she is cutting ties with a mistake of a marriage, only to find that she has carried more of Marco with her than she realized.

Marco is a hero who wears his restraint like armor. He is powerful, comes from old money, and with all the sharp edges that come from a lifetime of expectation and control. Diane, in contrast, is an ordinary girl from Oklahoma who falls headlong into a glittering world that was never really hers. She is vulnerable yet strong enough to walk away when her love feels one-sided. Theirs is a union where here passion has never been in doubt, but trust and openness are battles they have both avoided during the course of living together as husband and wife.

Marco’s emotional distance and Diane’s aching need to feel seen pulls them apart, even as their chemistry refuses to loosen its grip. The revelation that follows their separation makes both of them reexamine what they thought their marriage was built on, and whether they are both brave enough to build it differently.

What I loved here was how raw and tender the book felt. Ms. Wells writes with an intensity that makes you ache for the two flawed characters that are Marco and Diane. Marco, for all his stoicism, is deeply romantic once his guard cracks, and Diane’s courage to both leave and love again made her resonate strongly with me. From Marco’s raw, animal magnetism to Diane’s quiet femininity, their dynamic was a study in contrasts that fit together perfectly.

Both characters were stubborn to the core, refusing to bend or break, and it was that very strength that ultimately saved their marriage. Their love story was never about soft edges, and when they finally collided with their newfound honesty and vulnerability, it was nothing short of explosive. The sex scenes deserve a mention on their own—scorching, impactful, and written with a heat that matched the emotional intensity of their relationship, and I loved most of it.

Recommended for: readers who love marriage-in-trouble romances, emotional intensity wrapped in sensuality, and heroes who are explosive when they finally unravel.

Final Verdict: A passionate, tender, and gorgeously raw marriage-in-trouble romance that proves that sometimes love doesn’t fail—it just needs a second chance.

Favorite Quotes

She was shaving me, and she nicked me. The way her hands were trembling, it was a miracle she didn’t slit my throat, and I saw it coming, but I sat there, willing it to happen. I wanted her on her back foot.
Afterward, I could have taken the towel from her and waved her away. She would’ve run off crying, maybe lost her job, but she’d have found another. She’d meet a red-blooded American her own age and spend her evenings at the disco like her sisters until she married a man who could make her happy.
But I made her press the towel against my skin, and then, when she took it to the back room to toss it in the laundry—and to hide from me—I followed. And what happened, happened. I was never going to let her go after that. I never will let her go.

Purchase Links: Amazon