Format: E-Book Read with: Kindle Paperwhite Length: Novel Genre: Contemporary Romance POV: Third Person, Single Series: Standalone Publisher: Mills & Boon Hero: Rafael Luis Enrique Santovena y Alejandro Heroine: Sarah Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥 Published On: August 09, 1991 Started On: July 02, 2023 Finished On: July 13, 2023
‘I want to watch you while I love you,’ he breathed fiercely. ‘I do not want you to forget who I am.’
A Fiery Baptism by Lynne Graham, first published in August of 1991, brings to readers the tempestuous world of Sarah and Rafael, a couple whose past is marred with passion, betrayal, and heartache. This is classic Mills & Boon, with of course the emotional highs and lows that only an author like Ms. Graham can properly deliver to her fan-base.
The story begins with 25 year old Sarah, who is a single mother of twins, whose life has been a constant struggle with loneliness and insecurity, primarily due to her emotionally distant adoptive parents, finds herself running into her estranged husband Rafael at a party. Thus, a man whose confidence and charisma are as unforgettable as his betrayal, re-enters Sarah’s life, igniting old wounds and unresolved emotions.
Readers are taken through the shared history of Sarah and Rafael, Sarah’s elopement with Rafael against her parents’ wishes, and the subsequent turmoil that had made Sarah miserable to the point where it had been easy for her parents to manipulate her into surrendering to their wishes. Their marriage is portrayed as one that is passionate and yet destructive, where Sarah had had hopes of escaping the controlling nature of her parents, only to find that Rafael too, treats her as his possession.
When Rafael discovers that he is in fact father to twins, the betrayal he feels is immense, and Ms. Graham does a remarkable job of taking readers through the central themes of passion, heartbreak, betrayal, and redemption with her usual fervor. Sarah’s character is one that makes you feel for her – the lack of emotional affection that had shaped her most formative years which has turned her into a nurturing soul, whose spirit had been crushed under the weight of the expectations of her parents and her husband.
Rafael too is a man shaped by an upbringing that is painful. While Sarah had grown up in an environment that had lacked affection, Rafael had grown up in a harsh environment that makes him cynical and dispassionate about the finer emotions of life. His emotional vulnerabilities and passionate nature creates a complex character who is both possessive, while at the same time yearns for deeper connections and also rejects the very notion of the vulnerability that would be associated with such a connection.
The passion that blazes out of control as Sarah and Rafael engage in heated exchanges and raw confrontations as they navigate their shared life a second time around, all reveal the deep-seated grievances and misunderstandings between them, painting a vivid picture of their troubled past and the lingering emotions that bind them.
I found Sarah’s sexual awakening to be rather intriguing which comes later in the novel, a deviation from the almost formulaic nature of category romances. In 99.9 percent of the novels, the hero never fails to satisfy the heroine in every single sexual encounter from the onset, and to see their sexual relationship also evolve with their maturity as individuals in this novel, was truly what stood out for me.
Recommended for fans of Ms. Graham’s stories which are roller-coaster rides on the emotional bandwagon.
Final Verdict: A Fiery Baptism serves a captivating read for fans of classic Harlequin romances, offering just the right touch of passion, drama, and emotional intensity to keep the pages turning.
Favorite Quotes
Her flat was just round the corner. She walked fast, not looking at him. Inside the lift the atmosphere was suffocatingly tense. With a flourish she removed his jacket but before she could return it he closed the distance between them. He slid long fingers very slowly into the damp tangle of her hair. Fierce dark eyes searched her pale, upturned face. Heat rushed up to the surface of her fair skin. ‘Por dios, Sarah,’ he breathed raggedly. ‘What is it that you want from me?’ A dull ache stirred in the pit of her stomach. The thump of her heartbeat filled her eardrums. An overpowering sexual excitement unlike anything she had ever experienced had her entrapped, preventing her from moving away.
He lowered his dark head so gradually that she trembled before he engulfed her mouth in the scorching heat of his. Shock reverberated through her but shock was swiftly drowned by sensation. Her hands clenched convulsively into his broad shoulders. His tongue penetrated hotly between her lips, imitating another far more elemental possession, and the ground rocked and fell away beneath her feet. It was a savage awakening to a hunger that had no boundaries, a hunger that boldly seized and controlled. She was weak and dizzy, wildly disorientated, when he released her mouth and vented a stifled groan into her hair. ‘I don’t know you like this,’ he muttered roughly, angrily.
Clashing unwarily with luminescent gold challenge, she could feel her hold on reality loosening even more. ‘Don’t…’ she whispered shakily. ‘You speak with such conviction,’ he mocked. Alarm bells rang loudly in her head as his measuring gaze dropped to the prominent thrust of her small, high breasts and lingered on the pointed buds pushing against the damp cotton, damning indictments of her response to him. He was very still, dull coins of colour overlying his hard cheekbones, his breathing shallow and audible. ‘You say “don’t”,’ he noted in a low-pitched growl. A peculiar lassitude was sweeping over her. Time seemed to have slowed down to a third of its normal speed. ‘But I say si…I say yes,’ he completed.
He swept her up in his arms and kicked the bedroom door wide. He tumbled her down on the bed, following her there in an almost instantaneous motion. Impatient hands disposed of the remainder of her clothing. He was indifferent to the sound of ripping lace but she welcomed the rapacious savagery of his demanding mouth. His mouth, oh, God, his mouth. The hot, hard angularity of his body on hers was an unbelievable pleasure and the burning urgency of his hands made her cry out, defenceless against the wild, explosive agony of need that he had induced.
Format: E-Book Read with: Kindle Paperwhite Length: Novel Genre: Contemporary Romance POV: Third Person, Single Series: Standalone Publisher: Harlequin Hero: Dionysios Alexiakis Heroine: Eleanor Morgan Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥 Published On: November 01, 1999 Started On: June 28, 2023 Finished On: July 02, 2023
He tasted like water after a long summer drought. He created a thirst she had never known she had.
First published in November 1999, Expectant Bride by Lynne Graham is a captivating romance that delves into the complexities of love, trust, and redemption, Ms. Graham style. The story explores the angst-ridden relationship that develops between 29-year-old Greek billionaire Dionysios Alexiakis (Dio) and 21-year-old Eleanor Morgan (Ellie) on a chance encounter that upends both their lives in a way neither thought possible.
Ellie is a woman with a mission, working towards the goal of opening her own bookstore someday. Working on the cleaning crew at the building where Dio houses his office headquarters, Ellie and Dio’s first encounter is one that is fraught with misunderstandings when Ellie, trying to avoid harassment from a young man who works at the building, inadvertently overhears sensitive business information and is subsequently discovered by Dio. Forced to accompany Dio to Greece while he sorts out and closes the deal he has been working on, thus Ellie is forced into the life of the powerful and unapologetic womanizer that Dio is.
As Dio’s suspicions regarding Ellie seems to mount, so does the red hot passion that flares to life between the two, a facet of their relationship that neither relishes at the beginning. However, desire of the kind that Dio and Ellie have to contend with is the kind that refuses to be denied and even with the misgivings between the two, Dio and Ellie succumbs to the temptation, leading to consequences which neither bargains for.
While I did find Ellie’s character to be a bit childish at times, Ellie does try hard to exert her independence with a man who is used to getting his way. Dio is a complex character, whose dominant personality and emotional scars from the past adds a compelling edge to the story. Ellie’s softer side and empathy goes a long way towards accepting Dio, scars and all, while at the same time, Dio himself has to go through some soul searching to be able to accept the side of himself that is vulnerable to Ellie.
As is usual, Ms. Graham’s mastery when it comes to depicting the intense attraction and deep emotional connection that is forged through the turmoil that is the beginning of Dio and Ellie’s relationship is well done. The emotional intensity of the story is balanced with moments of tenderness and vulnerability, creating a well-rounded and immersive reading experience. The dialogue is sharp and often laden with underlying tension, perfectly capturing the nature of Ellie and Dio’s relationship.
I believe that what worked for me was how both Ellie and Dio grew out of their initial selves to become better and more emotionally well-adjusted individuals towards the end, making their happily ever after a believable one, one that I rooted for.
Recommended for those who love passionate romances crafted by Ms. Graham. This one too is no exception to that standard.
Final Verdict: Expectant Bride is a captivating romance driven by complex characterization, emotional intensity, & the compelling style of writing that Ms. Graham is synonymous with, making this a memorable read!
Favorite Quotes
‘Make your mind up.’ Dio’s dark drawl was urgent with stress and tension, pure, masculine need stamped on his lean dark features. ‘I’m not made of steel and I am burningfor you…’ Ellie’s taut hands quivered under his. She just couldn’t take her eyes off him. His intensity melted her deep down inside. ‘I want you too…so much.’ Dio settled her gently back onto the mattress. ‘I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do, pethi mou.’ ‘Of course not, but—’ ‘Open your mouth for me,’ he urged raggedly. And she did, taking instant fire from that passionate onslaught.
He slid over her, rearranging her with urgent hands. She clashed with blazing eyes and exulted in her femininity, sensing his control was as ragged as her own was non-existent. Fierce hunger seethed in her shamelessly at that instant. She would have walked through fire to lie under him. And then he plunged into her, and the sharp, wrenching pain of that passionate invasion startled her into crying out in surprise. Dio stilled. Stunned black eyes looked down into hers. ‘Cristos…you can’t be!’ he exclaimed. ‘Not any more…’ Something primitive flared then in his tense gaze. ‘You like shocking me, don’t you?’
Format: E-Book Read with: Kindle Paperwhite Length: Novel Genre: Contemporary Romance POV: Third Person, Single Series: Standalone Publisher: Harlequin Hero: Joaquin Francisco Del Castillo Heroine: Lucinda Paez Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥 Published On: September 26, 2000 Started On: June 23, 2023 Finished On: June 28, 2023
‘Desire is rarely so immediate as it is between us. That intrigues me, but it won’t hold me. Don’t fantasize about a future beyond tomorrow…’
Don Joaquin’s Pride by Lynne Graham brings to readers a passionate and tumultuous romance set against the backdrop of Guatemala’s lush landscape and delivers on the kind of intensity between the main protagonists that Ms. Graham is renowned for in her novels. First published in September 2000, the novel is about the fiery relationship as it unfolds between 30 year old Joaquin Francisco Del Castillo, a proud and intense billionaire industrialist, and 22 year old Lucinda Paez, a young woman caught in a web of deception and desire.
Lucinda, known as Lucy, is thrust into a precarious situation when her twin sister, Cindy, requests her help in impersonating her. Cindy’s motives are far from altruistic, and given the complicated history between the twins, Lucy succumbs to the emotional “blackmail” that Cindy is so effective in wielding.
From the onset of her arrival in Guatemala, Lucy is thrust into close proximity with the intense and complex man that Joaquin is. Lucy who has had very little experience with men, much less men of Joaquin’s worldliness and caliber, finds herself helplessly ensnared in the web of desire that holds her enthralled, while Joaquin makes it no secret of his distrust towards her. The case of impersonation of identity keeps Lucy at a position of disadvantage, even as the passion between Joaquin and Lucy builds and Lucy finds herself falling in love for the very first time in her life.
Ms. Graham as always, excels in the portrayal of the internal conflicts and the evolving dynamics between the main characters, with a side of secondary characters who add nuances to the story. While Joaquin himself is a formidable and deeply conflicted man driven by principles of justice, his mistrust towards Lucy is understandable given the main conflict and confrontations between the two that drives the narrative forward.
Lucy herself is no heroine of the doormat variety. However, given her emotional vulnerabilities and guilt when it comes to her twin Cindy, these facets to her character renders her ineffective when it comes to gaining equal footing with Joaquin, whose pride itself is a force to be reckoned with. Ms. Graham is skillful in the way she portrays Lucy’s emotional vulnerabilities and her unexpected attraction to Joaquin, adding layers of depth to their passionate encounters.
The novel’s setting in Guatemala adds richness to the story, with vivid descriptions of the country’s landscapes and cultural nuances enriching the backdrop against which Joaquin and Lucy’s romance unfolds. Ms. Graham’s attention to detail (not too much because that tends to bog a story down with unnecessary details) brings the setting to life, offering readers a sensory experience that enhances the emotional intensity.
However, while Don Joaquin’s Pride excels in its portrayal of complex characters and compelling conflicts, some may find the story line occasionally predictable. But I believe that it is at times, this predictability itself that makes a story worth your while, based on your mood as a reader.
Recommended for fans of Lynne Graham’s intense romance novels. Joaquin is as intense a hero as any.
Final Verdict: Don Joaquin’s Pride offers a captivating romance with passionate protagonists in a lush setting as the backdrop, delivering a satisfying blend of emotional depth and romance!
Favorite Quotes
Their eyes met. An infinitesimal little tremor ran through Lucy. Her heart skipped a beat, began thundering in her ears instead. Green like emeralds, green like fire. A thought which didn’t make any sense at all, but then nothing that Lucy experienced in that moment had anything to do with normal thought. She watched the colour score his fabulous cheekbones with a level of wonderment that was undeniably mindless. Insidious heat curled up in the pit of her stomach, making her suck in her breath and blink, and at the same moment she blinked he turned away.
Joaquin Del Castillo was a male of innate and fascinating contradictions, Lucy acknowledged sleepily. Fiercely proud and icily self-contained in his hostility towards her, yet too honourable, it seemed, to make her suffer unnecessary discomfort. Against the backdrop of the flaming sunset, he stood over her like a huge black intimidating shadow. ‘You look like the devil,’ she whispered, with a drowsy attempt at humour. ‘I will not take your soul, señora…but I have every intention of stripping you of everything else you possess.’ Stray words fluttered in the blankness of Lucy’s brain. They did not connect. They did not make sense. With a soundless sigh of relief, Lucy sank into the deep, dreamless sleep of exhaustion.
‘The word you use with me is sí…it means yes, and I like to hear it,’ Joaquin Del Castillo confided in a deep dark drawl that rasped down her spine like sandpaper on silk, and he drew her in to him and banded his arms round her narrow ribcage instead. ‘Say it for me…’ A strange all-pervasive ache stirred deep in Lucy’s pelvis, wiping out her ability to concentrate. ‘No—’ ‘Sí…’ Joaquin instructed, slowly crushing her swelling breasts into the hard wall of his chest, one strong arm sliding down her back to curve round her hips and hold her fast as he studied her with flaming mesmeric intensity. ‘Dios…you will say it to please me.’
His dark head lowered to capture her exploring forefinger between his lips. Lucy watched him in shaken fascination. A soft gasp was dragged from low in her convulsing throat. Every pulse in her treacherous body went crazy as he gently sucked, silken black lashes almost hitting his cheekbones. Like ice cream on a hot stove she could feel her flesh melting over her bones in a sweet, strong agony of need so new to her experience it overwhelmed her defences. ‘Sí…’ Joaquin prompted thickly as he lifted his arrogant dark head. ‘Sí…’ Lucy framed without even knowing what she was saying, utterly enthralled by the wash of agonising sensation pulsing up inside her.
Format: E-Book Read with: Kindle Paperwhite Length: Novel Genre: Contemporary Romance POV: Third Person, Single Series: Standalone Publisher: Harlequin Hero: Dane Visconti Heroine: Claire Fletcher Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥 Published On: August 01, 1987 Started On: June 18, 2023 Finished On: June 23, 2023
Initially published in 1987, Bittersweet Passion by Lynne Graham is a novel that thrusts readers into the tumultuous world of Claire Fletcher and Dane Visconti, where passion collides with pride, and misunderstandings ignite an inferno of emotions.
The story opens with the funeral of Adam Fletcher, a man whose death sets in motion a chain of events that unravel the tightly wound lives of those left behind. Claire Fletcher, his adopted granddaughter, is forced to choose between what her heart desires; i.e., follow the love of her life Max or marry one of her cousins for her inheritance.
Claire had never received any affection from the man who had taken her in at a tender age, making it a point to be cruel to her and keep her at an emotional distance. Claire had been forced to sacrifice her own happiness when Adam had taken ill, and his death, while it should have freed her to pursue her own happiness, brings forward more responsibilities.
The novelty of the story lies in how it is Claire that proposes a marriage of convenience to Dane Visconti, the estranged grandson of Adam, whose reputation precedes himself. Dane’s return to the family home ignites sparks of disdain among the Fletcher clan, yet Claire sees in him a solution to her predicament.
While Dane is at first contemptuous regarding Claire’s proposal and sees it as an extension of her crush on him from long back, Dane finally agrees to what she proposes on certain conditions. From the onset, Dane and Claire’s coming together is fraught with misunderstandings and of course, passion. Their ensuing marriage, shrouded in secrecy, when exposed to the prying eyes of the media, adds another layer of distrust to the battleground that is the union between Dane and Claire.
While Claire believes herself to be in love with Max, her internal conflict stems from the effect Dane has on her, his magnetic presence and his sexuality that plays havoc with her emotions. Dane, whose character is more explosive in nature in comparison to Claire, is often driven to the edge by Claire and her seemingly unaffected nature, when she is anything but.
While Claire’s emotional scars are all too vividly portrayed, Dane is a harder nut to crack. However, Claire does have help in understanding Dane’s complex and multi-faceted character, a boy who had been just as emotionally deprived as Claire had been as a young girl growing up in the household of a man who had always made it well known who she was to him.
While I enjoyed the building blocks of the story which had all the hallmarks of a Lynne Graham novel, I felt that the novel faltered in its execution. The prolonged separations between Claire and Dane, fueled by pride and miscommunication, diluted the impact of their passionate encounters. While the underlying chemistry between the characters is palpable, it was not enough to give the novel that oomph factor which I expect from most of Ms. Graham’s work, especially her earlier ones.
Recommended for fans of Ms. Graham’s earlier works. Even though this did not work for me, it just might for you.
Final Verdict: Bittersweet Passion by Lynne Graham is a compelling tale of love, sacrifice, and redemption which offers romance of the raw and intense variety.
Favorite Quotes
In that storm there was only Dane and a flashfire desire that burned in her very bones until she was crying, gasping she knew not what and he gazed down at her in masterly and triumph when she was quite blind to such calculation, her abandonment drawing an answering shudder from the hard, virile length of his body. For the merest instant he hesitated and she collided with the febrile glitter in his beautiful eyes before he possessed her and even the pain did not prevent that instantaneous explosion of pleasure that shattered her into a thousand pieces.
He carried the caress down over the flat tightness of her belly and her clenched hands unfurled and curled again as his tormentingly expert fingers located the silken triangle of her desire. She thought later that she cried out his name in protest, because this was no gentle, gradual seduction that respected her inexperience. He racked her with hunger and her hands wove over his sweat-dampened skin in tortured circles while he slowly sank deep into her, possessing her degree by degree until her nails dug into his shoulders, her head falling back in ecstasy. Ironically it was wilder and more earth shattering than it had ever been before. Dane ran a possessive finger across the fullness of her lower lip afterwards, while she still trembled against him. ‘This is what I can give you, and don’t tell me it’s not enough, when I see you like this.’
‘I ought to go back to bed.’ Her eyes lingered on him, then swerved away. ‘I thought you were with Mei Ling.’ ‘Would it have bothered you if I had been?’ he countered cynically. ‘Yes!’ Angered, she stood her ground. ‘I don’t have to be jealous to find promiscuity offensive,’ she flared. He caught her to him with powerful hands. ‘Is that a dog-in-the-manger attitude, or something more?’ Hard amusement brimmed in his bright chilling gaze. ‘It’s a very awkward situation.’ ‘Awkward?’ Her control appeared to antagonise him. Then he laughed softly and took her tender mouth fiercely, and she went under as if she was drowning, trading him kiss for kiss, guided only by raw hunger. His hand thrust up her jersey and closed over the pointed swell of her breast and she gasped, her knees threatening to buckle under her as her body surged wantonly against the lean, masculine lure of his.
Format: E-Book Read with: Kindle Paperwhite Length: Novel Genre: Contemporary Romance POV: Third Person, Single Series: This Time, Forever, #1 Publisher: Harlequin Hero: Cesare Falcone Heroine: Mina Carroll Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥 Published On: September 01, 1995 Started On: March 01, 2023 Finished On: March 02, 2023
Entirely focused on him, she felt light-headed. ‘I didn’t know—’ ‘Didn’t know what?’ Cesare whispered unevenly, dropping his hand to the bedspread wrapped beneath her arms as he coiled fluidly up so that their eyes locked. ‘That wanting like that is rare? That most people go all their lives without ever feeling like this? It’s a hunger so strong it has to be satisfied…and it’s bound to rage out of control.’
A Savage Betrayal by Lynne Graham, first published in September of 1995 is told in the third person from the heroine’s perspective. The story begins with the heroine, Mina Carroll, who while working alongside her boss at the charity benefit that her workplace organized, runs into none other than Cesare Falcone, the man who broke her heart years ago.
Four years back, a freshly graduated Mina found herself at the receiving end of a cutthroat job interview, after which Cesare hires her as his executive assistant. Two months in, Mina realizes that she was head over heels in love with her boss, and by the end of the third month, Mina is sacked rather unceremoniously, and that too without a reference.
Discovering that her one night of passion with Cesare right before she was sacked had borne its fruit, Mina finds herself in the tough position of having to juggle being a single mother and making ends meet in a world that is frightful for women who do not have the kind of support systems that prevent them from falling into utter destitution.
Coming to the realization that the spark that has always existed between her and Cesare burns even brighter than before, and that she is just as vulnerable to the heat between them, makes Mina wary, especially in light of the revelations that Cesare believes her to be a deceitful tramp, perhaps the only woman who has ever made a fool of him in the worst way possible.
Cesare’s belief that Mina committed a criminal offense four years back is an ironclad one, citing that he is in possession of irrefutable proof with which he could send her to jail even now. While Cesare continues to believe the worst about Mina, the way he is helplessly ensnared in the web of desire that clouds his judgement is something he perhaps despises about himself.
Cesare definitely drives a hard bargain, expecting Mina to be his and only his satisfying his every carnal desire, and in bed, Mina knows that she is able to drive him just as wild as he does her. When the truth of her conception four years back comes to light, Cesare is of course livid and devastated, and what ensues leading up to the climax of this delectable story was just unforgettable.
A Savage Betrayal is a novel that is evidence of Ms. Graham’s remarkable talent in weaving a story that would have required so little to completely unravel. At certain points, I was left wondering as to how Ms. Graham would be able to turn things around, to show to readers why Cesare was worth all the heartache, grief, and pain that Mina goes through, even as she struggles with her enduring love for a man who sees very little of worth in her.
The story is one that is brilliantly executed, with the sexual chemistry and heat between Mina and Cesare off the charts hot and steamy. Perhaps the one reason the story got to me so much is the fact that the reader has to discover how Cesare feels about Mina through her perspective of his actions. The hero who comes off as ruthless and says often the cruelest things (which Mina is perfectly capable of handling), is unable to bear it when he witnesses Mina being hurt, in pain, or in tears. That is how the reader knows just how deeply that Cesare feels for her. And there is of course the red blooded alpha male whose possessive streak rears its head whenever he feels that what is his is in danger of being claimed by another, and the red hot jealousy that courses through him every single time!
I loved how Cesare meets his daughter who is just as temperamental as he is which gave me a couple of good chuckles that broke the never ending tension that is consistent throughout the story. This book had such good verbal warfare happening alongside all that sizzle, which made Mina and Cesare highly entertaining. The way Ms. Graham managed to make Cesare so arrogant, powerful, sexy, and vulnerable was nothing short of amazing, paving the way for everything to just click into place when all was said and done.
Recommended for fans of Lynne Graham and those who love explosive love stories between two protagonists whose verbal warfare just adds to the spice factor!
Final Verdict: A Savage Betrayal is a novel that is fierce in the way it consumes all your emotions. Those who love a good angst-fest; this one is for you!
Favorite Quotes
Her breath hung suspended and then he pressed his mouth hotly to the tiny pulse flickering wildly above her collarbone. Every bone in her body melted in a burst of feverish heat. Her head fell back, her throat extending. She trembled violently, an upswell of sensation suddenly released with devastating force. Her hands flew up of their own volition, one finding his shoulder, the other spearing into his hair, and just touching him again felt so good that she ached.
‘Move, Cesare!’ Cesare continued to stare at her as though he was mesmerised, brooding golden eyes intently fixed on her. Outraged by his lack of response, Mina planted a small hand against his broad chest to thrust him out of her way. A lean hand whipped up and unexpectedly trapped hers, preventing her from withdrawal. ‘What the heck are you—?’ she began. Without the smallest warning he grabbed her right there in the middle of the street. Two strong hands clamped to her waist as he lifted her up against him and brought his mouth smashing down on hers with an explosive sexual hunger that travelled through her like forked lightning.
The first day when you walked into that interview I decided I could not possibly employ a woman whom I wanted to strip and fling onto the nearest bed!’ Helplessly her head flew up. She couldn’t believe her ears. ‘I gave you a nightmare interview…and you took it,’ Cesare condemned with lingering disbelief at such unfeminine strength of will and staying power. ‘You were trying to scare me off?’ Mina questioned in a tone of revelation. ‘I was a fool. I gave you the job.’
‘You’re mine,’ Cesare muttered thickly, one strong arm closing fiercely round her to stress the assurance, and he simply shifted his hand smoothly from beneath hers and slid it beneath the parted edges of her bodice, slowly curving his fingers over the firm thrust of one unbound breast. It had been so long since she had known such intimacy that her teeth clenched on the sweet pleasurepain of her own helpless excitement, and in the interim her hand fell away. He tugged the dress open, exposing the smooth pale flesh he sought, discovering the delectable curves she had tried to conceal. With an unashamed groan of hunger he caressed a pouting pink nipple with almost worshipping fingers, watching the bud bloom into aching prominence.
On some other level she was aware of the cooler air that brushed her skin as her dress fell away entirely and then he was laying her flat, crushing her mouth under his with raw, unashamed hunger. Her hands swept over his silk-clad back in sudden frustration, instinctively seeking the satin-smooth skin she remembered. His muscles rippled as he tautened and broke the connection of their mouths. Her glazed eyes opened on that shock of separation. He was ripping off his shirt, and she remembered that from before, but she heard no warning bells. Past and present had merged indistinguishably. The pectoral muscles of his lean, golden torso were hazed with a sprinkling of ebony curls. Like someone in an hypnotic trance, she focused on the blazing gold of his eyes and sank ever deeper into his power.
He pulled her to him with strong hands and instantaneously attempted to sink into her with one powerful thrust. There was a flash of momentary pain that made her bite down on her tongue and taste blood. Cesare muttered something in Italian, settled his hands on her hips and drove into her again, making her tender flesh yield more fully, and the sensation was so unbearably pleasurable that she moaned in shock and delight, for she had worked so hard at forgetting, had made herself forget, that most intimate moment.
Cesare had turned pale at one glimpse of her Caesarean scar. ‘You’ve had surgery,’ he breathed as she sat bolt upright, grabbed clumsily at her discarded dress and concealed herself behind it as best she could. ‘Major surgery—’ ‘No, only a little female thing,’ Mina lied in desperation, evading his shocked gaze. ‘It looks much worse than it is.’ ‘What was the matter with you?’ he demanded tautly. ‘I told you, something female and private—minor.’ ‘It doesn’t look minor—’ ‘But it is and I’m sorry you find it so offensive,’ she said wildly, ready to say or do anything to throw him off the subject. ‘Of course I don’t find it offensive but naturally I was disturbed,’ Cesare asserted stiffly, ‘and if that is the result of some minor female problem you must have had a third-rate surgeon!’
‘It doesn’t even have to be my best,’ Cesare murmured thickly, dense black lashes screening his gaze to a sliver of hard gold as he scanned her feverishly flushed face and unwittingly pleading eyes. ‘The one thing you ever gave me that was honest…why? You can’t control it. But I can—’ ‘Can you?’ Mina was in another world, one where she felt far more than she thought. Her hand lifted of its own volition, shyly smoothed along his strong, clean shaven jawline, fingertips softly brushing a high cheekbone. Her nostrils flared on the warm maleness of him. That close, it would have been sensory deprivation not to touch. He dipped his dark head and trapped her fingers with his mouth before she could reluctantly drop them again. Her eyes squeezed shut on a wave of unbearable excitement as he sucked first one finger and then another and her breath rasped in her dry throat, liquid fire running through her quivering body, melting every bone to boiling honey. She was poised on the edge of an erotic anticipation so intense, it consumed her.
Cesare tensed, momentarily holding himself back, and then her tongue flicked against his in an enticement that was entirely instinctive and, with a raw groan of need, he ravaged her reddened mouth with potent hunger. Suddenly she was no longer upright but lying back. His hand slid up one trembling thigh, wrenching the dress out of his path. She was out of control, her breath sobbing in her throat, her heart racing. She clung to any part of him she could reach, her fingers clutching at his hair, the back of his neck, splaying against the silk-clad heat of his taut abdomen, scratching down his long spine, clothes, always clothes getting in her way, driving her mad with frustration.
‘Get out of here, Cesare!’ ‘But this is our wedding night, cara.’ Mina’s teeth clenched. She wanted to leap off the bed and thump him but she was afraid that the bedspread would fall off. ‘The answer is no!’ A winged ebony brow elevated. ‘Did I ask a question?’ ‘You need it spelt out to you?’ Mina intoned, quivering with fury. ‘OK. I am not prepared to share a bed with a man who thinks I’m a gold-digging, dishonest tramp!’ ‘Why not?’ Cesare enquired softly. ‘If I’m prepared to sacrifice my principles—’ ‘Yours?’ Mina flared in disbelief. ‘Who else’s? If I could keep my hands off you, don’t you think I would?’ Cesare murmured with grim satire. ‘Do you really think that it was my secret ambition to take a wife who could be described as a gold-digging, dishonest tramp?’
He leant over her, nibbled erotically at the reddened fullness of her lower lip, and as she trembled, he uttered a strangled groan and shuddered, every muscle tautening with whipcord tension as he lifted her against him, searching out the moist heat between her thighs. She writhed, cried out, unbearable sensation rising to a sudden shattering peak that was pure torment. ‘I can’t wait.’ He brought her down to him with aching slowness and agonising control, forging his entry little by little, and it was so staggeringly exciting that she somehow wanted to faint with delight and scream with frustration at the same time.
He took her by storm and she felt possessed, driven, inflamed by the feeling that he was out of control. All honeyed pliancy and complicity, every fibre of her body pitched to an unbelievable height of anticipation, she let herself go, lost herself entirely in the thunder of her own crazed heartbeat and the fevered tension coiling ever tighter inside her. With every driving thrust he took her higher, and then suddenly the whole world went multi-coloured, her back arching, her teeth clenching as she sobbed, ‘I love you…I love you!’ on the peak of a shuddering and ecstatic wave of drowning pleasure.
‘Why do you think Steve hates you so much? Steve and I dated for four years and we were never intimate, never even partially intimate! But I only knew you for three months and he actually dared to tell me once that that was the hardest thing of all for him to accept…and I thought at the time, To hell with fragile male egos—and I still think it!’ ‘Mina—’ ‘So if you want to go on thinking that I bounced straight out of bed with you into bed with him, go ahead! I’ll phone and tell Steve…he would be absolutely delighted to know you think that! But how dare you try to drag me down to the level of a slot on some pathetic male sexual score card?’ A dark flush of blood had highlighted his hard cheekbones. ‘That was not what I was doing,’ he told her rawly. ‘That’s exactly what you were doing! All that sophistication on the surface, and underneath what are you?’ Mina splintered tempestuously. ‘You’re so primitive you haven’t even made it on to the bottom rung of the evolutionary ladder!’ ‘Whatever turns you on, cara,’ Cesare murmured, eyes a sliver of flaring gold below his black lashes.
‘This time…you really are mine,’ Cesare murmured roughly, framing her hectically flushed face with hard, possessive hands as he looked down at her, eyes of molten gold alight with desire and primitive satisfaction. But those hands weren’t quite steady and that big, powerful body trembled in the circle of her arms. On a very female level, she was fully attuned to that awareness. ‘Absolutely mine,’ Cesare savoured, lowering his dark head to her breasts, circling a taut bud with the tip of his tongue and then hungrily engulfing her achingly tender flesh with the raw heat of his mouth.
‘We should have made better use of last night,’ Cesare muttered raggedly. ‘I want you so much, I ache…’ Without warning, he pulled back from her and communicated with the chauffeur. ‘What are you doing?’ ‘It’ll take over an hour in this traffic to reach the town house…’ Minutes later he was tugging her out of the limousine in front of a well-known hotel. Ten minutes after that they were standing in a luxurious bedroom. ‘This is crazy,’ Mina protested weakly. ‘Everything I do with you is crazy,’ he muttered thickly, hauling her into his arms.
She lost herself in him. Her heart hammering, her slender body writhed beneath his, desperate for the completion that only he could give. She clutched at his hair, scored the satin-smooth skin of his back and then arched and sobbed as he sank into her in one powerful thrust. ‘Nobody is going to take you away from me,’ he said savagely, scanning her with glittering golden assurance. ‘Nobody!’
Format: E-Book Read with: Kindle Paperwhite Length: Novel Genre: Contemporary Romance POV: Third Person, Dual Series: Brides for the Taking, #3 Publisher: Harlequin Hero: Jax Antonakos Heroine: Lucy Dixon Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥 Published On: May 23, 2017 Started On: February 27, 2023 Finished On: March 01, 2023
Sold for the Greek’s Heir by Lynne Graham is the third installment in the Brides for the Taking series, published under Harlequin in 2017. Ms. Graham brings to readers the story of Greek billionaire Antonakos and single mother Lucy Dixon, with the tale unfolding from the perspectives of both protagonists.
Jax is the proverbial man-whore and bachelor and likes his life that way, even as his father wishes and pushes him in the hopes that Jax would marry the woman of his choosing. Jax makes no commitments and has no intention of giving into his father’s demands. He is marriage and children averse, the bitter divorce that resulted in the split of his parents having left its mark on him. Living with his mother was not a walk in the park either, with a father who pretty much ignored his existence up till he did not have a choice but to.
Lucy arrives in Greece to finally unite with her long lost father. The fact that he accepted that Lucy was mother to a fifteen month old baby girl seals the deal for her, up until she comes face to face with the father of the baby, i.e., Jax, who pulled the disappearing act on her.
Lucy was a naive nineteen year old virgin when Jax swept her off her feet. Devastation hit when Jax abandoned her, and made it all but impossible for her to reach him with the news that she was pregnant with his child. Lucy is therefore determined that she would not give Jax the time of the day, that is until machinations by her father which she has no knowledge of, forces the hand of Jax into offering her marriage.
When Jax comes face to face with the one woman who had shaken his very existence, the shock of discovering that he is father to a toddler pushes him into taking action to ensure the best for his daughter. It certainly does not help matters when Jax is driven by the nightmarish revelations that forced him to cut ties with Lucy in the first place, and that proves to be the ultimate conflict around which the story revolves.
While I did enjoy some of the aspects of the story, I felt that the prose of the novel was all wrong for Lynne Graham, or at least the Graham novels that I always enjoy and revel in. Lucy was definitely a welcomed change from some of the doormat variety of heroines you come across in category romances especially. But at the same time, Jax failed to invoke all those heady emotions in me which I look forward to when it is especially a Lynne Graham novel. All the attributes that should make him so were there, and he should have been appealing in every sense, but somehow the elements did not come together in the way that I expected perhaps.
I guess this has a more modern streak going through the story, which perhaps is not a bad thing in itself. However, I believe I jive better with older Graham novels.
Recommended for fans of Lynne Graham and those who love category romances featuring the forced marriage trope!
Final Verdict: Sold for the Greek’s Heir is a hit and miss sort of novel; there were aspects that worked and those that did not.
Favorite Quotes
Just one kiss, she bargained with herself, just one, but the man who had once seduced her with kisses had no intention of breaking his perfect track record. He always knew what she wanted and he gave it to her, all the seething passion he had taught her to crave. He kissed her and she went up in flames. Her body flared into shocking awareness and suddenly burned back to almost painful life with every plunging thrust of his tongue.
‘I can’t get enough of you,’ Jax growled between the urgent biting kisses that bruised her lips and the devastating plunge of his tongue that made her slight body jackknife in reaction beneath his. ‘We’ve got all night,’ she whispered through rosy swollen lips, eyes glazed with passion. ‘I’ve got a hunger that one night won’t come anywhere near satisfying,’ Jax told her rawly, fisting a hand in her tumbling curls as he snaked a string of kisses down over her collarbone and found a plump, pointed nipple to torment with attention.
‘Thee mou, I want you so much,’ Jax ground out as he slid over her, his hands strong on her hips to angle her back. He entered her slowly, urging her tender flesh to open for him and stretch, and the sensation made her dizzy with yearning and wildly impatient for more. He eased back and then pushed in hard and deep and her body convulsed and tightened round him, intense sensation ravishing her. A string of tiny sounds was wrenched from her parted lips as he ground into her and picked up the pace, raw excitement flooding her as she tilted up to meet him, hot, damp and abandoned as the wild roller coaster of sensation raged on and on.
That fast she wanted him intolerably and with every probing plunge of his tongue she wanted him more. Evocative little noises were wrenched from low in her throat as skilled fingers teased and played to prepare her for his entrance. And then he tilted her back and thrust into her with vigour while she clung to his shoulders, her ankles wrapped round him. He grunted with raw male satisfaction, his hand supporting her hips as he pounded her yielding body with delicious force. Excitement writhed through Lucy in an unstoppable surge and she reached her peak with an involuntary cry, convulsive waves of exquisite pleasure rippling through her lower body as an orgasmic flush spread over her sun-dappled skin.
Format: E-Book Read with: Kindle Paperwhite Length: Novel Genre: Contemporary Romance POV: Third Person, Dual Series: Standalone Publisher: Harlequin Hero: Saverio Lombardi Heroine: Holly Sansom Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥 Published On: November 01, 2001 Started On: December 11, 2022 Finished On: December 12, 2022
Rio was pacing the waiting area, talking in staccato Italian on his cell phone, the cynosure of interest for every female in the vicinity. He lowered his phone, tawny eyes welding to her with gleaming intensity, a faint and wicked smile curling at the corners of his beautiful mouth. ‘Bella, Fiammetta…’ he drawled with lazy amusement. And in that same moment, Holly knew beyond all doubt that she had fallen passionately in love.
The Italian’s Wife by Lynne Graham is another one of her stellar reads, published in 2001. The story begins when 29 year old Saverio Lombardi (Rio), billionaire head of Lombardi Industries, one of the biggest, most successful companies in the world, walks in on his fiancée of almost two years cheating on him, most shockingly with another woman. Reeling from the rude awakening, it is as Rio is on his way home that fate puts 20 year old single mother Holly Sansom on his path, forever changing the trajectory of his life once and for all.
Holly, with her eight month old son in tow is at her wits end when Rio “rescues” her and places her at his home. Holly has had nothing but bad luck ever since she had come to London, in all her naivety hoping that the father of her son was waiting for her as eagerly as she was to be reunited with him. Holly had been an impressionable eighteen year old, an only child who had been taken in and dazzled by the seemingly charming man who had swept her off her feet.
The same man who had been livid that Holly had chosen to have the baby and tossed her out, leaving Holly to fend for herself in a city where only the rich and affluent survive. Holly takes the lifeline that Rio throws her, because she has hit rock bottom and there is nowhere else for her to go.
Four weeks into the move, Rio finds himself faced with the unexpected; an attack of such powerful lust towards the woman who lives in his home which really shakes him up. Rio is still seething on the inside from the humiliation of calling off the huge wedding that was to take place while keeping the truth a secret, which takes its toll on him and before long, recognizing the answering need in Holly’s untutored eyes, there is no holding back on what happens next.
As circumstances would have it, Rio proposes marriage to Holly to save her from losing her son, or so he tells himself. All the while, Rio keeps the truth of his disastrous relationship with his ex-fiance to himself, which gives the story the angst factor that I always revel in when it comes to Ms. Graham’s stories, and I certainly was not disappointed.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Italian’s Wife for many reasons. I loved Rio – he was more sensitive than Ms. Graham’s heroes in her older titles, but at the same time, retained just enough of the elements that makes readers like myself salivate over her heroes. Walking in on his cheating fiancée leaves his confidence shaken, making him question every single aspect of the relationship he had with her. It is for this reason that Rio remains tight-lipped about what took place, not wanting to come off as anything but a sexy and capable man who can keep his woman satisfied in bed and out of it.
Holly’s character was just as wonderful. Having grown up in a small town, Holly is not equipped with the sort of sophistication that is second nature to a person like Rio. Holly’s lack of trust in men was understandable given how she suffered at the hands of the only man she had let into her life, the way he had taken the easy way out and left her in the lurch. The guilt of having disappointed her parents also makes her stubborn enough to weather the worst until Rio comes into her life, giving her everything that she never ever hoped to find.
I especially loved the ending, where Rio goes in pursuit of the woman he loves beyond anything else in the world, finally able to win her over with nothing but the truth. The epilogue was a lovely touch, which I always appreciate when we get a sneak into the lives of characters that we suffered and loved through to the end. And guess where Rio takes his wife on honeymoon? Yep, Maldives!
Recommend this to fans of Harlequin romances, fans of Lynne Graham, and those who love a hero who can sweep you off your feet!
Final Verdict: Rio does not know what hits him when Holly stumbles into his life. Their thorny journey towards a happily ever after was nothing short of riveting and I enjoyed every second of it!
Favorite Quotes
Her drowning blue eyes gazed up into glittering gold and Jeff went out of her mind so fast he might never have existed. She tried and failed to swallow. Rio was so close that breathing was no longer an option. Lashes lowered, she focused on that wide, sensual mouth of his and the tip of her tongue snaked out to moisten her dry lower lip. Never in all her life had she been so desperate, so shamelessly eager to feel a man’s mouth on hers. The craving was almost unbearably strong.
As she parted her lips to snatch in much needed oxygen to sustain her, Rio bent his head lower and let his tongue delve in a subtle flicker into the moist interior of her mouth. It lasted only a second, but in that second she was electrified by the instantaneous, stormy response of her own body, the surge of enervating heat that inflamed her every sense. Indeed, so great was the erotic hit of that sudden sexual foray she jerked, and if he hadn’t shot a steadying arm round her she would have fallen off the stool.
Rio made a husky sound low and deep in his throat. He just reached for her, hauling her up to him, his lean hands curving round her hips to crush her feminine mound into connection with the full, hard force of his arousal as he lifted her up against him. ‘I hope you’re in the mood to satisfy one very hungry guy, bella mia,’ Rio growled before he brought his mouth crashing down on hers with devouring heat. It was their first true kiss and it blew Holly away. Crushed to the hard male strength of his big, powerful physique, she was conscious of his virility with every fibre of her being.
Never had she ever imagined that level of sensation, so it was like one glorious shock piled onto another, so that she lurched mindless and wordless from one splintering wave of excitement into the next, and all the time the tormenting hunger was notching up higher inside her. She moaned, she sobbed and she jerked in a wild response beyond any denial, and when she was within what felt like touching distance of the satisfaction she craved with every sense he settled himself between her thighs and surged into her with measured force and cool. And suddenly she was snatched up into the eye of the storm. The feel of his hot, hard fullness stretching the slick, wet centre of her inner heat just exploded through her in a cascade of multicoloured, blinding sensation and she hit a peak of ecstasy that burned through her in an explosive flood of pleasure.
‘You’re so incredibly sensual…’ Rio breathed in a roughened growl of male satisfaction. ‘I’ll have to drag myself away from you tomorrow. You’re turning me into a sex addict, cara.’ Certainly it wasn’t very long before he tumbled her back on the bed with a groan of raw impatience and sank into her hard and fast and without ceremony, sending her excitement racing to such a peak that a strangled cry of joy was wrenched from her. And then there was nothing for her but the relentless rhythm of his lean, hard body over and inside hers and the intense pleasure that sent her rocketing to an ecstatic height with his name on her lips.
Format: E-Book Read with: Kindle Paperwhite Length: Novel Genre: Contemporary Romance POV: Third Person, Single Series: Standalone Publisher: Harlequin Hero: Nikos Cozakis Heroine: Olympia Manoulis Sensuality: 🔥🔥🔥 Published On: January 01, 2000 Started On: September 02, 2022 Finished On: September 03, 2022
‘Are you insane?’ he questioned rawly. ‘You must be out of your mind to come to me like this! How could you think for one moment that I would marry an avaricious, brazen little tramp like you?’
The Cozakis Bride by Lynne Graham is one of those novels that swept me off my feet on a journey of angst, heat, and love of the kind that reaffirms my faith in my commitment to remain a romance reader for life. First published in 2000, Ms. Graham brings to readers the story of 29 year old Nikos Cozakis (Nik) and 27 year old Olympia Manoulis, whose entwined past ten years ago makes them the bitterest enemies.
If anyone had asked Olympia just an year ago if she would ever consider going back to Nik, the man who had left her heart and pride in tatters when she was just seventeen years old, quite naive and wholeheartedly in love with her fiance Nik, she would have probably told them to shoot themselves in the head. But circumstances force Olympia to do just that, where she is forced to “barter” herself in marriage in exchange for much needed medical treatment and security for her mother.
If Olympia resents Nik for what had happened a decade ago, Nik himself loathes the very existence of the woman who made a fool of himself and his family’s unsoiled reputation. The way Nik sees things, Olympia, his doe-eyed supposedly virginal bride-to-be had betrayed him in the worst way possible, and there is no way he was going to forgive or forget what happened, no matter how much he may lust after the woman he is going to be legally bound to as a husband.
Thus begins the battle of wills between Nik and Olympia being tied together in holy matrimony, each unwilling to look beyond the wounds that had scabbed over and never truly healed from that fateful night when everything had gone so horribly wrong. For Olympia, she had been judged and found guilty of a sin she had not committed, and for Nik it had been all too easy to believe what he was led to through machinations of those who had their own agenda.
What neither can deny is the flame that sizzles, burns, and roars to life whenever they are together, something that they are both helpless to turn away from. Nik may pretend that for him it is about getting what he wants out of Olympia, both in the short and long term. Olympia may likewise act as if the passion between them is inconsequential at best, but the truth is far from it.
I loved how The Cozakis Bride commandeered all my senses and did not let up from the minute I plunged into this heady tale. I adored the story for how it was chock-full of excitement from the get go, even when you are hyperventilating through scenes and wanting to slap some sense into Nik, and being gleeful about how all the feels knotted up my insides. There is nothing better that a romance reader can ask for than to be emotionally invested in a story, to feel as if you are going through train wreck, and yet still root for the main protagonists and their happily ever after.
There were times when Nik was unbelievably cruel in the story, times when I thought, boy, I hope this man has to grovel a lot to get the girl in the end. I must confess that I actually loved how cruel that Nik was at times because it showed the depth of his unresolved feelings towards the heroine. If Nik had not cared as much and if it was just his ego that had been bruised back then, the reactions from him would have been altogether very different. Nik made me fall in love with all that he is; from the sex-in-a-suit male specimen personified he is, to the ruthless side of him, and to the very vulnerable man that lies underneath all of that.
I loved Olympia for being feisty where needed, for being able to see how her naivety all those years back had played its role when those she had trusted had taken advantage of her, and for being self-aware and honest enough to face the ultimate truth when it came calling; that she loved Nik with everything she was and if she wanted a future that was worth living, it would have to be with Nik, and that fight she would for his love.
The fact that the story was told purely from the heroine’s perspective made it all that much better in my opinion. While Nik was quite the forceful character, seeing the shades of vulnerability on his part towards the end was enlightening and went a long way towards making this a well rounded romance.
Definitely recommend this gem to fans of Ms. Graham and fans of ruthless heroes with that core of vulnerability that we all love!
Final Verdict: The Queen of Harlequin romance seldom disappoints. Being older and better able to understand the complexities & nuances of human emotions makes this read all that more wonderful to the senses in every way that matters.
Favorite Quotes
‘You owe debts, and through me you will settle those debts.’ ‘What are you t-talking about?’ ‘What you did ten years ago cost your poor mother any hope of reconciliation with her father. What you did ten years ago savaged your grandfather. And what you did to me, you can find out the hard way,’ Nik concluded darkly. Stabbed to the heart by that reminder about her mother, Olympia dropped her head, tears springing to her eyes. ‘It wasn’t my fault…what happened…I was set up—’ ‘You’re embarrassing me,’ Nik slotted in with contempt. ‘Lies and fake shame are not going to protect you.’ ‘You’re scaring me…’ Olympia condemned tearfully. ‘You are really scaring me!’
‘Let the light of reality in here. Ten years back, while you played Miss Prim and Proper Prude and brandished your innocence at every opportunity, I was in absolute agony…in the grip of overpowering lust and unable to do anything about it!’ Nik’s lean, powerful face hardened. ‘Did that give you a kick, Olympia?’ ‘A…a kick?’ Eyes huge pools of enquiry, she stared back at him, struggling to absorb his assurance that he had found her sexually attractive in those days. That claim ran against everything she had ever believed, and she was paralysed by a sense of sheer disbelief. ‘You kept me in a constant state of arousal. I never slept after I was with you. My fantasies about what we were going to do when we got married even embarrassed me!’ Nik admitted grimly. ‘I wasn’t used to going without sex…it was torment; it was seriously painful.’
He came back to her with a driving kiss that consumed her. He was rough, and she had never known him rough before, and he excited her beyond belief. She was out of control, but so was he and she loved that. It answered the wildness leaping through her. He was hard and hot and full, and he sank into her tender welcoming flesh with a forceful maleness that made her sob out his name in ecstasy. Her back arched as the blinding excitement peaked on a shivering storming tide of mindless pleasure. In the aftermath, she opened her eyes and blinked. For a split-second, as Nik stared down at her, she saw a shell-shocked look in his stunning dark deepset eyes that could only have mirrored her own. Rolling off her without a word, he headed for the bathroom. She lay there immobile, struggling to breathe again, feeling ravished, feeling the sweet, heavy satiation of her own body with shattered recognition.
Format: E-Book Read with: Kindle Paperwhite Length: Novel Genre: Contemporary Romance POV: Third Person, Dual Series: The Husband Hunters, #2 Publisher: Harlequin Hero: Gianluca Fabrizio Raffacani Heroine: Darcy Fielding Sensuality: 3 Published On: December 25, 1998 Started On: June 02, 2022 Finished On: June 03, 2022
“Country woman seeks quiet, well-behaved and domesticated single male without close ties, 25-50, for short-term live-in employment. Absolute confidentiality guaranteed. No time-wasters, please.”
The Vengeful Husband is the second installment in The Husband Hunters series by Lynne Graham. It is rather obvious that having finished reading Married to the Mistress, the first book in the series, I just had to indulge myself in the rest.
First published in December of 1998, told in the third person from the point of view of both lead protagonists, this is the story of Darcy Fielding, one of the three goddaughters of Nancy Leeward for whom she leaves her estate behind on the condition that her goddaughters get married within the year and maintain the marriage at least for a period of six months.
Darcy, a single mother by then, responsible for her crumbling family estate which had been with the family for over four hundred years is in dire financial straits. Little does she know that the man she spent one passionate night with in Venice, 31 years old Gianluca Fabrizio Raffacani (Luca) has been trying to find her since, believing that she stole from him a very important family heirloom.
As luck would have it, Darcy who views herself as too plain to attract a potential husband, and who simply does not have time to find someone in the conventional manner plans to fulfill the condition of her godmother’s by advertising for one, something that plays along nicely with Luca’s plans.
Luca does not hold a very favorable opinion of Darcy when he finds her. However that does not make a hypocrite out of him to lie to himself about how much Darcy affects him unlike any other woman he has met before or since. Once the knot is tied, all bets are off, and thus starts the crazy journey these two embark on to their ultimate happily ever after.
This was just as fun and angsty in the good way kind of read as the first book was, with Darcy acting in the belief that someone like Luca would not find a plain woman like herself appealing on any level. Darcy suffers from low self esteem, owing mostly to her childhood, with a father who wanted a son that he never got to have, with a step mother who had been vicious to no end. The final nail in the coffin had been when Darcy’s fiance jilted her, which led to the encounter with Luca years back.
Luca is at first determined to get his family heirloom back, but he is not immune to Darcy’s appeal that had spellbound him the very first time they met. Needless to say there is drama of the variety that keeps the pages turning, sexual tension of the kind that is sharp and tangible and makes you sigh and moon over the perfection of their union, and love of the kind that neither wants to admit to, for fear that the other would not feel the same.
I had a slight problem with Daisy for keeping a certain “secret” to herself for the better part of the novel which lowered the rating from what it could have been otherwise. I guess I should not judge unless I have walked in her shoes, but I always find it a bit uncomfortable when female protagonists tend to lie or tell half truths about having conceived a child with the hero (unless they are abusive men who do not deserve to traumatize their child) – they have a right to know and what they choose to do with that knowledge is up to them.
Recommended for fans of the series, fans of combustible category romances, and fans of Lynne Graham.
Final Verdict: The Vengeful Husband delivers a myriad of emotions of the kind that leaves the reader satisfied on all counts. Lynne Graham is a master storyteller for that very reason!
Favorite Quotes
‘You burned me alive,’ Luca whispered mesmerically. ‘And you’re going to do that for me again…and again…and again until I don’t want you any more…is that understood?’
Format: E-Book Read with: Kindle Paperwhite Length: Novel Genre: Contemporary Romance POV: Third Person, Single Series: The Husband Hunters, #1 Publisher: Harlequin Hero: Angelos Petronides Heroine: Maxie Kendall Sensuality: 3 Published On: June 05, 1998 Started On: June 01, 2022 Finished On: June 02, 2022
Married to a Mistress by Lynne Graham, is the first book in The Husband Hunters series, originally published in June of 1998. The premise of the series lies in Nancy Leeward, godmother to Maxie Kendall, Polly, and Darcy leaving her substantial estate equally split between the three, on the condition that each of them is married within the year and maintains that marriage for at least a period of six months.
22 year old Maxie, dubbed as the Ice Queen by the press, finds herself deep in debt when this event occurs, needing a way out. Maxie’s hope that inheritance from her godmother would help alleviate all of that is cut short by the conditions set in her will, which means that Maxie is ripe for the plan by which Angelos Petronides, 33 year old Greek tycoon, sets to make her his.
Angelos does not have the most favorable impression of Maxie, the only woman who has ever given him a sleepless night over wanting something that he could not have. Angelos rejoices in the fact that he now owns Maxie rightfully through the debt that she owes, as he has been biding his time until the day he would be able to make her his. Even as jaded as he is, Angelos had been taken aback by the beauty that is Maxine the very first time he laid his eyes on her.
For Maxine, her beauty has more or less been a form of curse for her. Though it had opened up the opportunity for her to work as a model to earn money, the loan which she had taken at the age of nineteen owing to familial circumstances, had left her deep in debt with no way out. It had also painted the image of her as a homewrecker, with the press and gossip rags having a field day with her story.
When Angelos makes his intentions known, Maxie rejects him outright, on the basis that the next man she would choose to live with, would be her husband. Thus starts the battle of wills between the two, with Angelos trying to outdo Maxie and win her over on his terms, and Maxie trying her darnedest to convince him otherwise at every turn.
Through all of that, the incendiary spark that has always existed between them grows in strength, leaving both hostage to the magnitude of the desire that is between them. Ultimately, Angelos convinces Maxie to be his through marriage, setting conditions so that neither of them would have to lose face over the arrangement.
This was such a fun read in many ways. I loved the strength at which Maxie and Angelos fight and love, and the lengths each go to show the other that things were otherwise. The way Maxie tried to best Angelos, both of them trying to counter the fact that they had fallen deep in love with each other was such a delight in many ways, and made me laugh out loud at times.
I loved how Maxie had the gumption to stand up for herself, and how she did not let how Angelos saw her or thought of her or his misconceptions about her define who she was, and the fact that she continuously managed to surprise and jolt him out of the pigeonhole that Angelos tried to put her in was invigorating to read.
This delivered angst of the good kind which I adored, and I loved Angelos too, for being the kind of hero who knew when to push back and when to give in. He proved to be just the right measure of stubborn that Maxine could not resist, which made this the stellar read it turned out to be!
Recommended for fans of combustible category romances and fans of Lynne Graham.
Final Verdict: There is nothing like a good Lynne Graham novel to shake me out of my romance reader doldrums and Married to a Mistress proved to be such a delight in every sense!
Favorite Quotes
‘Naturally I would choose a wife with my brain, not my libido,’ Angelos returned drily, but he had ducked the question and a dark, angry rise of blood had scoured his blunt cheekbones. Maxie gave an exaggerated little shiver of revulsion. The atmosphere was explosive. She could feel his struggle to maintain control over that volatile temperament so much at war with that essentially cool intellect of his. It was etched in every restive, powerfully physical movement he made with his expressive hands and she rejoiced at the awareness, ramming down the stark bitterness and sense of pained inadequacy he had filled her with. ‘You belong in the Natural History Museum alongside the dinosaur bones.’
She dined out with Patrick Devenson. No woman had ever tried harder to be attracted to a man He was good-looking and easy company. Desperate to feel a spark, she let him kiss her at the end of the evening, but it wasn’t like failing on an electric fence, it was like putting on a pair of slippers. Seriously depressed, Maxie made an excuse when he asked when he could see her again. She didn’t sleep, couldn’t sleep. She dreamt of fighting with Angelos. She dreamt of making wild, passionate love for the first time in her life. And, most grotesque of all, she dreamt of drifting down a church aisle towards a scowling, struggling Greek in handcuffs. She felt like an alien inside her own head and body.
A Maldivian's Passion for Romance 