| Title | : | A Savage Betrayal (This Time, Forever, #1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 026314478X |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780263144789 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 288 |
| Publication | : | First published September 1, 1995 |
Once upon a time, Mina Carroll had fallen in love with her boss, Cesare Falcone, and into his bed - only to find herself dismissed by him as a gold-digging tramp.
But the story didn't end there: four years later, Mina and Cesare were reunited, and he discovered that she had kept the consequences of their one night of passion to herself.
Could there ever be a happy ending, now that Cesare had discovered Mina's betrayal? For Cesare, perhaps: he proposed, and Mina discovered that his offer of marriage was just a savage charade, designed to give their daughter a name and allow him to pursue his revenge at leisure?
THIS TIME, FOREVER
A Savage Betrayal (This Time, Forever, #1) Reviews
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Re A Savage Betrayal - Lynne Graham ups her game in this July 1996 HP offering and firmly settles into her standard trope of betrayed, martyred innocent h and Alpha bully H trope.
She also kicks off the HP six book mini-series
This Time Forever, which all feature romances who get a second chance at keeping love.
This one starts with our single mum h anxiously attending a work party. The h is hoping to be named the new finance director of a charitable trust. Then the H walks in and the h's life is shattered.
The H takes one look at the h and immediately goes on the attack in front of the h's boss, indicating she is a money grubbing, tarty, criminal tramp who uses her body and bed skillz to con men out money.
The h is utterly gobsmacked. She and the H have a history, but HE DUMPED HER, via his impersonal HR department who sent her a letter and a box with the contents of her desk. So in her estimation, the H is the one who is an immoral user of women and a pumper and dumper of employees too boot.
We learn that four years earlier, our up and coming finance manager h won a job in the highly competitive and misogynistic H's company. The H's sleazy slime slurper brother put the moves on her on a daily basis and his company directors patronized her and made nasty comments. But the H put a halt to the nasty comments and the h became his junior partner.
It all culminated in a big night of love and the h gave up unicorn grooming forever. Then the H took a business trip to Hong Kong, while h had a nasty confrontation with the H's evil slime slurper brother the next morning, where he tells her that the H will fire her as he was just using her to make a big notch on his bedpost.
The h doesn't believe the H would do that, until she gets very impersonally fired before the H even got back from his trip and his HR department refuses to give her a reference. Looks like the H and his slimy brother are more nefarious than she realized.
Per HPlandia rule # 2 Unicorn grooming license revocations ALWAYS result in a stork visit nine months later the h was forced to make a cabbage patch pick up of a lovely baby girl. The h is also forced to move into a grotty bedsit, leave her baby daughter with her married to a village landowner sister during the week and work at a low paying job to rebuild her career, just to be able to provide for her daughter.
She never tells the H about the new addition, cause frankly she doesn't think he would want to know and what kind of parent would a guy like that make anyway?
Sadly the H's nasty comments and harassment of the h result in her losing her new career opportunity when they find out she did not put her job with the H on her resume and when they call the H's company, the H's evil brother gives her a very bad reference. The h learns that the H believes she was using her position with his firm to do insider trading, which why the H is acting so hostile and nasty.
The h tries multiple times to state her innocence, but the H tells her he has major proof and he won't let her see the evidence so she can clear her own name. He claims that she put £50,000 into her bank account as proof of her wrong doing. The h remembers that she got a bank statement listing that amount and thought it was the H paying her off, but then she decided it was a mistake on the bank's part and convinced them to take the money back.
She doesn't know what happened to it, but the H is convinced she has been partying it up and stealing money the last four years and won't hear a word otherwise. Mainly because the H is too obsessed with getting the h into his bed by any means he can to think like a rational person. Then the roofie kissing starts and despite everything, the h is having a horrible time resisting the Treacherous Body Syndrome.
Realizing that the insanely punitive H can pretty much scuttle any future career opportunities that come her way with whatever his so called 'evidence' beside her bank statement is , the h tosses in the towel and goes home to her daughter, a little girl who looks like the h, but is as temperamentally volatile as her father, the H, and acts just like him.
The little girl has a favorite bad word she picked up and uses it to shock her mother, but the h understands she just needs a lot of reassurance that mummy isn't going to go away again. The h decides to go to work for her old boyfriend, who runs a garden center and is also the brother of the h's sister's husband and her sister is totally hoping she can pimp the h out to him this time.
Then the H shows up at the h's brother in law's estate and there is a huge confrontation, the H is determined to 'punish' her by having her serve out a sentence in his bed. Prisons and becoming good 'friends' with other convicts are mentioned during one of the H's intimidation attacks.
The h's daughter is playing in the H's high powered sports car while the H is flinging tarty tramp accusations around and the little girl manages to turn the car on. The H rushes over to drag the 'filthy little animal' out and there is a little girl bad word utterance right before she bites the H, hard. (Which was fall out of your chair hilarious.)
That sets off a whole new round of fireworks that end with the H and h in his car having another roofie kissing moment. The h's sister comes home in the middle of all of this and when she realizes that the H is back and making a big brouhaha, she goes for her husband's gun. The h's ex boyfriend gets into a fist fight with the H.
There is a big confrontation with the sister, the brother in law, the h, the H and the h's ex boyfriend which results in the revelation that the 'filthy little animal' is the H's daughter. The H is shocked and now bad mother accusations are added to the mix.
The h feels really guilty for not telling the H about her daughter, she also wonders if he isn't right that she is a bad mother cause she had to work all the time and leave her daughter with her sister during the week. The culmination of all the h's guilt is that she agrees to marry the H, when he insists she marry him or he will fight for custody.
(The H continues to act insanely jealous anytime another man even talks to the h. He is insane about her old boss, insane about her former boyfriend and pretty much insane about any man who even looks at her.)
The H and h marry and he drags her off to a remote location in Sicily. There he tells her she will be practically imprisoned as punishment for her bad behavior, he claims he had tapes of her doing insider dealing phone calls and other paper documentation, but he destroyed it all when he married her.
The h is furious, she needed that evidence to clear her name, but the H is STILL refusing to believe a word she says and they wind up having a big night of love again - after the h tries to barricade her room from the H and fails.
The h learns the next morning that this whole wedding deal isn't the H trying to rebuild a relationship from the ashes of the past and become a family, he just wants revenge for her using him to make a bunch of money.
The H accuses her of sleeping with her ex too, but the h firmly tells him off on that score. The h explains that the ex is so furious with him because they dated for four years and she never slept with the ex, but she worked for the H for three months and couldn't resist him.
Then the H tries to roofie kiss her again and the h starts crying, she is just so done with the H and his refusal to listen, but she was prepared to make a marriage work because she still loves him. But he has gone too far and now she just wants to be left in peace and he can go looking for boudoir entertainment elsewhere, cause she is personally done with him and only staying married for her daughter.
There is a few days of the H trying to buy his way back into her good graces with jewelry that she refuses to wear cause she considers herself not married and then the H finds her sitting alone and he explains that he does want the marriage to work, his gold digger mother married his father and then watched him work himself to death to support her lavish lifestyle and affairs with other men and the H doesn't want his daughter to have to live knowing her parent's hate each other.
The h agrees to a truce and the H starts taking her out. Just to show how desperate the H is getting, (the h still isn't sleeping with him,) the h points out a really horrible stuffed fish and the H buys it and displays it enthusiastically, even when the h talks about making a collection of them.
The truce finally explodes when the H takes the h to a pool party at his friend's house and lets the sister of his friend hang all over him after making really snide and patronizing comments to the h. The h doesn't like the snotty wanna be OW comments, but she is worried that maybe she should have worn clothes from the new wardrobe the H bought her to not embarrass him in front of his friends.
The H's friend starts talking to her and he is shocked to find out that she is the H's wife, he decides to throw fat on the fire by picking up the h's hand and kissing her fingers. The H positively EXPLODES with rage, he throws his friend in the pool and scoops the h off and carries her back to his house.
The h finally figures out that the H is so obsessed and cave manly possessive of her that he literally cannot think straight. After dumbfoundedly learning the H was trying to make the h jealous with the 19 yr old wanna be OW sister of his friend, they are making moves toward make up lurve club events, when the H sees the newspaper and the big story is an inside trader has been caught and brought up on charges.
The H instantly goes into protective mode because the man in the paper was supposedly the h's insider trading partner. The H tries to make her stay in Italy while he goes back to England, he is convinced the h will be brought up on charges herself and arrested. The h is trying once again to explain to the H that she is innocent, but the H is convinced that the h will be hauled off to prison when they land.
The H thinks about holding off the forces of law and order during a siege to his castle by hiding the h in it, but after landing in England and a mutual hotel room afternoon boudoir bouncing romp, he decides that he will confess in her place and she can get preggers and he will go to prison in her stead.
The h is resolved to go to the police herself, but lets the H have his crazy little daydreams, until they get to the H's London house and his mother is there. The H's slime slurper brother has been arrested for being a partner in the insider trading scandal.
All of a sudden it hits the h that the brother set her up to take the fall with the H. At the same time, the H understands that he has made a MAJOR blunder and the h is totally innocent. The h sends the H to the jail to see if he can do anything about the brother, cause the H's bovine mother is a total mess.
The h picks up her daughter and is waiting when the H returns. The H's mother has vanished into the HP mists when she realizes that the H can't fix this one for her favorite son and the H has some groveling to do. The H finally asks what happened four years earlier and the h explains. Then he passes out when the h describes being awake for her c-section birth.
The H finally declares that he was so insane because he loves the h and always has and yet he was gutted when his brother came to him with the evidence against her, he does a pretty good apology and the h has always loved him, so she forgives him right away.
The H and h go on to have another baby and the H uses his nerves of steel to make it through the regular delivery. In a cute mini-epilogue the horrible fish is now called Freddy and he has whole family in a not-so-dark corner to keep him company for the big pink sparkly HEA.
This one is a riot. The H is extremely verbally nasty for the majority of the book, but the h manages to get some telling verbal blows in and there are plenty of clues that the H is just out of his mind with obsessing over the h.
The first time you read this, the H is pretty appalling in his conversation and not really likable. But in later re-readings, LG gives plenty of clues that this is a desperately in love H and he will do anything to hang on to the h, even when he really believes that she is a criminal. His grand sacrifice of offering to go to prison for the h is completely whacked, cause she is innocent, but it was a very cute way to prove that this is a crazy man in love.
Overall this one won't be a favorite on the first read, the H is just too mean and nematodish for that, but give it a few chances to grow on you if you run into it, it is one of LG's best vintage HPlandia outings. -
"A Savage Betrayal" to me is a enormous ride full of:
passion,misunderstandings,revelations,anger,and heartbreak.Its been a year since i read anything by Lynne Graham,the queen of angst and passion in a harlequin kind of entertainment in my opinion,and i had truly forgotten how well she drags me into her explosive world...in which the heroine and hero always duel in a spinning tornado,blind to everything but each other.I love it,and i remember feeling this excitement in LG´s other works in "The Veranchetti Marriage" and "Tempestuous Reunion".The angst is so ferocious from the moment the sicilian tycoon Cesare Falcone sets his eyes on his heroine, the hard-working Mina Carroll...and makes her life a living hell.Many readers thought her a mindless doormat,but for me while reading this it went two ways.Cesare thought her a gold-digger and a criminal,her supposed betrayal four years ago cutting through his very soul.Despite it all he still comes after her,and he just can`t keep his hands and eyes off her.Whatever hateful insults,he still once again surrendered his heart to her.Using blackmail to have her near,and eventually forcing her to marry him and eventually isolates her in a island to keep her from straying.Ready to kill any other man who ever touched Mina...and in the end ready to go to prison for her.That is a man who loves with all his soul.Mina and Cesare are in my mind,one of the most passionate and sexy couples of hplandia.What i want to conclude with this review is:this is a romance i absolutely loved 100%! -
A revenge story with an OTT angry hero who stubbornly continues to believe that the h embezzled from his company until the very last chapter. His love overcomes his anger at the original "betrayal." but it's a long hard journey and the heroine must make a lot of it on her back or with the hero accusing her of all kinds of things. What saves this story and this spineless heroine and this closed-minded hero are the little Lynne Graham touches that make her stories so fun.
The secret baby - now 3 1/2 and demon spawn - bites her father's hand at their first meeting. No insta-love there.
The heroine, in petty revenge - has the hero buy her an ugly fish in a glass case - and dubs it "Freddy Fish."
The twin sister who shrieks like a fishwife at the hero.
Read for the revenge, stay for the fun ending. And yes, the true embezzler does get justice. -
So he thought she committed fraud, she got fired, she thought it was because she slept with him and went and had her baby alone and struggled for four years. He comes, gets her fired, meets his daughter and marries her and then punishes her and then they find out she was innocent and he is a moron.I don't think this book knew what it wanted to be. This was a very dark book and then it is sweetness and light. It's like a blend of 'Bought by Her Husband' and 'Spanish Groom' and it just didn't work. And the heroine, come on. Practice some self control for crying out loud. She annoyed me to no end. And it was just too much all the way around. I gave it two stars just for the little girl Susie who bit him and said dirty words. She was awesome and she should have been in the book more because the heroine was an idiot and the hero was a zero! I liked him at the end but that was because as I said earlier Lynne forgot that she was writing this a$$hate Ceasar and made the last half the Caesar from the 'Spanish Groom'. I had whiplash at his personality change. I really really didn't like him. I couldn't tell if he was celibate but probably not. He said something about celibacy after their night of orginess but it never clarified it. I just wish the heroine would have had a spine.
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3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The H carried this whole book. He was so heartwarmingly kind, selflessly caring, gentle, considerate, and loving. His words dripped with honey. So sweet and mesmerizing it made me reach through the screen and kiss his feet.
“You’re a devious little bitch,’ Cesare told her in a conversational tone that made what he was saying all the more shocking, ‘but you’re predictable. Evidently you’re still sleeping with the boss.”
“A virgin, but a whore in the making!”
“You’re the one who has told me that you are any man’s possession for the right price, and I’m prepared to pay it to have you in my bed,’ Cesare drawled with a positive shudder of unconcealed fury.”
“You told me quite deliberately, you shameless…’ With a seething hiss, Cesare clenched his even white teeth and bit back whatever he had been about to call her.”
“A lying, conniving little confidence trickster like you working in a position of trust for a charitable concern,’ Cesare outlined softly.”
The heroine, on the other hand, I HATED with a vengeance. She didn’t deserve to be with someone as disconcertingly affectionate (🥰😍😙🤩) as Cesare. -
A book where the first words the hero utters in reference to the heroine is "bitch" and his kid is "that dirty little creature" and "revolting" is the story of Cesare and Mina, "A Savage Betrayal".
I struggled reading this book from the first chapter itself. The hero was abusive and egotistical, and the heroine was an utter doormat- no queen of doormats. He abuses, calls her all variations of a puta, pushes and coerces her all the time and all the heroine does is be seduced by him and STAMMER!! He costs her two jobs and a life away from her kid- and she still marries him!?
AAAGH
DONT EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THEIR MISUNDERSTANDING.
Nope
Nope
1/5 -
I hated Cesare which is unfortunate as that is a great name. He is so unrelentingly, unbearably cruel. Okay, he grovels later and gets pale, but that is nothing compared to how he treats Mina.
Due to a misunderstanding I won't address, time and time again he beats her down for being a materialistic and sloppy slut. What does she do? Does deck him? Does she cry? Does she contact the police? No, she has sex with because of all the magic penises he has to be one of the tops.
Yeah, yeah, he finally apologizes, but come on. His vitriol is over the top.
He doesn't ever believe her. He finds outs that she is innocent from a third party.
Alpha= Okay. Cruel = NO! -
***THREE STARS***
This story has everything in it that an OTT Harlequin Romance would expect to have. Brutish, to the point of being a total dick, Hero. Innocent wronged victim and somewhat pushover Heroine. Storyline that should have been able to be resolved easily, but wasn't until the very end when the dickhead Hero finally pulls his head out of his butt. I enjoyed it, despite the ridiculousness in it. -
This one was HP crazy-train fun. The H was OTT alpha, controlling and crazy jealous. I liked the fact that the h wasn't a complete doormat in the face of the OTT alpha-H's intimidation. She loses her temper several times and tells him exactly what she thinks. However, I think if a man had basically accused me of being a prostitute and was essentially holding me prisoner in an isolated Italian villa, I could control my traitorous body.
Warning: There is definitely some forced seduction going on if that bothers you. I'm going to call it 'HP forced seduction', since you see it a lot in HPs. In a historical bodice ripper, the h doesn't usually surrender to her 'traitorous body' until sometime after the point of penetration. In 'HP forced seduction' the heroine succumbs much sooner. Yes, it's splitting hairs, but to me the HP version is a bit less rapey/edgy than a true BR. -
Good but not great. The chemistry and emotional tension between Cesare and Mina seemed decent. Mina's toddler stole the book in one awesome scene.
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So, Caesar Falcone can get revenge on me any day.
Plowing through LG’s books has unearthed another winner! 🥳
This one has all the good stuff, even if, like me, you aren’t a fan of the Secret Baby trope.
💕 h is innocent and sweet (22 when they meet) and completely overwhelmed by Ceaser, and who can really blame her 🤷🏼♀️👀🥵
💕 the H is an otherwise good man who has lost his head over the h and behaves very badly. 😈
💕 the separation is a reasonable 4 years
💕 the misunderstanding is understandable
💕 Caesar is very jealous and possessive. I luuuuurved him. We get several j/p freak outs. 😍
💕 blackmail, and dubcon, and revenge, Oh My! 🤩
💕 I love that he decides he wants the h despite what he believes about her BEFORE all the truth comes out
💕this book has a bit more steam than we typically get in these books.
Bottom Line? This book was my flavor. Calm cool and collected man loses his sh*t over a sweet innocent gal, and he does what he has to do to make her his. I eat that ish with a spoon. 🤷🏼♀️😅🤡 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2
⚠️SAFETY SQUAD SPOILERS⚠️
- no cheating or sharing
- OW drama - all contrived - he only wants the h
- OM drama - the H thinks the h has had other lovers but he is not correct
- dubcon - lots of forced seduction and smexx by coercion
- h is a 22 year old virgin when they meet and she is celibate during their separation
- the H is experienced (in his 30’s) and not much info is given on his activities while they are apart, other than he tried to move on, and was not able to find what he had with the h -
I like Lynne Graham. I'm not gonna lie. This one was fun. Sure he persisted in not believing her but I liked how crazy about her he was. Sure she was wimpy as per usual for LG. But I have a not so well hidden fondness for secret baby stories. It kept my interest and moved fairly quickly. Loved how he was trying to give himself up for her supposed crime at the end. Ahh true love.
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Absolutely horrible. Enough said!
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Intense, angsty, secrets, jealous and overly possessive hero-
Recommended!, -
Plotlines with obnoxious moronic heroes who refuse to listen to the heroines side of the story seem to abound, when it comes to Harlequins.
But for an author like Lynne Graham, who has given us heroes like Cesar Valverde(Spanish Groom) that are so much more reasonable and human as compared to the one in this book, to have resorted to such an unimaginatively formulaic plot is really disappointing. And don't even get me started on the spineless doormat of the heroine.
Whats worse is that we never even really get to see Cesare attempting to see the heroine in a new light, and yet she keeps falling into his bed and berating herself for it. It gets old after the first ten times.
And then, finally the conflict is resolved. Not by positive action on the protagonists behalf to rectify things, but all on its own! The huge "mystery" that had "torn their relationship apart" just resolves itself conveniently towards the end of the book.
Oh yeah, and lets not forget, Lynne Graham also adds in a sprinkle of growing up angst, and messed up familial relationships so that we may excuse Cesare's behaviour.
Sheesh,atleast she gets full marks for sticking to the formula! -
I wanted to like this because unlike other HP romances, the reason for the separation seemed well-grounded. The way they initially met at work and came together was charming, nothing earth-shattering but it felt real, I could imagine it happening in real life and the way how they parted also felt justified, a true misunderstanding and twist of circumstances so I was ready to sink my teeth into the angst of the reunion and the eventual HEA but was sorely disappointed.
There was a few humorous moments especially when H showed up at the family home but most of the events were uneven and the story did not flow smoothly. The only interesting characters were Grandpa Baxter and the little daughter that swore when she saw her father, lol! Both H and h seem to take turns at being annoying, repetitive, stubborn and wilfully blind. Found them irritating and was relieved the book was over. -
It's the ultimate angst book LG has every written. I've read this 10 million times and it always leaves me raw. Mina's strength, pride and sheer helpless innocence pulls you down. The way the story unfolds has this impending train wreck hilarity that was literally entertaining. I so enjoyed having our hero squirm and crawl. Cesare had it coming and he was served. It's a fun read that you definitely can sink yourself into.
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I wanted to strangle the hero, repeatedly! He was so rude and disgusting and then when he found out the truth I wanted to laugh so hard at his reaction while wanting to kick him in the nuts for all the damage and drama he cause at the expense of the heroine.
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This was so frightfully terrible.
Let's look at that shall we? Warning: if you really want to read this don't read the below as it summarizes the plot.
A virgin gets a job with a multi-millionaire businessman
He puts her through the wringer in the interview
He tries to prove she is unfit because he is attracted to her
He treats her terribly including screaming at her
She sleeps with him and gets pregnant at month 3 of employment because she loves him (and you know he's been so lovable its understandable)
She is fired for gross misconduct
She has his kid, refuses many offers of help due to stubbornness
Said kid stays with her sister somewhere within a trains ride of London all week and heroine sees Susie on weekends only
Susie the child is quite a little terror - but don't worry she is hardly in the story and our heroine spends almost no time with her and is apparently not overly motherly
Our heroine finally gets a good job
The "hero" finds her 4 years later at said job, gets her fired, berates her, intimidates her, makes her sleep with him, and blackmails her because.....drum roll....
"Hero" believes our "heroine" is a felon (the reason he had her fired)
He finds out about the kid
He makes her marry him
He continues to berate her, emotionally abuse her, and sleep with her
Heroine has a mental illness that only shows up when he gets near her. She cannot think at all like a human, she has to have sex with him regardless of anything else - including her brain, her child, etc. She does anything he says giving only token resistance.....because....drum roll...she loves him
Finally around 85% or so (it seemed like forever to me..years at least) he figures out she is not guilty
She, of course, completely doormat's out and is totally fine with all the abuse he has heaped on her
I mean why not? Why wouldn't you want your child to grow up with an abuser?
The End.
OMG this was so terrible - he was 100% abusive until the last 10% and even then I hated him. He should have gone to prison himself. The child was ill-behaved which made no sense other than as a nod the hero's Italian-ness and temper (she's his kid all right..WTH?) and the heroine was the BIGGEST DOORMAT I have read in decades. This chick literally cannot think about anything anything at all when he gets near her except sex most of the time. It definitely felt like she had a virus -there was no rational thought AT ALL.
As with others Susie biting her father and swearing at him when she meets him felt like the first honest thing this book did - I applauded her. She was obnoxious but she at least was not swayed by the same doormat gene as her mother.
SKIP THIS ONE at all costs If I wasn't reading it for a challenge I would have DNF within the first 15% - I was truly unprepared for exactly how abusive he would be for how long - and her continual slide into mental illness or whatever the hell was going on with her as there is no rational human who acts this way. -
As much as I hate pining heroines and their endless monologues about how much they want the hero (if they are really "over" the hero, then stop turning into mush every time they're within a centimeter of him), this was my first LG book and first harlequin that turned me onto other HPs/category romance. Sure there were flaws (LG heroines are never my favorites, being the typically weak doormat), but the chemistry was scorching and the hero was really obsessed/crazily-in-love with the heroine. Plus the whole book was fast-paced and full of angst, tho it lagged a bit towards the middle (after he discovered her secret, the tension btw them became a bit stifled and less explosive, which disappointed me since I was having such a blast with their earlier dynamics -whenever it comes to "betrayals" or "secrets," I usually always want them to stay hidden for as long as possible to make for more satisfying sparks btw the leads). All in all, this book really evoked some strong emotions out of me, which is a MUST for any book I read and despite its weak heroine (she does stand up to the hero and their scenes at the beginning were really amusing/explosive/angsty -her making him think the worst of her and seeing his jealousy/frustration over still wanting her really tugged at my heartstrings), I still LOVED this story!! When it comes to any romance, chemistry btw leads and an obsessed alpha hero (crazily in love/actively pursues heroine) are a must for me and this story certainly delivers enormously on both counts.
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This one was just ok. The plot was kind of weak and didn't seem like a LG book. It felt weird and even funny towards the end. It's like the author didn't know what to do with her characters and the story.
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Updated
May/27/2015
From 1 to 10 (My personal rating scale): 7.7
I HAVE to reread this book. I remember there were some good scenes :) -
Loved this book more second time reading it added extra star. Was intense read at the start this was one uber obsessed hero! Recommend as required reading for any LG fan!
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Heroine should be the dumbest of the idiotic doormats who suffers from the unstoppable treacherous body syndrome.
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4 1/2 Stars! ~ All it took was three months for Cesare Falcone’s new personal assistant to fall in love with him. And after one very passionate night, Mina found herself suddenly fired from her job and left with no references. And to further her distress, she discovered weeks later she was pregnant. Four years later, Mina is working hard for a promotion that will enable her to make a better life for her and her daughter. Amazingly, Cesare attends a fund raiser she organizes, and threatens to expose her for the thief he believed her to be. It becomes clear to Mina that Cesare had fired her for insider trading on information she learnt while in his employ and that he was out for revenge on her betrayal. He threatens to give the evidence he has of her criminal deeds to the police and have her sent to prison, if she doesn’t agree to terms of submission. He refuses to listen to her pleas of innocence. And when Cesare discovers he has a child, his ultimatum is court to fight over custody, or marriage.
It takes awhile to get used to Ms. Graham’s style. We only get to know Cesare through his reactions and words, and insights that Mina has. We aren’t allowed in his brain. Though I prefer having some hero POV, Ms. Graham manages extremely well in rounding out Cesare’s character. As the story unfolds, we can clearly see that Cesare is deeply involved emotionally, though too proud to admit it, and so bitterly wounded at her betrayal. Loving him still, Mina is very vulnerable to the emotional pain Cesare can inflict on her, esp. when he continues to believe that she is a cheat and a liar This story had me riveted. Intense scenes of passion, both love and hate. This is not in any means a tender romance! I loved it! This one’s for the keeper shelf. -
Three stars is kind of a middle of the road rating, but this is not a middle of the road read. The first half gets one star. The hero was just horrible. The last part gets four stars for humor. I loved Freddy Fish and the scene where he passes out after hearing the description of her C-Section.
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I feel cheated, the ending was rushed and I am a bit dissatisfied with the H groveling. I needed more blood!
The reason why, it is a 3 star instead of 1, because, i love a crazy possessive H (but i prefer more blood drawn, really, should have more groveling) -
The 'big misunderstanding' drives this couple apart after a one night stand. The heroine, of course, ended up pregnant and didn't bother to inform the hero.
The heroine ended up being set up/framed for something she didn't do, but that the hero believes is true.
He holds this incident over her for the majority of the book, ignoring her pleas to see the evidence and try to exonerate herself. He finds out about his child and, basically, coerces her into marriage.
On top of his belief that she committed this crime, he also accuses her of being a partier and looking for a sugar-daddy.
Now, where I ended up disliking this book so much starts with the fact that the hero is able to find the heroine at a house that isn't in her name, but her sister's husband's name, but he is unable to dig a little bit further to see if what she is saying is true about her 'crime'?
Then, the heroine was such a doormat that I wanted to scream. Every time she tried to talk to the hero about how she could clear her name, he would start kissing her and they would have sex. Really? If I was trying to tell the man I loved that I was innocent and wanted to prove it and he kept kissing me, trying to get in my pants, I'd probably hit him. It took her too long before she actually got upset about this, but then she shut down instead of standing up for herself.
Then he tries to get on her good side by buying her everything she appears to admire (she admires something hideous just to see what he will do).
The heroine soon gives in after this and forgives him for his attitude because he told her he loved her back when they first got together. Then, when he thinks that she may finally get caught for her 'crime', he decides to take the blame for it. He quickly finds out the truth, but there is no real groveling for the way he acted towards her or for the fact that he actually believed the accusations against her.
Grrrrr - the book really frustrated me. -
There is something about an OTT jealous hero that acts like a caveman that hooks me all the time and the H did not disappoint in this story. So if you're looking for a ultra angst ride rest and arguing until close to the end of the book between two prideful stubborn MC's then this is the book for you.
Mini breakdown:
H: Hires the h and is instantly attracted to her but tries to fight it until 3 months in when he surrenders.
h: Was already in love with the H so y'all already know she succumbed to him pretty quick because this is HPlandia.
So after their ONS h is fired from her job and left basically homeless and penniless and then finds out shes preggers. She has no idea why the H would do this to her so assumes that he was embarrassed that he mixed business with pleasure and did not want to see her around the office anymore so she flees and of course neglects to tell him about the baby because HELLO ANGST.
Turns out the H thinks the h committed fraud and betrayed him as a employee and lover so he had her sacked but OF COURSE being the alpha he is could not believe that the h disappeared so ensues a chase that last about four years when the H finally tracks the h down for some Sicilian revenge.
I really enjoyed the story and yes the H was harsh to the h for most of the book but he had some pretty damning evidence against the h and chose to believe his family over a girl he knew for 3 months. The h was pretty weak when it came to the H but she toughens up at some points so eh I'll let it slide because the banter between these two had me LOLing. There were some pretty hilarious moments where you could just see how crazy in love the H was with the h so I'll excuse his behavior this time around.
