I have joined Manali Dey, a friend on Bookstagram, for the #MillsandBoonReadathon for which we are reading 18 books, coz it's '18! This is Book 4.

Prince Maksim Rostov helps Grace Cannon after she falls down due to his car splashing her. Grace is the secretary of Alan Barrington, a sworn enemy/rival of Maksim (in the gas/oil industry) for having stolen both his fiancee and his merger. What Grace didn't know was that Maksim had designs on this twenty-five-year-old virgin. He planned to use her to get his revenge from Alan. Maksim is in full seduction mode, and Grace can't help it in spite of the warning bells ringing in her head. From the first page itself, this book is hotness.

Since the day Grace's father died, she's worked hard to make ends meet for her family. With three younger brothers and a mother to care for, she's had her work cut out. Maksim was no different, he also had worked hard for his fortune, which his father and grandfather had ran to dust.

An interesting start to this book is that Grace is in love with Alan, or she thinks she is in love with him. Alan, in spite of being rich, doesn't increase her pay nor gives her a bonus while working her to the ground. That's really cheap of him. Ugh... Moreover, he thinks that he can use her against Maksim, too. Poor Grace, she doesn't have a clue about how she is becoming a pawn in these rich people's games. And then she commits the sin of blurting out Alan and his new fiancee's truth in front of Maksim, which he plans to use to his advantage. Whereas she ends up pregnant, knowing that Maksim only used her to get to Alan. She is fired from her job, tossed out of the house Alan rented to her, and that too on Christmas Eve! Not only that, she sees Maksim and Francesca (the other woman) getting all cosy. Betrayed from all sides, she leaves for her home in California, and her mother's comforting arms.

This was an emotional and angsty read. Did Maksim really betray her? I'm not gonna give any spoilers here. But as soon as he comes to know about her pregnancy, which is right after she comes to know about it, he orders her to marry him. They move to Moscow. A book published in 2009, I loved the glimpses it gave of Moscow, Russia. I can't even imagine how harrowing it must be to constantly fear for your life, travelling in armoured vehicles, indeed! I loved Elena, Maksim's elderly housekeeper in Moscow, more than Maksim at a certain point in the book. Humph... But he does let her stew in her misconceptions. Maksim has his heart in the right place, he just realises things very late. It would have got a five-star rating from me if not for the hollow feeling towards the end. There were too few scenes of them together, it seems. They were mostly alone, with their thoughts. At last, Maksim's house count stood at a measly six. Haha! Though it had a cuddly ending, again it was with only Grace and no Maksim in the picture, which made it a bit lonely. He's there, but not actually there.

P.S. I have read eleven of [a:Jennie Lucas|771847|Jennie Lucas|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1269297790p2/771847.jpg]' books, including this one, and I'm in awe of her stories. I have three of her paperbacks, and except two, have loved all her works!

This book had a passing mention of Maksim's friend, Greek tycoon Nikos Stavrakis, of The Greek Billionaire's Baby Revenge. It was also a four-star read for me.

I learned a bit of Russian too...solnishka mayo...meaning exactly - my dear sunlight? I'm still not sure.