theeditorreads's reviews
995 reviews

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 1.

When the second line catches your attention, coz you are a bookstagrammer. And this was a contentious issue.
"‘And?’ Estelle pushed, pulling down the corner on the page she was reading and closing her book, hardly able to believe she was having this conversation, let alone considering going along with Ginny’s plan."
Dogearing the pages! Haha...It seems the author took out her grudge on someone. Hahahaha!

Intriguing name, so Wiki informed me that "Puerto José Banús, more commonly known simply as Puerto Banús, is a marina located in the area of Nueva Andalucía, to the southwest of Marbella, Spain on the Costa del Sol." So, we have a Spanish hero!

Twenty-five year old, naive, Estelle Connolly agrees to her housemate, Ginny's plan about acting as an escort on her behalf, to sixty-four year old Gordon Edwards, a politician with a secret. They are to go to a grand wedding, and share a room? But, it will pay handsomely, and she needs the extra money for her brother, Andrew, who had had a terrible accident and whose baby had been born with a heart condition, a brother who had cared for her when their parents had died when she was seventeen. Moreover, Ginny is not well enough to accompany her 'client'. So, she agrees to the charade. Since Estelle is studying ancient architecture, she is awed by the Scottish castle where the wedding is being held. But more than that, a certain someone awes her.

Thirty year old Raúl Sanchez De La Fuente, son to the owner and himself a director of De La Fuente Holdings (who own a chain of hotels), gets a talk down from his dying father to curb his irresponsible ways and settle down. He breezes through women like there's no tomorrow, and it is the same with money. He is truly the playboy of the place he resides in; an excellent title. There is an ex, Araminta, and a present soon to be past PA, Kelly. The most interesting thing was the hero wearing a kilt when our hero/heroine first met, with the heroine without her glasses! (Yep, our heroine here has reading glasses!)

"In Spain it is different. You take your father’s surname first and then your mother’s…" I did not know that!

Raul, after knowing about her family's problems, and deducing her to be an escort, offers to keep her by his side, by marrying her. He has his own agenda for that. Unknowingly, Raul and Estelle are drawn to each other, sharing even those little things of their life which they normally didn't, with anyone else. Raul's father recently revealed some sordid details about his past which has disturbed him. And he also doesn't know the whole truth behind the facade Estelle has created. He is brutally honest, like, literally. He doesn't hide anything and says everything on Estelle's face. He does have a caring side which he shows her in the best of times.

"as per tradition, the bride-to-be must embroider her groom’s shirt." Interesting Spanish wedding traditions.

They have their honeymoon upon his yacht. Sigh! But, he lacks in the TLC department, seriously, he hurts and then clumsily tries to make it right. Okay, not clumsily maybe. The side characters were perfectly absorbed in the story, and provided comic relief as well. It was really amusing, seeing Raul change for her. And their togetherness, is hot. And then she came to know she is pregnant. With the one person who didn't want permanence nor a baby. When she wants distance from him, he drifts closer to her, sharing his past, his pain, his painful past, with her. The past, his past, it made me cry. So horrific it was, no wonder he had nightmares. What Raul's father did, when he was only five, it was terrible! His father passes away, leaving behind him - a bitterness. But, can it be healed by love? The love Raul comes to realise he feels for Estelle.

It was a very, very emotional read. And it rounded off with a cute epilogue.

P.S. I have read 10 [a:Carol Marinelli|4990|Carol Marinelli|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1356217416p2/4990.jpg] books till now, and out of those [b:Secret Sheikh, Secret Baby|6681873|Secret Sheikh, Secret Baby|Carol Marinelli|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328338548s/6681873.jpg|6877144] remains the best read for me.

Kallie Demarchis's older cousin Eleni is urging her to come out with her feelings for Alexandros Kouros while they are attending his party, at his house in Athens. Eleni is positive that he also has a soft spot for Kallie, who is seventeen and about to start college in England. 25-year-old Alexandros is now the head of Kouros Shipping, wealthy and loaded, after losing his father suddenly, two years back. She takes her heart out and offers it to Alexandros, confesses that she loves her, only to be rejected by him, saying that he is going to announce his engagement to a famous model, Pia Kyriapolous. Alexandros and Kallie are neighbours, and childhood friends. Her father is Greek while her mother English. The next morning, it all erupts when his engagement gets called off because their one clumsy kiss is splashed across the tabloids with lurid details. A supposed kiss and tell. But we all know who's to blame for that, don't we? Though you will feel pity for the antagonist later. But of course, our hero believes the heroine did it. And they break off all ties with each other.

The book then starts with a heartbreak, and a seven year gap, in Paris. At a party, Alexandros is smitten with a stranger, not realising that he knows her. Kallie, who is there to meet her uncle, knowing that he is there, wants to leave asap. With her parents dead, and her uncle doing business with Alexandros to save Demarchis Shipping, she doesn't want to face him. But of course, they come face-to-face. She runs a small Anglo-French PR firm now, which also bagged a best new small business award.

Alexandros is out for revenge though. Aptly titled, he seeks out Kallie and steamrollers her into marrying him in order to help her uncle with his business. She didn't know how much trouble her uncle was in. He already has a negative opinion about Kallie, and she doesn't correct him, but he does need a convenient wife. He throws insults at her every which way. But, she also can't help but needle him. He already has plans put in place for a quick marriage, a quickie honeymoon, and a quicker divorce.

He was more hurt by what he believed not only Kallie's deception, but her parents' desertion as well, because he considered them as his own. He had been born to selfish parents, the only son, much younger than his youngest sister, and totally neglected. At least they didn't jump onto a bed as soon as they found one. But, when they did, it was hot. I wonder where were the bodyguards who trailed them but seemed to vanish when they became intimate in public places, now imagining that was a bit hilarious, and embarassing.

Towards the end, Kallie discovers that she is pregnant. She becomes panicky, thinking of the strenous relationship she shares with Alexandros. And then Alexandros too drops a bomb after her revelation which cleared things up between them, and they lived HEA. It has one of the sweetest declarations of love. And a nice epilogue to round up the story.

P.S. I have read 7 of [a:Abby Green|438948|Abby Green|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1464107294p2/438948.jpg]'s books till now, out of which [b:The Spaniard's Marriage Bargain|6484576|The Spaniard's Marriage Bargain (The Marriage Bargain, #1)|Abby Green|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348654722s/6484576.jpg|5835698] is an absolute favourite!

This one starts with a meeting where we have Cristiano from Book 1, big brother Chairman, and the hero, the younger Ferrara, Santo. They are discussing with other Board members present about adapting their hotel business to appeal to the younger generation for which they have to get extra land. And that is where our heroine comes in, not her, but her family, the Baracchis. There is some family feud between the Ferraras and the Baracchis. Moreover, Fiammetta Baracchi (Fia) and Santiago Ferrara (Santo) had had a hot one-night-stand three years ago, which nobody knows nothing about.

She's scared of her own feelings as far as Santo is concerned, because:
"Never love a Sicilian man had been the last words her mother had flung at her eight-year-old daughter before she’d walked out of the door for ever."

She hasn't told him that their one night together resulted in their two-year-old son, Luca. And then they come face-to-face, identical father and son.

What is it about the Baracchis that Santo says:
"Not once had he considered that he would have to fight for the right to be a father to his own child. Nor had he dreamt of his child being raised in a family like the Baracchis. He wouldn’t have wished it on anyone. It was a nightmare almost too painful to contemplate."

"The first time they’d met properly she’d been eight years old and hiding on the far side of the beach. His side, where no Baracchi was supposed to tread. She’d taken refuge in the disused boathouse, amongst jagged planks of wood and the acrid smell of oil. He’d been fourteen years old and totally at a loss to know what to do with his wild-haired intruder. Was he supposed to hold her captive? Ask for a ransom? In the end he’d done neither. Nor had he blown her cover."

Santo is going mad about the safety of his son, coz he had seen everything, seen the marks of abuse on young Fia's body, marks put there by her own father. Coming from a loving and protective family, he just couldn't help but feel overprotective of his own son. He is even nasty with her about her painful childhood. Her justification was that Luca would have been exposed to the hatred between their families.

I loved the Ferrara brothers' stories. Sarah Morgan is an all-time favourite. Both the brothers had strong familial ties, were born into and grew up in loving families. While the heroines were broken and had lots of baggage. I loved that Sarah Morgan reversed the situation in this duet, where in most of the M&Bs the heroes are the angtsy ones.

I loved how the first book's name was used in between:
"I’m very traditional. I believe that marriage is for ever. Once a Ferrara wife, always a Ferrara wife. We will not be getting a divorce.’" There's a reference to Cristiano and Laurel as well.

Santo, in spite of being so overtly emotional (both the Ferrara brothers are), was not giving the feeling of emotional warmth to Fia. No wonder she couldn't trust him, not with her feelings. But, Luca is a darling, especially the way he copies all the important words spoken by his father. Their misunderstandings grow by the dozen due to her closed up nature, and thinking she needs time to adjust, Santo doesn't say anything to her.

Hmm...the title of the book doesn't make sense. Santo was never forbidden. Well, he was banned from entering Baracchi territory, so maybe that's that. Also, the Baracchi-Ferrara animosity confused me. Was it after the mentioned event, or was it there from before. An epilogue would have been nice. It seemed a hurried ending.

P.S. The blurb on Goodreads mentioned Santino, but it's Santiago Ferrara in the first book. Not once his full name is mentioned in this book.

I love [a:Sarah Morgan|45898|Sarah Morgan|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1485947728p2/45898.jpg]'s books, and that is no secret. I'm in love with her writing ever since I read [b:The Prince's Waitress Wife|6116642|The Prince's Waitress Wife|Sarah Morgan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1266520193s/6116642.jpg|6294742]. I have read seven of her books till now, including this one, and the one I just mentioned as well as [b:One Night... Nine Month Scandal|7966617|One Night... Nine Month Scandal|Sarah Morgan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1394406590s/7966617.jpg|11969795] are my absolute favorites!

This one had a tortured heroine:

She had no memory of being left wrapped in supermarket bags in a cold city park by a mother who didn’t want her, but the memories of the years that followed were embedded in her brain like shrapnel.

Due to her past, she has buried all her emotions, while he wears it on his sleeve.

She just landed in Sicily, to attend her best friend Daniela's wedding, who is also his sister, and just when she didn't need her husband, he was there...Cristiano Domenico Ferrara (of Ferrara Resorts). Laurel Ferrara is about to get her divorce from the husband she hasn't laid eyes on for the past two years, especially after what happened between them. She reminisces her first time on Sicily, when she came from London and fell in love with Cristiano (who is a qualified structural engineer, owns most of Sicily, and has houses, and offices you drool over).

She is asthmatic (stress brings on her asthma). Moreover, she lost her baby; yes, she was pregnant two years ago which ended in a miscarriage with no Cristiano beside her, yep, he's that selfish. She started out as Laurel Hampton, personal trainer, and went on to become the very image of Ferrara Fitness.

Santiago, his younger brother, hot-headed and overprotective, who felt responsible for the current mess because he was the one who had appointed Laurel as his personal trainer when he’d committed to run the New York City Marathon. Without that introduction, Cristiano never would have met her.

As if Cristiano wasn't enough, Santo was there in equal parts to torture her. But, he did bring them back together later. As did Dani.

Her crazy, disastrous childhood had left her with insecurities deeper than the ocean. On the surface she was a bright, competent businesswoman. Underneath she was emotional quicksand. He’d thought he could cope with that. He’d thought he was sane and well adjusted enough for both of them. He’d been wrong.

Our hero is very intuitive. Just not enough... While our heroine is a fighter. She gives back instead of taking everything lying down. Just when she thinks she's had enough, she gets an asthma attack which leads Cristiano right back to where she didn't want him to belong.

‘My sister is obsessed with happy ever afters.’ But Laurel wasn’t. She didn’t believe in happy ever afters. He still remembered how, during their wedding, she’d kept touching him to check it was real. His hand. His face. Tell me this is happening. That I’m not going to wake up.

Aww...

Laurel's description of the day she had a miscarriage, it made me cry, such an emotional, powerful read.

Spoiler

She had an ectopic pregnancy which he didn't know anything about, coz he ignored her when she called for his help, rather focusing on his business.

Ahaaa...this one had the bestest and longest grovelling scene (which was seriously needed), the beginning of which was in an airport! He takes her to a secret place and I can't help but give out a

Spoiler

here, there are two Dobermanns at that secret place! Rambo and Terminator. From there on, it's a beautiful journey about discovering each other, from becoming me and you to us.

This book had some beautiful lines, especially the ones about book.

The trouble is, I wouldn’t know a happy ending if I fell over it.’

Most men were emotionally inarticulate but Cristiano was the exception. He had no trouble expressing his feelings and no problem interpreting hers. His emotional sophistication far exceeded hers.

How they discover each other slowly, gradually, powerful, wonderful writing.

Hope was a small tender bud, slowly unfurling inside her because finally this felt real.

Spoiler

Having lost track of time in their secret place, with Cristiano coming up with surprise after surprise, she later realises she is pregnant, again. And this time, Cristiano listens to her.

The ending with a cute epilogue was so full of joy that it made me cry, weird right?

Spoiler

At the end, not only had they had a baby of their own-Elena who is two when, according to plan, they adopted a girl called Chiara, a girl who wouldn't be disappointed like Laurel was when she was of Chiara's age.

P.S. The title was somehow perfect! Laurel and Daniela were college mates, but Laurel was introduced to Cristiano when Santiago hired her as his personal trainer, how? It seems Cristiano and Laurel were meant to be.

Belong to a titled family, Cesare has a whirlwind affair with Carla, only to dump her (very rudely) when he has to marry an equally titled woman, as his heritage commands. Related to the first book in this duology, I can't even imagine how Vito and Carla were going to marry, they appeared more like an affectionate brother-sister duo to me. Cesare was nothing but a @*?!, the way he treated Carla again and again. Though written by the same author, I felt this book was much, much better than the first one,more passionate,more fiery, more angst, more of everything.
'Across her heart a jagged knife seemed to be dragging its serrated blade.'
But I swear, if again a knife with a serrated blade ever dragged across the hearts of any of the main characters, I will die first!
In the end, the small link to history is something I have never seen before in an M&B, and that's what made this book unique.

Chiara Caruso is worried. Barely a week has passed since her parents' death in a car crash, that the only home she knows, an old Sicilian Castello, is about to be possessed by the bank. In comes Nicolo (Nico) Santo Domenico, claiming that her home was actually his, his ancestors', which he has now come back to claim, with vengeance. But marrying her will serve two purposes; one, getting back his home immediately, and two, stabilize his business by presenting a stability in life, having a family. Chiara demands a six month trial marriage, with heirs to come much later. But, on the realisation that she may be pregnant after their wedding night, with Nico considering her as nothing more than a pawn in his game, she has no option but to flee.

The most adorable character in the book was Spiro, the Sicilian Shepherd. It was funny to read how Nico got jealous of Spiro. The author has brought out the emotions of the main characters beautifully, with their painful pasts.

She’d always imagined in this scenario that she’d be with someone she loved. Who loved her. She’d seen the lack of love between her parents and had always yearned for something more. That was why she’d devoured romances all her life, stuffing them behind other books in the library so her father wouldn’t find them.

Special mention for the endearing epilogue.

A chance bumpety-bump (can you guess who fell down?) at an airport leads to our two main characters, Vito Viscari and Eloise Dean, to meet. As a result, she misses her flight to Paris, and he takes her with him on a European tour of his various hotels (haha, can I bump into someone like that?) As the tour draws to a close, Vito, the only child of much-in-love parents, is left wondering if he can give a grandchild to bring his mother out of the lonliness she is facing after his father passed away recently. On the other hand, Eloise, who is in a happy daze, and on a break from her nanny job, is apprehensive of this beautiful dalliance coming to an end.

But the inevitable happens, and Vito, under pressure, has to announce his engagement to his step cousin sister (they are not related, at all). Apparently, alpha males (HPland term, not mine) can sometimes be coerced, and here he did have a deathbed promise to fulfil! The step cousin sister has her own issues and her own book ([b:Carrying His Scandalous Heir|35033795|Carrying His Scandalous Heir (Mistress to Wife #2)|Julia James|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1502095567s/35033795.jpg|56319407]). What happens when Eloise comes to know about this, and later finds out that she is pregnant?

A well thought-out story, part I of a duology. I was specifically impressed with Vito for being sensitive and considerate of Eloise's feelings. Written partly in first and third narration, Vito's desperation for Eloise just won me over. In spite of being unemotional, Eloise's mother's deeds in the end were really surprising! The story was a bit depressing towards the end, what with both the main characters discussing over and over the has beens. Overall, it was an okay read.

My first read by the author, and this is the second book out of the five she has written till now.

Colette just found out that she is pregnant with Stephen Whitfield's child. The next instant she goes to his office to break things up with him as theirs was a no-strings-attached affair, and she's adamant to not force a convenient marriage like her parents' just for the sake of her child. Though she had fallen in love with him, she knew it would never be reciprocated. They both have sordid pasts which they never discussed. And then she eavesdrops on Stephen and his grandfather's conversation about a nobody like her trying to deliberately get pregnant and ruining their reputation, etc. etc. etc. They are a family of wealthy hoteliers. And so she leaves without telling him. She decides on vanishing from his life.

There's a time jump of five years, beginning from Chapter Two. The latest acquisition of a hotel by Stephen brings forward a name, Colette Huntington, the pastry chef. Colette has left London for New York to support herself and her adorable four-year-old daughter, Emma.

After a longntime, I read an M&B Modern with a British hero and an American heroine. Also, it was a novelty to read the reminisces of a hero about the couple's first meet. The hero was smitten from the beginning by the heroine's coltish beauty.

The first meeting of Emma and Stephen is hilarious, and disastrous, depends on your perspective. And Colette didn't suffer from Treacherous Body Syndrome, a term I picked from Carmen's (IvyH's) reviews. Even if she feels it, she definitely doesn't give in to it. But later, there is a full blown office seduction sequence. She grovels. He grovels. Both their pasts come out. And that's pretty much it. But yeah, there is the hero's monologue too, again a novelty. And the cutest epilogue ever.

This is Book 1 of The Bond of Brothers (twin brothers), and since Book 2 is more on drama than angst, it's not for me.

The story starts with Kristen Russell reading the newapaper about Sicilian billionaire Sergio Castellano's wedding plans to Lady Felicity Denholm. She remembers the time spent with him in Sicily four years ago. She has a three-year-old son Nico, Sergio's son, whom he knows nothing about. She is a physiotherapist, who was a gymnast-in-the-making under her forceful stepfather's watch (he was abominable), when she met Sergio. He wanted a no-strings-attached affair, and she didn't tell him about their baby, but there are more twists than that. Of course, there are more reasons for that as well; she lost the other baby, then her mother too. Her mother's loss hit her and Nico hard, and she was dealt a double blow. To get Nico out of his melancholic mood, she must be with him for as much time as possible, and as bad as her financial condition is, she has to approach Sergio now for her son's sake.

Sergio has issues with commitment, after what her mother did to their family. There are scars from his childhood which never healed, and then the things that happened to Kristen and then Annamaria, his wife, further increased his pain. Situations of past and present lead him to believe that Kristen is as bad as his mother, and he threatens her with custody.

I know it should never have happened; but, I agreed with Kristen's reasons for not telling Sergio about their son. What was his story though? The way he behaved with Kristen based on how his mother was, was so not done; always judging her and waiting for her to fail as a mother. He even wanted full custody of Nico, just because he can! Though he did suffer from physical abuse when he was young, it didn't justify the way he literally snatched Nico from his mother's arms and flew to Sicily without Kristen's knowledge. Ugh...just because of a misunderstanding. He has a lot of grovelling to do, and he does. All their misunderstandings cleared, they finally get their HEA.

Giving out a

Spoiler

here, their animosity is over and done with within half of the book, but love is yet to make an appearance.

P.S. The books' name is perfect but, the series' name doesn't do it justice. Was there really a bond between the brothers? Twins separated from each other in their childhood, when they were only five, for the next ten years. Sergio living with their volatile mother and Salvatore with their father.

I've read 9 books by [a:Chantelle Shaw|621880|Chantelle Shaw|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1267516010p2/621880.jpg] till now, and this makes it 10th, and I loved 'em all but, I still haven't found a clear favourite!