Book Review: Contract Wedding, Expectant Bride by Yvonne Lindsay

 

Series: Book 2 in the ‘Courtesan Brides’.

I can’t leave the library without encountering Mills and Boon books sehlf and I usually end up getting a couple of them.

This time I went for the ‘Desire’ category. Some of the stories I have read from this line in the past were good and different.

Let’s see how ‘Contract Wedding, Expectant Bride by Yvonne Lindsay’ fairs….

Genre: Contemporary Romance; Mills and Boon.

Main Characters: Ottavia Romolo; King Rocco.

‘Contract Wedding, Expectant Bride by Yvonne Lindsay’ ~~ Synopsis:

Ottavia is looking forward to her release from her wrongful confinement, now that King Rocco’s younger sister’s folly has been discovered. But it seems Rocco has some other ideas.

Rocco wants Ottavia to stay a little while longer to spend time with him. As a king, he has too many responsibilities and lately his worries have increased. There’s a lot on his plate like…   

1. His kingdom is in upheaval, thanks to some unknown guy claiming to be the rightful heir. Rocco is not considering abdicating in favor of some faceless guy with unhinged ideas.

2. As per some ancient decree, he as a king is required to marry before his 35st birthday and produce an heir.

3. His 35st birthday is fast approaching and he still has not managed to find a suitable princess to wed.

4. He’s also starting to suspect that there’s a traitor in his own trusted team. So for a while, he just wants to have some fun.

Ottavia just wants to leave as it’s clear to her what Rocco wants. Despite their obvious attraction, Ottavia wants to turn him down. She does not enter into any sort of arrangement with men she likes; only men she can control.

She knows offending the king is not a wise or even right move. Ottavia decides to play along and insists he signs her contract just like her other clients. She’s sure one particular term in her contract would take care of his desire to have her around.

But her plan does not work. After some anger at her terms, Rocco signs the contract with his own term to leave a room for adding some unexpected term agreeable to both in the future.

Ottavia agrees, she’s sure there’s nothing he’d say or do that would make her change her mind.

Rocco met with Ottavia to get her to agree to become his mistress until he chooses a suitable bride. What Rocco’s not expecting was a no sex clause in Ottavia’s contract. That intrigues him and he takes it as a challenge to seduce her.

What he’s not expecting was to offer her to marry him to solve at least one of his problems? But Ottavia’s not sure if she’d accept his offer? And how would the people react to her.

Review:

I struggled to write the review, thanks to negatives outshining anything positive I have to say about the story. But I tried as always.

I want to know who’s using this outdated word ‘courtesan’ these days. It confused me. I usually come across it in historical novels.

I kept re-reading the blurb and then looking at the cover. All ingredients combined, it makes the book look modern. But the title makes it seem like a historical romance novel.

Another point not in story’s favor….

Chances are someone in the modern day royalty would be concerned with their reputation and image.

I did a quick search in Google and it became clear that the new term is ‘escort’ not ‘courtesan.’

Isn’t it usually news that so-so is the first commoner in the history to become royalty? So why the author wants us (readers) to believe that Ottavia & Rocco’s romance would work, considering the female protagonist is more or less a high end escort?

The story idea is different and probably would have worked just fine, if Rocco’s not elevated to the position of a King.

I only managed to find references to courtesans becoming mistresses and sometimes getting into high positions in courts in ancient history.

Google couldn’t find me any modern day references, except an erotic novel. I wonder why?

This book should have been an historical. As the idea of Ottavia being accepted a Queen is farfetched. I don’t think courtesans were accepted as the Queen in the history without objections.

The idea the author has presented is romantic & fantastical. This story in contemporary setting is unconvincing.

The biggest reason is, Ottavia apparently only provides platonic companionship, counseling if needed in some matters, hosting and event planning services.

This character could have as easily opened a business based on these skills. So the whole ‘courtesan’ drama seems unnecessary. Maybe the author discarded the idea of turning Ottavia into a businesswoman as the title is not shocking or good enough. 

It’s also mentioned that Ottavia doesn’t care who knows what she does for a living. What?

The common knowledge of her profession would make it even more difficult for some ‘king’ to marry her without running into objections, from friends, family, relatives, parliament, public or opposition etc.

That kind of a move would be a political suicide and a good reason to ask for abdication I guess. I’d have let it go if it were a fantasy romance with magic, not in a contemporary setting.

The villains are idiots at being villains. They don’t even know how to plot the successful downfall of a king, despite being so close to him.

Then the end is rushed and I have issues with how easily Ottavia forgives & forgets. Considering Ottavia’s past and how she’s betrayed the second time around too, forgive & forget makes no sense, but I guess when a king wants to marry you, you’d make an exception.

Despite all the objections I came up with when writing this review, it’s still a good story, unhinged and fantastical, but still good enough to read.

The main characters are good together. I liked both, Ottavia & Rocco, acting out their parts perfectly.

‘Contract Wedding, Expectant Bride’ is an engaging story if you’d manage to shut up your brain from coming up with objections.

 

Hit or Miss: Readable.

Ratings: 2stars/5.

Buy:   Amazon    |     iTunes

Happy Reading!

 

Book Review: When Da Silva Breaks the Rules by Abby Green

 

Series: Book 3 in the ‘Blood Brothers’.

One of those books that’s part of a series and I bought it without checking it online first.

It’s also the last one, so I’m wondering about information that I might be missing as I haven’t read the previous two books.

It’s not even given if I would want to read those books, in case this one’s not to my liking.  

That’s one reason I kept delaying the reading of “When Da Silva Breaks the Rules.” But now since I had it…

Let’s begin the review of ‘When Da Silva Breaks the Rules’

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Mills and Boon Novel.

Main Characters: Lexie Anderson, Cesar Da Silva.

‘When Da Silva Breaks the Rules by Abby Green’ ~~ Synopsis:

Cesar guards his personal life like a hawk, not giving media anything to write about him. There are secrets in his family that he does not want splashed all over the tabloids for everyone’s entertainment.

But sooner than later, some of his family’s secrets might tumble into the tabloid territory, now that he’s attended his half-brother’s wedding, against his better judgment.

So he’s thinking about creating some diversion for the media’s benefit. For now, the presence of a film crew, on his property, is bothering him. But for a few weeks he cannot do much about it.

After all, as a favor to a friend, Cesar approved the shooting of a film at his place, thinking it’d not bother him as he’s not going to be around.

But he returns early from his trip and the shooting is still going on, interrupting whatever little peace he’s got in the place filled with bad memories.

His carefully planned life begins to unravel, after a passionate encounter with film’s leading actress Lexie.

Lexie went to the stables to catch her breath and not get caught up in the web of instant lust for a handsome stranger -- a stranger who turns out to be the owner of the place.

To add to her woes and worries, someone caught them kissing. Soon she knows, the speculations over her affair with the billionaire would begin to circulate.

After making some bad decisions & gathering bad publicity over the years, Lexie is in damage control mode. She doesn’t want publicity that would negatively affect her efforts to recreate her image.

Maybe they could have sorted out their attraction away from the prying eyes of the media. But that’s no longer an option. Both are aware that the news would soon spill into the tabloids and then they would twist it into something it isn’t, denying their involvement isn’t an option either.

So why not play the media to meet their end goals. It would not reflect badly on Lexie to be seen around with Cesar.

Cesar has his doubts about getting involved with Lexie after checking her background. Also, she’s not his type, yet he cannot deny their unmistakable attraction.

The best or the worst thing is the news of the affair with Lexie would probably take media’s interest away from his family. So he decides to play along and want Lexie to agree, mostly his way of handling the news of their supposed affair in the tabloids.

Lexie doesn’t want Cesar to control how the news of their affair would be presented to the tabloids. She’d had enough of someone else pulling the strings and destroying her image.

No more she would allow someone that kind of control. This time she too would decide how things come out in public. She may not know what he gets out of it, but is sure there’s something he’d gain from manipulating the news of their affair.

Cesar agrees to her terms, because either way he’s getting what he wants and there seems to be no reason for complaint. So they embark on their supposed love affair, with the sure knowledge where they are headed.

Review:

I read the final installment first; the story leaves me a bit curious about Cesar’s brothers and their mother because I liked reading this story. Maybe their past is revealed a little in at least one of the previous books.

I would like to know a bit more about their mother’s motivation to leave Cesar with his grandparents. Anyways, let’s move on to the characters of “When Da Silva Breaks the Rules” characters: Lexie & Cesar.

I liked the brooding hero Cesar and courageous heroine Lexie. They seem quite developed and their HEA doesn’t seem superficial. They get hitched pretty soon, but it seems like another day in the HEA land of Romance.  

I can say that as I have read the story twice now and the verdict is the same as when I read it the first time. In my experience, a very few Mills and Boon novels till date, have survived my scrutiny twice over. 

 

Hit or Miss: Hit.

Ratings: 4stars/5.

Buy: Amazon   |   iTunes

Happy Reading!

Book Review: A Proposal Worth Millions by Sophie Pembroke

 

“Attraction…. It’s just that. We all feel it from time to time, with all sorts of people; it’s what we do with it count. Sometimes we ignore it, and sometimes we act on it and see what happens next.” ~~ Sophie Pembroke (Book: A Proposal worth Millions)

After reading ‘From Good Guy to Groom’ I wanted to skip this line. That story just destroyed my good impression of Harlequin’s this line of books.

Anyways, ‘A Proposal worth Millions’ is a different story by an author I have not read.

So I took a chance. Let’s see how this one fared….

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Mills and Boon.

Main Characters: Sadie Sullivan, Dylan Jacobs.

‘A Proposal Worth Millions by Sophie Pembroke’ ~~ Synopsis:

After the death of her husband Sadie is struggling to keep his dream alive as a legacy for their son. Sadie is running into financial troubles, trying to maintain the hotel.

Her husband’s dream hotel project isn’t the only one dragging her down, but also the fact that they are so far away from her home country in Turkey. She misses her family. Thankfully, she has a friend working for her and he finds a possible investor.

Sadie is determined to wow the investor with her presentation and get the money that’s needed to make the hotel a success. 

But she’s not expecting to meet Dylan as a prospective investor. They used to be friends and he’s her husband’s closest friend. Maybe in other circumstances she would have been happy to have him around.

Sadie prefers to avoid Dylan since the night when he made a move on her and she wondered what if she’s met him before her husband.

But she knows she cannot afford to think like that, as Dylan never hid the fact that he’s not the commitment type. And Sadie has always craved the safety of a stable relationship.

Now that he’s here, she cannot avoid him, nor could she afford to stay aloof.

Dylan may not be into getting into committed relationships in his personal life, but he’s good with business. Dylan could help Sadie save the hotel for her son as a legacy.

Dylan thought Sadie’s aware of his arrival. But it doesn’t take him too long to realize she’s shocked to see him there. For Dylan, Sadie is the one who got away. He always wondered what if he’d met Sadie before his best friend.

But he knew when they had met and he knows it even today that he is not the kind of man Sadie wants in her life.

So he stayed away from her. There’s only one time when in a drunken state his true feelings got out and created awkwardness between them.

Soon Dylan finds out that though Sadie is committed to making the hotel a success, it’s not something where her heart and mind is. He wants to help her, but he also wants her to understand what she’s committing to.

He also begins to wonder for how long their meetings would stay professional, considering their sizzling attraction and now that they could act on it. So he takes a chance and offers Sadie a tempting business and personal offer.

Sadie knew from the start that working with Dylan would be tough, considering their attraction is as strong as it was years ago. But is she someone who could have a good time and not care afterwards?

Review:

It feels good to read a feel good story and that Yay once again, I found a good story in this line.

I just wasn’t sure about Sadie & Dylan as Sadie comes across as too reluctant. But they have the chemistry that’s difficult to ignore from the start.

The author builds up Sadie & Dylan’s relationship slowly and steady until everything comes across nicely in the end.

The biggest attraction of stories in this line, for me, is the chemistry between the characters that the authors bring out without getting explicit. Not that I have anything against explicit story-lines, but it’s sometimes good to just read a good story.

‘A Proposal Worth Millions’ is a smooth and a nice love story for a nice weekend. You’d try this one if you’re looking for a sweet romantic read. 

 

“Sometimes you have to stick with a plan for a while to see its full potential. You have to give it time to work.” ~~ Sophie Pembroke (Book: A Proposal Worth Millions)

 

Hit or Miss: Hit.

Ratings: 4star/5.

Buy:  Amazon  |  iTunes

Happy Reading!