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The Santanas Men #1
Forgotten Husband
They said he was her husband…
But Elise didn't feel married. Nor did she feel pregnant…. The accident had destroyed all memory of the past few months for her and, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember pledging her heart and soul to this rich, gorgeous, formidably sophisticated stranger, Alejandro Santanas.
Elise sensed the chemistry between them, sparks of secret passion that made her feel alive. But was she in love with him—and he with her? Had she lost the most precious part of her life—forever?
But Elise didn't feel married. Nor did she feel pregnant…. The accident had destroyed all memory of the past few months for her and, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember pledging her heart and soul to this rich, gorgeous, formidably sophisticated stranger, Alejandro Santanas.
Elise sensed the chemistry between them, sparks of secret passion that made her feel alive. But was she in love with him—and he with her? Had she lost the most precious part of her life—forever?
158 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 1995
64 people are currently reading
337 people want to read
About the author
Helen Bianchin
380 books227 followersHelen Shirley was born on February 20 1939 in New Zealand, where she grew up, an only child possessed by a vivid imagination and a love for reading. She wrote stories for amusement in her early teenage years, and when she left leaving school, she took a secretarial job at a father-and-son legal firm.
At age twenty-one Helen joined a girlfriend and embarked on a working holiday in Australia, travelling via cruise ship from Auckland to Melbourne. Alas, no shipboard romance, as she spent all four days in her cabin suffering from sea-sickness! After fifteen months working in Melbourne, Helen and her friend bought a vehicle and took three months to drive the length and breadth of Australia, choosing to work in Cairns in order to fund the final leg of our journey to Sydney.
It was in Cairns that Helen met her future husband, Danilo Bianchin, an Italian immigrant from Treviso. He was a tobacco sharefarmer from the tobacco farming community of Mareeba. His English was pitiful, and her command of Italian was nil. Six months later they married, and Helen was flung into cooking for up to nine tobacco pickers, stringing tobacco, feeding 200 chickens, a few turkeys, ducks... plus killing, cleaning and cooking the same! Her knowledge of Italian improved, and there were hilarious moments in retrospect. Some of what she endured was cooking on a wood-burning stove, having no running hot water, a primitive shower and toilet facilities, washing uniforms for two soccer teams during the soccer season... floods, horrendous hailstone damage to tobacco crops, hardship, and the stillbirth of their first child. Then, to their joy, Helen's daughter, Lucia, was born. Three years later the couple returned to New Zealand, where they settled for sixteen years. During those early years, they added two sons, Angelo and Peter, to the family.
With multiple anecdotes of farm life in an Italian community to friends, the idea of writing a book occurred. A romance, set on a tobacco farm in Australia's far north, Queensland, featuring an Italian hero. Helen says, "the background was authentic, believe me!" However the hero was rich and owned the farm artistic license! It took her a year to complete a passable manuscript, typed on a portable typewriter at the dining room table. That first effort was deemed too short with insufficient detail. Helen rewrote it. This time it was considered too long with too much extraneous detail. She revised, then sent it to London. Four months later she received a telegram from Alan Boon (Mills & Boon) to say they intended to publish and a contract would be sent in the mail. It was the most wonderful news!
Helen wrote ten more books while living in New Zealand, then in 1981, her family resettled in Australia, on Queensland's Gold Coast. She has since published twenty-five more books. Today, with computer technology, the mechanics of writing are much easier. However, the writing process doesn't change. Helen says that she's having a good day if she can achieve 5 good pages, which she is likely to change, edit and rewrite the following day.
She loves creating characters, giving them life and providing a situation where their emotions are tested and love wins out. For her, the greatest praise is for a reader to say they couldn't put the book down... then Helen knows that she has achieved what she set out to do -- "create a moving enjoyable story which holds the reader entertained from beginning to end."
Helen's hobbies are tennis, table-tennis, judo, reading. She loves movies, and leads an active social life.
At age twenty-one Helen joined a girlfriend and embarked on a working holiday in Australia, travelling via cruise ship from Auckland to Melbourne. Alas, no shipboard romance, as she spent all four days in her cabin suffering from sea-sickness! After fifteen months working in Melbourne, Helen and her friend bought a vehicle and took three months to drive the length and breadth of Australia, choosing to work in Cairns in order to fund the final leg of our journey to Sydney.
It was in Cairns that Helen met her future husband, Danilo Bianchin, an Italian immigrant from Treviso. He was a tobacco sharefarmer from the tobacco farming community of Mareeba. His English was pitiful, and her command of Italian was nil. Six months later they married, and Helen was flung into cooking for up to nine tobacco pickers, stringing tobacco, feeding 200 chickens, a few turkeys, ducks... plus killing, cleaning and cooking the same! Her knowledge of Italian improved, and there were hilarious moments in retrospect. Some of what she endured was cooking on a wood-burning stove, having no running hot water, a primitive shower and toilet facilities, washing uniforms for two soccer teams during the soccer season... floods, horrendous hailstone damage to tobacco crops, hardship, and the stillbirth of their first child. Then, to their joy, Helen's daughter, Lucia, was born. Three years later the couple returned to New Zealand, where they settled for sixteen years. During those early years, they added two sons, Angelo and Peter, to the family.
With multiple anecdotes of farm life in an Italian community to friends, the idea of writing a book occurred. A romance, set on a tobacco farm in Australia's far north, Queensland, featuring an Italian hero. Helen says, "the background was authentic, believe me!" However the hero was rich and owned the farm artistic license! It took her a year to complete a passable manuscript, typed on a portable typewriter at the dining room table. That first effort was deemed too short with insufficient detail. Helen rewrote it. This time it was considered too long with too much extraneous detail. She revised, then sent it to London. Four months later she received a telegram from Alan Boon (Mills & Boon) to say they intended to publish and a contract would be sent in the mail. It was the most wonderful news!
Helen wrote ten more books while living in New Zealand, then in 1981, her family resettled in Australia, on Queensland's Gold Coast. She has since published twenty-five more books. Today, with computer technology, the mechanics of writing are much easier. However, the writing process doesn't change. Helen says that she's having a good day if she can achieve 5 good pages, which she is likely to change, edit and rewrite the following day.
She loves creating characters, giving them life and providing a situation where their emotions are tested and love wins out. For her, the greatest praise is for a reader to say they couldn't put the book down... then Helen knows that she has achieved what she set out to do -- "create a moving enjoyable story which holds the reader entertained from beginning to end."
Helen's hobbies are tennis, table-tennis, judo, reading. She loves movies, and leads an active social life.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
September 22, 2018
Re Forgotten Husband - Helen Bianchin does high society AMNESIA and a lot of showers and designer clothes.
The h in this one wakes up in hospital and has no clue who the very good looking Spaniard desperately clutching her hand actually is. She does notice that the guy is extremely interesting in all sorts of HP H ways.
We find out the handsome man is the h's husband and she is having his baby. While the h is happy she has such great taste in men, she is kinda upset that she got into a car accident when another driver ran her over and she can't remember marrying or meeting the H.
(Experienced HP voyagers are leaping around in deelite however. Cause we all know that the h probably married him for any other reason but love and now she has AMNESIA and we are all on board for great drama as a result of the h's memory return.)
Soon the h is ready to be discharged and tho she has some apprehension, her devoted is H all things kind and considerate while they recuperate on the beach and the h is thinking she really scored. Then we all go back to the h's 'real life' and things start to go downhill fast.
The h's memory returns and she remembers that she actually married the H with a two year agreement so that he would bail her ill father out debt and save the family firm. Then the h forgot to take her pill when her father collapsed with illness and in the spirit of affirming life in the abyss of death, the H and h made a baby.
The h knew that the H was probably lurvin' it up with a bevy of high society beauty's, one in particular makes no bones about being the H's once, current and future lady lurve for life. So she decided to leave her cheatin' H and then she got wrecked by another car and ended up in hospital.
Now the H knows about the baby and he isn't letting her out of her marriage, so they are stuck for life or at least until the baby is 18. The h has to make the best of it while also getting frequent exposure to the Lurve Force Mojo's Transcendent Bliss experience.
We also get all the standard HB tropes of high society charity events, clothes shopping and a lot of showers, in addition to persistent OW verbal battles that lead up to the infamous HB patented Meeting in the Ladies Room, where the evil OW assaults the h by crushing her injured hand.
The H knows all about this of course, but not because the h tells him. Nope, our H is so possessive he has the h minded and herded about like cattle, he also gets daily updates from all people who come in contact with her.
We do get one little lapse from the gourmet dining and high society charity events when the H and h schlep off after a vicious OW attack to get some take out Chinese. It was an HB milestone, cause they ate right out of the carton.
Eventually the h admits that she loves the H and he explains that he loves her back. After all didn't he show her so every time he lurved her up with such exquisite ecstasy? And those OW are in the past and never meant a thing as he dumped them all when he married the h.
So we leave the two of them in love and happy and waiting on their baby, while the OW is running around doing evil OW things that the h resolves to firmly ignore for a standard, but sweet HB HP day at the office.
This is one features an H that is quite a bit nicer than her prior ones. He is clearly devoted to the h and it shows. But the h can't seem to get over her hostility for their business arrangement start, mostly because of the harassment by the main evil OW. The h does come around eventually, but my biggest issue with this one is that the H should have done something about the OW.
HB's entire HP raison d'être is to have evil OW who stalk both the h and H while creating a bazillion tons of misunderstandings, bad feelings and angry H and h lurve club moments so that the h is forced to fight for her man.
This is so the HB H can glide along looking all Suave Rico Urban Conglomerate Head in a bespoke suite until he idly selects an app on his smart phone and a million minions rush around getting injunctions and law officers to run the OW out of the country or face prosecution.
I don't mind H's being all Suave Rico and running OW out of the country, that is what an HB H is FOR, but I did not get that here and I am rather disappointed with him - tho he was really sweet to the h.
For once I would like an HB hero to publicly verbally tell the OW that she is a bottomless hole of nematode parasite excrement and he would rather face the heat death of the universe without a space suit than dip into it. So much HB heroine hurt could be assuaged that way and yet HB never does it.
This OW doesn't even get the required HB H minion warning of prosecution - she gets to continue running around and spreading venom and I did not like that. The evil OW hurt a pregnant lady for pity's sake, put the bovine snot snarfer in jail for assault at the very least and the H should have publicly denounced her at the most.
So while this one had it nice H moments, the lack retribution to the OW was a big drawback and that made this a pretty mediocre HB HPlandia outing.
The h in this one wakes up in hospital and has no clue who the very good looking Spaniard desperately clutching her hand actually is. She does notice that the guy is extremely interesting in all sorts of HP H ways.
We find out the handsome man is the h's husband and she is having his baby. While the h is happy she has such great taste in men, she is kinda upset that she got into a car accident when another driver ran her over and she can't remember marrying or meeting the H.
(Experienced HP voyagers are leaping around in deelite however. Cause we all know that the h probably married him for any other reason but love and now she has AMNESIA and we are all on board for great drama as a result of the h's memory return.)
Soon the h is ready to be discharged and tho she has some apprehension, her devoted is H all things kind and considerate while they recuperate on the beach and the h is thinking she really scored. Then we all go back to the h's 'real life' and things start to go downhill fast.
The h's memory returns and she remembers that she actually married the H with a two year agreement so that he would bail her ill father out debt and save the family firm. Then the h forgot to take her pill when her father collapsed with illness and in the spirit of affirming life in the abyss of death, the H and h made a baby.
The h knew that the H was probably lurvin' it up with a bevy of high society beauty's, one in particular makes no bones about being the H's once, current and future lady lurve for life. So she decided to leave her cheatin' H and then she got wrecked by another car and ended up in hospital.
Now the H knows about the baby and he isn't letting her out of her marriage, so they are stuck for life or at least until the baby is 18. The h has to make the best of it while also getting frequent exposure to the Lurve Force Mojo's Transcendent Bliss experience.
We also get all the standard HB tropes of high society charity events, clothes shopping and a lot of showers, in addition to persistent OW verbal battles that lead up to the infamous HB patented Meeting in the Ladies Room, where the evil OW assaults the h by crushing her injured hand.
The H knows all about this of course, but not because the h tells him. Nope, our H is so possessive he has the h minded and herded about like cattle, he also gets daily updates from all people who come in contact with her.
We do get one little lapse from the gourmet dining and high society charity events when the H and h schlep off after a vicious OW attack to get some take out Chinese. It was an HB milestone, cause they ate right out of the carton.
Eventually the h admits that she loves the H and he explains that he loves her back. After all didn't he show her so every time he lurved her up with such exquisite ecstasy? And those OW are in the past and never meant a thing as he dumped them all when he married the h.
So we leave the two of them in love and happy and waiting on their baby, while the OW is running around doing evil OW things that the h resolves to firmly ignore for a standard, but sweet HB HP day at the office.
This is one features an H that is quite a bit nicer than her prior ones. He is clearly devoted to the h and it shows. But the h can't seem to get over her hostility for their business arrangement start, mostly because of the harassment by the main evil OW. The h does come around eventually, but my biggest issue with this one is that the H should have done something about the OW.
HB's entire HP raison d'être is to have evil OW who stalk both the h and H while creating a bazillion tons of misunderstandings, bad feelings and angry H and h lurve club moments so that the h is forced to fight for her man.
This is so the HB H can glide along looking all Suave Rico Urban Conglomerate Head in a bespoke suite until he idly selects an app on his smart phone and a million minions rush around getting injunctions and law officers to run the OW out of the country or face prosecution.
I don't mind H's being all Suave Rico and running OW out of the country, that is what an HB H is FOR, but I did not get that here and I am rather disappointed with him - tho he was really sweet to the h.
For once I would like an HB hero to publicly verbally tell the OW that she is a bottomless hole of nematode parasite excrement and he would rather face the heat death of the universe without a space suit than dip into it. So much HB heroine hurt could be assuaged that way and yet HB never does it.
This OW doesn't even get the required HB H minion warning of prosecution - she gets to continue running around and spreading venom and I did not like that. The evil OW hurt a pregnant lady for pity's sake, put the bovine snot snarfer in jail for assault at the very least and the H should have publicly denounced her at the most.
So while this one had it nice H moments, the lack retribution to the OW was a big drawback and that made this a pretty mediocre HB HPlandia outing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 25, 2018
One of HB's better stories. It's a trope salad - a blackmailed into marriage by a smitten hero, then amnesia caused by a car wreck as heroine was leaving him, an unexpected pregnancy, and then the OW squeezing the heroine's injured hand in the powder room. What's not to like?
Lots of showers, soups, omelets, pale blue carpets, dressing up and dressing down.
Lots of showers, soups, omelets, pale blue carpets, dressing up and dressing down.
June 9, 2017
Accident.
Amnesia.
Shower.
Brush, brush, brush.
Lust.
Confusion.
Suspicion.
Shower.
Brush, brush, brush.
Blackmail.
Marriage of Convenience.
Infidelity?
Shower.
Brush, brush, brush.
Seekret baby.
Ex-mistress.
Catfight.
Shower.
Brush, brush, brush.
No comeuppance.
No grovel.
I Love yous.
Shower.
Brush, brush, brush.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 27, 2016
Writing style was so boring!
July 6, 2021
2.5 low-suds Stars
I have a love/tolerate relationship with H.B. I LOVE her crazy, deranged OW, and I tolerate her endless descriptions of showering, and attending society functions. This one has the added bonus of amnesia, so I decided to jump in.
The book opens with Elise waking up in the hospital with no memory. There’s a smokin’ hot dude (Alejandro) who claims is her husband. The rest is not very unique, and HP readers will probably guess how the rest pans out.
Elise was alright, she has a backbone. (mostly) Alejandro was ok, but I found them both kind of bland. He’s not cruel, so there’s not really any angst. The wannabe OW is certifiable, but not around much, and she gets zero comeuppance which I found frustrating… especially because she physically hurt her, and left it off by threatening her to watch her back.
Bottom Line- Just ok for me. No real drama, or angst. No OW what for, or epilogue.
I have a love/tolerate relationship with H.B. I LOVE her crazy, deranged OW, and I tolerate her endless descriptions of showering, and attending society functions. This one has the added bonus of amnesia, so I decided to jump in.
The book opens with Elise waking up in the hospital with no memory. There’s a smokin’ hot dude (Alejandro) who claims is her husband. The rest is not very unique, and HP readers will probably guess how the rest pans out.
Elise was alright, she has a backbone. (mostly) Alejandro was ok, but I found them both kind of bland. He’s not cruel, so there’s not really any angst. The wannabe OW is certifiable, but not around much, and she gets zero comeuppance which I found frustrating… especially because she physically hurt her, and left it off by threatening her to watch her back.
Bottom Line- Just ok for me. No real drama, or angst. No OW what for, or epilogue.
avoid
June 11, 2017Book apparently consists of 80% showers and 20% OW in the premise of amnesia with the OW still looming in their lives in the end!
Movie nights has never been more awkward:|
Movie nights has never been more awkward:|
June 9, 2013
4 Stars ~ As a result of a car accident, Elise has lost all recollection of her past. She's learnt that her parents have both died and that she has no family except for the disturbing stranger who says he's her husband and for the unborn child she carries. Alejandro has an air about him that Elise finds very disturbing, and when he touches her she can't help her body's response. Yet some part of her doubts the devoted husband he portrays. When she's discharged, Alejandro takes her away to his beach house where they can become reacquainted, and slowly he disarms her defenses and she finds herself falling in love with him again. Returning home to the real world, Elise slowly finds her memory returning, and then one day she recalls vividly why she married Alejandro and love had nothing to do with it. And she further remembers why she'd been driving the night of the accident .. she was leaving Alejandro. Having just discovered her pregnancy, she knew she couldn't continue in a loveless marriage, nor put up with Alejandro's mistress who was determined to make her life hell.
I adore amnesia stories, especially when amnesia gives either the hero or heroine a second chance to prove their love. It is clear that Alejandro adores his wife and he's determined to win her heart. The bitter ex-mistress is a common commodity in Ms. Bianchin's books. In this one, though Savannah is quite the bitch, she's rather tame in comparison to others written by Ms. Bianchin. The chemistry between Alejandro and Elise leaps off the page, keeping the tension quite high throughout the book. I thoroughly enjoyed Alejandro and Elise's journey to HEA.
I adore amnesia stories, especially when amnesia gives either the hero or heroine a second chance to prove their love. It is clear that Alejandro adores his wife and he's determined to win her heart. The bitter ex-mistress is a common commodity in Ms. Bianchin's books. In this one, though Savannah is quite the bitch, she's rather tame in comparison to others written by Ms. Bianchin. The chemistry between Alejandro and Elise leaps off the page, keeping the tension quite high throughout the book. I thoroughly enjoyed Alejandro and Elise's journey to HEA.
July 10, 2012
This had a great premise and started off strong, but quickly went down hill. The author spent more time writing about what the heroine was wearing, than the actual story between the hero and heroine.
I could never understand the heroines actions. She seemed to be very misguided, extremely emotional...and very childish.
I thought since this was an older book, that I might like it, better. I think this is my last book by this author.
I could never understand the heroines actions. She seemed to be very misguided, extremely emotional...and very childish.
I thought since this was an older book, that I might like it, better. I think this is my last book by this author.
December 17, 2016
I actually read these books out of order, second one first, which I wasn't too impressed with and then this one, the first one. I was much more impressed with this one than the second. However I would of LOVED to see Savannah punished for being such a cow. It would of made the book 10 times better.
July 30, 2020
This one’s a little tropey ... blackmailed bride, amnesia, pregnancy, evil wannabe OW
August 25, 2023
This is a second chance story. The book starts with the h having amnesia after a car accident.
The h is married to a multi-millionaire H. She goes home with him and she spends her days shopping, having facials, going to the hairdresser, sitting by the pool. And she’s jealous of the evil OW.
What struck me the most was that after having lunch with her best and only friend Shiobhan (who is a nurse at a hospital), the h splits the bill.
Why not pay for the entire lunch bill if you’re that rich you buy expensive designer gowns all the time and you have more shoes than Imelda Marcos. The H is very generous but she is cheap.
The h is married to a multi-millionaire H. She goes home with him and she spends her days shopping, having facials, going to the hairdresser, sitting by the pool. And she’s jealous of the evil OW.
What struck me the most was that after having lunch with her best and only friend Shiobhan (who is a nurse at a hospital), the h splits the bill.
Why not pay for the entire lunch bill if you’re that rich you buy expensive designer gowns all the time and you have more shoes than Imelda Marcos. The H is very generous but she is cheap.
July 31, 2015
why is it that every time I read a Helen Bianchin, I get sense of deja vu? Probably because her plots (including dialogues and situations) are so similar. while I enjoy her writing I certainly don't want to read the same story again with different characters. 'Forgotten Husband' is about a wife with amnesia who very conveniently forgets her husband. Of course, the said amnesia provides the perfect opportunity for the husband to try and salvage the marriage which didn't start out amicably. unfortunately, (and rather predictably), Elise gets her memory back and things go downhill from there onwards. The malicious OW makes an appearance here (as in most of Bianchin's other books) and there's the customary description of clothes and food and other mundane everyday tasks; when the author could have instead focused on the chemistry between the protagonists. What a waste!
Overall though, I didn't find the story too bad and the writing mostly made up for all the plot deficiencies. It was light and sensual; hence the three stars. But would I read it again? Probably not.
Overall though, I didn't find the story too bad and the writing mostly made up for all the plot deficiencies. It was light and sensual; hence the three stars. But would I read it again? Probably not.
March 1, 2024
He should have cut the evil ex out of his life. I really hated that part of the story. And she will continue to be a problem. She threatened the heroine and the ending never addressed that.
July 11, 2018
As is evident from the title, it is an amnesiac story. Elise, who is married to Alejandro Santanas, is pregnant, and has just woken up after a brutal accident, which has left her, not only physically injured, but without any memories.
As in all amnesia stories (don’t I love them!), there is a certain degree of mystery surrounding the enigmatic Mr. Santanas. The first part of the story is spent in idyll at Alejandro’s beach-front home, where they have gone for Elise’s speedy recover. Only after that, do we get a glimpse of their past life, as Elise’s past bombards her in small flashes, following small incidents here and there. I can’t explain how, but the writing appeared to be quite poetic, especially some otherwise mundane descriptions. But it left too much to desire. No justice where the other woman, Savannah, is concerned. God knows what happened in the end, no epilogue, no proper ending. It seemed the book was incomplete.
As in all amnesia stories (don’t I love them!), there is a certain degree of mystery surrounding the enigmatic Mr. Santanas. The first part of the story is spent in idyll at Alejandro’s beach-front home, where they have gone for Elise’s speedy recover. Only after that, do we get a glimpse of their past life, as Elise’s past bombards her in small flashes, following small incidents here and there. I can’t explain how, but the writing appeared to be quite poetic, especially some otherwise mundane descriptions. But it left too much to desire. No justice where the other woman, Savannah, is concerned. God knows what happened in the end, no epilogue, no proper ending. It seemed the book was incomplete.
June 30, 2015
Decent enough I suppose but the whole time I was reading it, I kept wondering if I'd read it before or if I've only read books that were so similar they seem as if they are the same book. There was nothing new here. There were no scenes that leapt out at me as novel in any way. He wasn't particularly sweet nor particularly asshatish. She was just blah. Even the OW was pretty cardboard.
October 28, 2012
Ese ha resultado muy interesante. A lo largo de la historia te quedas en duda si las cosas son lo que parecen o si hay algo oculto. Alejandro no suena real, pero no tienes pruebas de que no lo sea. Elise está confundida, y te preguntas si es ella que te deja confundida también. Muy bueno del inicio al fin.
December 8, 2016
The author has a formula that she always follows.
Marriage of convenience + heroine in love + hero coveted by another woman + ex lover stalker + describes parties and clothes of the rich in detail.
Marriage of convenience + heroine in love + hero coveted by another woman + ex lover stalker + describes parties and clothes of the rich in detail.
September 21, 2019
Καταπληκτικό!!! 4 μόνο και μόνο γιατί ήθελα κάτι παραπάνω στον επίλογο!
February 23, 2020
Elise is in love with Alejandro, but she doesn't believe he loves her back. So she tries to leave when the OW wannabe causes trouble and ends up in an accident. She's not severely injured, but she has amnesia. So she has the "chance" to fall in love with her husband again and be insecure all over again :D I loved it!
April 13, 2021
A little too short, it leaves some things unclear. We have the usual amnesia plot, with the wife that doesn't remember anything and the husband who is very sweet, caring, loving. She feels that there's something wrong but she can't say what. Then memories resurface and she remember everything. She was leaving her husband but eventually not only him but me too didn't understand why... It's true that he saved her father's business and asked her to marry him for two years, it's true that there was an ex ow always around but she made up all by herself, there was no evidence of his cheating, only the ow's bitchiness to the heroine that maybe the hero should have had to clear. But it seemed to me that the heroine was jealous because his ex was a beautiful model, he married heroine instead so what? An insecure and jealous woman, a hero who doesn't talk enough to reassure his wife about his feelings. I wish that those heroes didn't have those bitchy stalker ow, a smart and intelligent man should understand a person and be able to avoid involvement with stalkers and dangerous women. Whatever.
October 6, 2020
(Swedish review)
Omdöme:Min första bok av författaren,och jag måste säga att jag inte blev besviken.Elise är hjältinnan som har fått amnesia efter en bilolycka och har glömt allt hon någonsin känt till-till och med hennes make som är den rika affärsmannen Alejandro Santanas.
Alejandro är hjälten varje kvinna drömmer om.Urläcker med sitt vilda utseende,otroliga manlighet och hans passionerade sätt att visa kärleken till kvinnan han älskar-och vinna hennes hjärta.
Bara så underbart och fint att jag nästan omgavs av tårar.
Självklart älskar jag den och kommer antagligen att läsa fler böcker av samma författare i framtiden.
Omdöme:Min första bok av författaren,och jag måste säga att jag inte blev besviken.Elise är hjältinnan som har fått amnesia efter en bilolycka och har glömt allt hon någonsin känt till-till och med hennes make som är den rika affärsmannen Alejandro Santanas.
Alejandro är hjälten varje kvinna drömmer om.Urläcker med sitt vilda utseende,otroliga manlighet och hans passionerade sätt att visa kärleken till kvinnan han älskar-och vinna hennes hjärta.
Bara så underbart och fint att jag nästan omgavs av tårar.
Självklart älskar jag den och kommer antagligen att läsa fler böcker av samma författare i framtiden.
August 25, 2023
It's getting frustrating that so many times lately I've read a book that has potential that goes to waste, and this one is no exception.
It gets off to a good start, with the h, Elise in the hospital, suffering from amnesia and finding out she's not only married to a gorgeous hot Hispanic guy (the H, Alejandro) but is pregnant with his baby and she can't remember a thing about him or their marriage! Like I said, great potential there!
But as the story progresses, it goes off track. You find out some good stuff, like they're wealthy socialites (or rather, she is by their marriage, and in truth, both of them could do without the extensive socializing necessary to his being head of a financial empire), they have an intense physical attraction, and their sex life was dynamic. (Despite her reluctance to make love with a "stranger", she soon succumbs to seduction.) But you also get the feeling that something's not right, that their marriage is not all it should have been, and as her memory returns (the car accident that landed Elise in the hospital, the day she and Alejandro first met, and Savannah, the sexy model who Alejandro was sleeping with before he met Elise) and the pieces fit together, it doesn't form a pretty picture.
So much could have been made out of this story, yet so much is wasted on scenes of Elise getting dressed, descriptions of her outfits, both she and Alejandro getting undressed and admiring each other's bodies, Alejandro walking in on Elise in her bra and panties, Elise getting angry at Alejandro and expressing a childish temper (like throwing her shoes at him) and then Alejandro picking her up and carrying her off to bed, what they ate for breakfast or dinner, what they had to drink, the way their two upscale homes were decorated, etc. All things you really don't need to know, and while those arguments/carrying off to bed scenes are good, they can start to get redundant if there isn't more storyline to go with them.
Elise's father plays a major role in the story, yet he's never seen, and in fact had died before the accident that stole her memory. He should have been a part of the book, not just referred to. Also, Elise was in the early stages of her pregnancy, and that's where things stayed, as the story doesn't go on to where she has the baby. That was a bad move on the author's part, because she could have worked it out where Elise gradually remembers everything, meanwhile getting closer to Alejandro while her pregnancy progresses, and then when the baby's born, try to reconcile the way things are now with her knowledge of how troubled things were before, now that her memories returned.
And BTW: contrary to what novels and TV shows may tell you, skipping just one birth control pill does NOT mean you automatically get pregnant, in fact, the chances are very slim that'll happen. You have to miss several or not take them the way you're supposed to for that to happen. For most women, it takes time to conceive when you stop taking the pill altogether (your natural hormones need to kick in when the artificial ones slack off), so most likely months will go by without a fertilized egg. But in LaLa Land it's one missed pill and baby bun in the oven!
But what really bugged me is the horrible bitch Savannah being so vindictive, as she can't accept Alejandro no longer being interested in her. (This had nothing to do with Elise, as he'd gotten bored with their sex romps and nothing else relationship.) She actually tells Elise she'll get him back, won't let Elise or the baby stand in her way, and when Elise shows backbone and gives back some of what she's getting, she gets really sadistic and, during an argument squeezes Elise's hand that had gotten injured in the accident and deliberately hurts her!! She could have caused real permanent damage! And - despite Alejandro's finding out and apparently confronting her - she seems to get no retribution! I was hoping she'd get into an accident that would leave her face scarred and tank her modeling career! That's what would have happened if I'd written this story!
A LOT would have been different if I'd written this, including having a H and h who had a lot more in common than hot sex and would make it believable that they truly loved each other, which didn't come across here.
Much too flawed.
It gets off to a good start, with the h, Elise in the hospital, suffering from amnesia and finding out she's not only married to a gorgeous hot Hispanic guy (the H, Alejandro) but is pregnant with his baby and she can't remember a thing about him or their marriage! Like I said, great potential there!
But as the story progresses, it goes off track. You find out some good stuff, like they're wealthy socialites (or rather, she is by their marriage, and in truth, both of them could do without the extensive socializing necessary to his being head of a financial empire), they have an intense physical attraction, and their sex life was dynamic. (Despite her reluctance to make love with a "stranger", she soon succumbs to seduction.) But you also get the feeling that something's not right, that their marriage is not all it should have been, and as her memory returns (the car accident that landed Elise in the hospital, the day she and Alejandro first met, and Savannah, the sexy model who Alejandro was sleeping with before he met Elise) and the pieces fit together, it doesn't form a pretty picture.
So much could have been made out of this story, yet so much is wasted on scenes of Elise getting dressed, descriptions of her outfits, both she and Alejandro getting undressed and admiring each other's bodies, Alejandro walking in on Elise in her bra and panties, Elise getting angry at Alejandro and expressing a childish temper (like throwing her shoes at him) and then Alejandro picking her up and carrying her off to bed, what they ate for breakfast or dinner, what they had to drink, the way their two upscale homes were decorated, etc. All things you really don't need to know, and while those arguments/carrying off to bed scenes are good, they can start to get redundant if there isn't more storyline to go with them.
Elise's father plays a major role in the story, yet he's never seen, and in fact had died before the accident that stole her memory. He should have been a part of the book, not just referred to. Also, Elise was in the early stages of her pregnancy, and that's where things stayed, as the story doesn't go on to where she has the baby. That was a bad move on the author's part, because she could have worked it out where Elise gradually remembers everything, meanwhile getting closer to Alejandro while her pregnancy progresses, and then when the baby's born, try to reconcile the way things are now with her knowledge of how troubled things were before, now that her memories returned.
And BTW: contrary to what novels and TV shows may tell you, skipping just one birth control pill does NOT mean you automatically get pregnant, in fact, the chances are very slim that'll happen. You have to miss several or not take them the way you're supposed to for that to happen. For most women, it takes time to conceive when you stop taking the pill altogether (your natural hormones need to kick in when the artificial ones slack off), so most likely months will go by without a fertilized egg. But in LaLa Land it's one missed pill and baby bun in the oven!
But what really bugged me is the horrible bitch Savannah being so vindictive, as she can't accept Alejandro no longer being interested in her. (This had nothing to do with Elise, as he'd gotten bored with their sex romps and nothing else relationship.) She actually tells Elise she'll get him back, won't let Elise or the baby stand in her way, and when Elise shows backbone and gives back some of what she's getting, she gets really sadistic and, during an argument squeezes Elise's hand that had gotten injured in the accident and deliberately hurts her!! She could have caused real permanent damage! And - despite Alejandro's finding out and apparently confronting her - she seems to get no retribution! I was hoping she'd get into an accident that would leave her face scarred and tank her modeling career! That's what would have happened if I'd written this story!
A LOT would have been different if I'd written this, including having a H and h who had a lot more in common than hot sex and would make it believable that they truly loved each other, which didn't come across here.
Much too flawed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 17, 2017
*trigger!! *
I am a sucker for amnesia theme. It usually follows the same pattern, h forgot, h got close to H and wham, h remembered and poopoo hits the fan. What always lures me is detecting the motive of our H, whether it is genuinely wanting a second chance or just wanting his pound of flesh. I love not being in H's head and trying to figure this out from his actions and words. I also find this theme usually is like pealing an onion, where slowly layers are revealed regarding their past, whether they were blissfully happy or just a coldblooded arrangement.
Our H here is blatantly obvious; he is always courteous and gentlely loving with her, he literally joins her at the hip, taking time from his busy schedule to spend time with her so she can get to reknow and be comfortable with him. He also listens and makes concessions, and literally lays the world at her feet. Really sigh worthy great guy that is tenacious yet isn't afraid to put his feelings into words.
Our h however confuses this seemingly pretty direct story. Her inner alarm clock keeps blaring a mile a minute, making me reanalyse and coming up with plausible reasons for our H's actions. While she is our typical harlequin h, that just cannot resist our H if he so much as look at her, I did not find her too tstl or weak. She gives as good as she gets when the situation calls for it, and I also like that she accepts this attraction early on instead of beating herself up left and right after the fact every time. One thing about this h that really bugs me is her seemingly frivolous days, with nothing to do but get ready for parties at night, which seems a bit shallow and self absorbed. I would have felt better if she does more than prepare for parties daily, maybe having a job, a protect or a cause.
There are a lot of sexy times and I really think it is done very well. While the more recent romance culture tells us rough, carnal and some darker sexy times do not mean meaningless encounters necessarily, the love scenes here are more leisurely yet poignant, with a lot of light kisses and soft touches. As H explains, this has been his way of expressing his adoration or our h all along and it works for me.
The plot is simple and with a lot of ow drama. The one thing I find it odd is the H's disregard for ow being around them so much, though I really think it is a guy thing, thinking it unimportant because that is how he regards our ow. He did straighten things out very clearly once he realised what a problem to our h it is and I am just glad this is somewhat dealt with.
I love how the declaration pans out in this one. Like the plot itself, H also expresses himself layer by layer, mindful not to hit our vulnerable h with too large a dosage in case she freaks. This gentle pattering reinforces how in tune he is to our h, and echoes their sexy times well.
I really enjoy this one, despite the ow going to be around still, I just find this extremely awkward, but oh well, H did an extremely nice job convincing me there is only our h in his eye plus he is not going to accept any abusing of his wife.
I am a sucker for amnesia theme. It usually follows the same pattern, h forgot, h got close to H and wham, h remembered and poopoo hits the fan. What always lures me is detecting the motive of our H, whether it is genuinely wanting a second chance or just wanting his pound of flesh. I love not being in H's head and trying to figure this out from his actions and words. I also find this theme usually is like pealing an onion, where slowly layers are revealed regarding their past, whether they were blissfully happy or just a coldblooded arrangement.
Our H here is blatantly obvious; he is always courteous and gentlely loving with her, he literally joins her at the hip, taking time from his busy schedule to spend time with her so she can get to reknow and be comfortable with him. He also listens and makes concessions, and literally lays the world at her feet. Really sigh worthy great guy that is tenacious yet isn't afraid to put his feelings into words.
Our h however confuses this seemingly pretty direct story. Her inner alarm clock keeps blaring a mile a minute, making me reanalyse and coming up with plausible reasons for our H's actions. While she is our typical harlequin h, that just cannot resist our H if he so much as look at her, I did not find her too tstl or weak. She gives as good as she gets when the situation calls for it, and I also like that she accepts this attraction early on instead of beating herself up left and right after the fact every time. One thing about this h that really bugs me is her seemingly frivolous days, with nothing to do but get ready for parties at night, which seems a bit shallow and self absorbed. I would have felt better if she does more than prepare for parties daily, maybe having a job, a protect or a cause.
There are a lot of sexy times and I really think it is done very well. While the more recent romance culture tells us rough, carnal and some darker sexy times do not mean meaningless encounters necessarily, the love scenes here are more leisurely yet poignant, with a lot of light kisses and soft touches. As H explains, this has been his way of expressing his adoration or our h all along and it works for me.
The plot is simple and with a lot of ow drama. The one thing I find it odd is the H's disregard for ow being around them so much, though I really think it is a guy thing, thinking it unimportant because that is how he regards our ow. He did straighten things out very clearly once he realised what a problem to our h it is and I am just glad this is somewhat dealt with.
I love how the declaration pans out in this one. Like the plot itself, H also expresses himself layer by layer, mindful not to hit our vulnerable h with too large a dosage in case she freaks. This gentle pattering reinforces how in tune he is to our h, and echoes their sexy times well.
I really enjoy this one, despite the ow going to be around still, I just find this extremely awkward, but oh well, H did an extremely nice job convincing me there is only our h in his eye plus he is not going to accept any abusing of his wife.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 22, 2024
I should've listened to the less than enthusiastic reviews I saw. Because this was way less than an okay read.
I absolutely love amnesia romances, but this one was super slow, there was no tension, which Harlequins usually thrive in, especially after she got over her nervousness around him. Instead, the "plot" consisted of their everyday life. Yawn.
Then, there was some tension in the second half, after she recovered her memory. But just not enough.
Plus, it was never even addressed why he wanted her to be his wife for two years specifically.
So yeah, the whole story remained boring and bland. To add to that, there was no climax, no epilogue, nor any consequences for the bitchy wannabe OW.
Therefore, I wasn't invested and didn't enjoy the story. There was simply nothing to enjoy about it, on the contrary, it quite literally almost put me to sleep.
PS: Apart from the frequent errors, the first thing I noticed was that "indolence/indolent" seems to be the author's favourite word. And that hadn't changed by the end.
I absolutely love amnesia romances, but this one was super slow, there was no tension, which Harlequins usually thrive in, especially after she got over her nervousness around him. Instead, the "plot" consisted of their everyday life. Yawn.
Then, there was some tension in the second half, after she recovered her memory. But just not enough.
Plus, it was never even addressed why he wanted her to be his wife for two years specifically.
So yeah, the whole story remained boring and bland. To add to that, there was no climax, no epilogue, nor any consequences for the bitchy wannabe OW.
Therefore, I wasn't invested and didn't enjoy the story. There was simply nothing to enjoy about it, on the contrary, it quite literally almost put me to sleep.
PS: Apart from the frequent errors, the first thing I noticed was that "indolence/indolent" seems to be the author's favourite word. And that hadn't changed by the end.
August 17, 2021
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐for Elise a very strong heroine,a pediatric nurse by profession, she stood her ground , even when in need to keep her father out of bankruptcy ,she never compromised to Alejandro Santanas. s charm
Alejandro a caring and loving Hero,the day he met Elise he remained loyal to her in every sense of world !
No spoilers
No cheating
Lovely captivating read..
A wanna to be Ow handled by Elise well and Alejandro 👏👏👏
Though he needed to punish her well
Alejandro a caring and loving Hero,the day he met Elise he remained loyal to her in every sense of world !
No spoilers
No cheating
Lovely captivating read..
A wanna to be Ow handled by Elise well and Alejandro 👏👏👏
Though he needed to punish her well
May 4, 2025
Don't know why the mistress wasn't kicked to curb even after she fucked up the FL's hand. Did the ML have no spine when it came to extracting revenge from the mistress but would dole out absolute borderline sexual harassment towards the FL. That's been the Helen Bianchin pattern so far and it's damn exhausting to read. She can 'tame' the heroines but the vicious exes have to go unscathed even when they cause bodily harm. Guys don't expect justice or just desserts from Helen Bianchin.
July 12, 2022
Good story with a loving H. Would be much improved if author eliminated half the clothes, food, shopping and showed us more of h’s growing love. He said she had been a virago before accident but there was none during the story time span.
I agree with reviewers who complain OW gets away with vicious assault.
I agree with reviewers who complain OW gets away with vicious assault.
June 20, 2020
I dont think this author is for me. It was obvious that he loved her, he even told her but she dragged on. I didnt get it. She was a taker and didnt give anything back. He had to make all the steps and when it was her turn to be open he had to work extra hard for it. Not really romantic for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 31, 2025
Written well albeit not much of a climax. Had the potential to be explosive, but just kind of drifted along endeavoring to hold up a little suspense. Felt like the sex scenes became filler to reach the required page number.
October 4, 2018
Boring n uneventful
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