Once a Ferrara Wife...

Ferrara #1

by Sarah Morgan

For better...or for bedding?

Laurel Ferrara wouldn't know a happy ending if she fell over it - of course her whirlwind wedding was always going to end in disaster. But it wasn't as simple as just walking away. From the moment she is summoned back to Sicily, the shivers of unease set in....

The command comes from legendary billionaire Cristiano Ferrara, the husband she can't forget - but it might as well have come from the devil himself. The outrageously gorgeous Cristiano's power is a potent reminder of this Sicilian dynasty's unbreakable rule: once a Ferrara wife, always a Ferrara wife....

Genres: Harlequin, Romance, Second Chance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Harlequin Presents, Harlequin Romance

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published February 1, 2012

About the author

About Sarah

USA Today and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author Sarah Morgan writes romance and contemporary women's fiction and her trademark humour and warmth have gained her fans across the globe. Sarah lives near London, England, and when she isn't reading or writing she loves being outdoors.

Look out for Sarah's latest novel - All Together for Christmas (UK title)/ A Merry Little Lie (US/Canadian title)

Join Sarah on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorSarahM...
Follow Sarah on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SarahMorgan_
Follow Sarah on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahmorgan...
Website: www.sarahmorgan.com





Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[StMargarets · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-read. Such a good opening.

Re-read. Still Five Stars. I still love the reading room and the fairy tale book. The slow reveal about just what the hero missed when he didn't take her call. The heroine's asthma attacks, miscarriage were life or death situations for the heroine and kept the stakes high. Such a satisfying story.



The ending of this story made me tear up - the good kind of tears - for a happy ending this H/h worked hard for.

This is a second chance story that begins when the h returns to Sicily for her sister-in-law's wedding. She hasn't seen her husband in 2 years since her miscarriage. She is closed off and angry - he is open and angry.

At first they both blame each other and can see no faults of their own, but they eventually talk their way to understanding after her asthma attack, after re-living their own vows at the wedding, after the hero takes her to the dream house he had been building for her during their marriage.

When the truth comes out that the heroine endured more than a miscarriage, the hero is able to finally understand how deep the wound he inflicted by not being there. When the heroine realizes she hasn't given the H a chance to atone for his mistake, she is able to see how her cold defensive actions were hurting their relationship.

Yes, they do go in circles a bit in the middle - but that felt real. Most couples don't sound like psychology textbooks and these two spoke with the language they had and stayed true to their personalities. I liked both characters, the beautiful descriptions of Sicily and what the H/h learn to value. The cracked cell-phone screen was a great symbol. Just a lovely story all around.

[Kiki · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of people would have problem with Laurel, I guess a lot of people want heroines with backbone, but a flexible one. Which will bend at the first sign of vulnerability, so that the hero can go back to his macho behaviour. I understand that makes it an easier read than to deal with a more stronger heroine with whom the line between strong and stubbornly bitchy might be blurred (after all, we don’t have adjectives like “bitchy” “stubborn” etc for men, no dilemmas there, men are “determined” and “dedicated”). No judgement I guess. However, I like my heroines uncompromising, bitchy and somewhat unforgiving!
So, I loved Laurel and loved how she was not even thinking of taking Christiano back no matter how sorry he was. Because she was right, what was done was done. The fact that he hasn't realised his faults and hadn’t decided to face them UNTIL a divorce was impending speaks volume! He was indeed patronising throughout the marriage. He had to be completely humbled and stripped out of all his arrogance before he could be forgiven. Laurel had every reason not to trust him ever again and move on with her life but she did give him a chance, a chance in my opinion he didn't deserve.
Same goes for her. She HAD to face her demons and I was happy that even though he knew his faults he still could voice his concerns about her trust issues that goes beyond him.
They finally realised that communication is the key and no one should be taking everything for granted.
I wanted to slap both Christiano and Santo throughout the book multiple times. Christiano for his patronising condescending behaviour and same for Santo. Christiano may be God amongst Gods but if Laurel left him clearly he's at least not perfect, even if she's the selfish bitch there could be something amiss, so may be you two macho brothers give that a thought before ripping her to strips? Food for thought, use your brains instead of muscles for once in your whole life? When in the whole marriage has she shown childish behaviour or selfishness or bitchiness that suddenly Santo feels the need to threaten her? There are two sides to ALMOST every story. Just because one side is your brother doesn't make him right. You out of all people should know his fucking limitation.
And Dani, OMG! That woman drove me crazy. I know they tried to paint her as an optimistic cheerful person but what a shallow selfish bitch! Laurel actually has voiced out how cruel she was to doctor the whole thing and put them in one room. This was ALL about her. She wanted them to be together because she loved HEA, she wanted her there because it will look perfect in her wedding. It doesn't matter if either of them moved on.
Laurel: I am moving on. I have moved on.
Dani: I mean WITH him. Not WITHOUT him.
Are you fucking kidding me? You don't even know what the problem was! You think putting them in the same room would lead to hot sex which will solve everything? If you are a well wisher ask your brother to make the first move to ACTUALLY go after her which he hasn't done! Ask him to talk things through. Suggest marriage counselling?
Meddling relatives are the worst. This coming from personal experience, it should be punishable offence to meddle with other people's lives! EVEN if it leads to good thing it isn't your fucking business.

[Booklover · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful heart wrenching intense emotional second chance at love story,its now on my "THE MOST FAVOURITE "shelf,the story progressed really well,all the characters were well developed ,adored both Cristiano-Laurie,you can really feel their love in their tension,anger,contempt.What really made this book extra ordinary was we have Hero who is not shy to express his emotions,it was Laurie who has problems,we have so many books where H has problems with expressing his emotions it was a nice change,Laurie's emotional state was brought about very well-reasons why she erected so many walls,when Cristiano understood how he failed Laurie-how he redeems himself and tries to understand Laurie's mind and for me the fact that they both respected their marriage vows added another spark to the book.The gesture of Cristiano that touched my heart was when he built a library for Laurie and gave a Fairy Tale book to start reading with.....both talk out all the issues and realise their mistakes and make effort to make their marriage work,the epilogue was cute and PERFECT. Its on my keepers list

Overall an excellent book,really hope we get Santo's story and Carlo's story also.i want to rate this book 10/10
Recommend it

[Esther · Rating 5 out of 5]

SAFETY INFO AND SPOILERS

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⚠️ SAFETY INFO AND SPOILERS

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⚠️ SAFETY INFO AND SPOILERS

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⚠️ SAFETY INFO AND SPOILERS

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-Both celibate during separation and after meeting.

-They are separate for 2 years after she miscarriage and receive bad news about fertility issues and he wasn’t there.

-Both blames the other. They reuniste because they celebrate H’s sister wedding (h’s bff)

-h was left in a bag in a park when she was a baby. When she was 8, a family tried to adopt her but she had a asthma attack and they didn’t adopt her. Obv some scars from all this.

[Naksed · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a sweet, second chance romance, if a bit on the sappy side for me. I appreciate the fact that the author didn't end the book with the protags falling into bed and having sex with each other but made a real effort in exploring how two people who BOTH feel their trust in each other has been irretrievably broken can plausibly, slowly but surely, put the pieces back together and end up with some thing a lot stronger than they started out with.

I guess my main problem is that it was a bit repetitive, with the protags going over the same, exact, argument, from every side, angle, and perspective possible, until coming to a resolution. Plausible? Yes. But does it make for a riveting HPLANDIA read? Not really.

Also, as usual, I felt that the author went to great length to make the heroine as martyr-like as possible, as is usual in this genre, in order for the hero to be able to forgive her and make an effort at being more understanding. It was a bit of an over kill with her being an orphan, poor, having been almost adopted then rejected by cruel, would-be parents, deal with serious asthma, having an ectopic pregnancy followed by almost fatal surgery, and then being told she would never have children again. Oh and everyone of her in-laws except for hero and one sister in law, treats her like absolute crap. So, yeah, a bit much doncha think? .

[Vintage]

I need to at least mark this as READ as I have read it a couple of times.

Not going to rate it as it's not my wheelhouse as I don't care for real life angst in my romances except for a few occasions. However the fact that I have read this at least two times tells me something.

This is definitely It's me not you.

[Marajean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laurel meets up with her soon to be ex-husband when she shows up for his sister/her best friend's wedding.

He's very upset and mad at her because she walked away from their marriage without even giving him a chance to fight for it.

She's mad because he still doesn't see where his fault in the problem is but it doesn't matter anyway because there is nothing left of their marriage.


Overall I love this book, it's not my most favorite, but it's really close.

So Laurel is non-confrontational, she always hides her emotions and she never relies on or trusts anyone but herself. She'd spent her life in foster care having been abandoned as a baby.

Cristiano was very open rich goodlooking guy that's never had to fight for a woman. He was frustrated that Laurel wouldn't lean on him but his repeated assurances and attempts to make her lean on him for support finally wore thin her resistance.


So when she was pregnant and scared that something was wrong, she leaned on him. She called him while he was at work and told him that she was scared, that she thought something was wrong. She's already called the doctor who told her that cramping was normal and to take a pain killer and go to bed. So Cristiano told her that it was nothing, she'd be fine and to stop worrying. Then he hung up...and shut his phone off so she couldn't disturb him while he went into his business meeting.


Laurel knew something was wrong and she was so scared that she called him back. That's when she knew that he'd shut his phone off.

So she panicked but realized that she always handled everything by herself and could handle that too. So she took herself to the hospital and that's where she had a miscarriage.


Cristiano arrived home and knew she had a miscarriage. He was sorry she did but that's the way of nature and whatever. Laurel didn't argue with him and just left him.


So does anyone else think that alone is a horrible thing? He was okay with shutting his phone off so she couldn't call him so he could be undisturbed on his business deal. Even after she left him and 2 years have passed, he has no blame and it's all her fault.


As a matter of fact, he doesn't think he's done anything wrong until she finally admits that she didn't have a miscarriage, she had an ectopic pregnancy.

So the heroine almost died as well. In fact, if she'd listened to the doctor and her husband instead of herself, she would have been dead.

So that actually brought out the remorse of the hero. He wasn't wrong until he found out that she'd almost died. Then what he'd done was a horrible thing. Miscarriages were so common, his own mother had 2 before she'd later had three other children, so what's the big deal?



So the book was basically great, I loved the heroine. Her insecurities were perfect, she was strong and could take care of herself but emotionally she was terrified of putting trust in anyone else.

The hero was I'm so great and perfect and I do everything right and his personality didn't really change. Part of that was the reason that I didn't love this book.

The angst was great, no horrible Other People and making someone jealous or anything like that.

So here's where my markdown comes from.

The hero never was sorry. He apologized occasionally but he wasn't sorry. Basically his sorry was saying, you overreacted and you shouldn't feel that way. I'm saying sorry but I still think I'm not wrong and you are. Or basically I'm sorry you feel that way but...

Before he found out the pregnancy was ectopic, if an apology could be pried from his lips, *which only happened maybe twice* then it was this kind. She was wrong for being mad at him for shutting off his phone when she called him terrified there was something wrong with her pregnancy. She was wrong for being so upset about the miscarriage because it was a common thing and should matter to her. She was doubly wrong because what he'd been negotiating for that day happened to be the most profitable piece of land currently in his company.

That's right, all her fault.

Did I mention that she never called him, never asked him for help and it was something he knew because he was adament that she should lean on him and call him and he'd be there for her etc. It was the first and only time she'd ever called him at work and that's how he handled it.

No matter how I look at it, no matter the outcome, he was still wrong. Even if the doctor was correct and nothing was wrong, he was still wrong. She was right that he'd put his business ahead of her. He'd written it off, talked to the doctor to make himself correct in his prioritizing and that way he could excuse it if anything did go wrong. Which is exactly what he did.

Then there was the trope.

It's an HP so I guess I should have expected it, but I'd hoped it wouldn't be there.

Trope number 1. The hero has the heroine's dream place to live that he'd had since A. they were married or B. immediately after she left him. Proving that either he was really thinking about her wants while they were married so he's not a jerk extreme, or that he still wanted her back and thought she would come back even when they were separated thus he's not a jerk.

Trope number 2. The baby. The heroine couldn't get pregnant after the last fiasco. The hero wanted to talk to specialists about it. Now comes the untrope part, but after that she winds up pregnant despite all the odds. I hate that.

So the book when from five stars to four stars because the hero's unapologetic behavior and the use of those tropes.

Other than those things, it was an excellent book. I'll definitely be reading it again because it did handle most things differently.

[Danielle The Book Huntress · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book packs an emotional punch. From page one, I was fiercely involved with the story. I have been an admirer of Sarah Morgan for several years, and she continues to meet my expectations. In this case, she's exceeded them. Sarah has created a story of a marriage that self-destructed, and the aftermath when this couple gets reunited by a family wedding.

I really liked the fact that the characters' emotional problems aren't solved by their love for each other. In fact, they have to work them them and communicate. Honestly though, that's one of the things I love the most about Sarah's writing. Her consistently strong use of dialogue and communication between the main characters. Communication (or lack of it) was a huge factor in the breakdown of Laurel and Cristiano's marriage, and the only way they could save that marriage. Neither of them is the bad guy. The 'bad guy' is that they hadn't developed a strong bond of communication the first time around.

Cristiano really does let down Laurel, but she could have handled the situation better. And both characters realize their faults and own up to them. But it takes some hard emotional moments and confrontations. Not to mention putting oneself out there for possible hurt, and a willingness to trust someone else.

I loved Cristiano. At first I did think he was being mean to Laurel. However, I could see his meanness was out of a broken heart. Similarly, I really felt for and admired Laurel. My heart was aching for the pain she suffered as a child and the way it had caused her to erect thick emotional walls and self-defense mechanisms that eventually lead to unhealthy emotional behavior as an adult. I tend to be self-protective like she is, so I could see the hallmarks of her behavior. I was so glad that Cristiano was willing to be a man and take her harsh but deserved criticisms on the chin. My respect of him went up a thousand notches just seeing how he truly makes amends to Laurel and is willing to move mountains to win her back. At the same time, I didn't feel like Laurel was being deliberately cruel. She was hurting bad and what Cristiano did (even through ignorance) was devastating to her. In some ways, Laurel had not developed as a mature woman emotionally, and that was a huge part of the reason their marriage self-destructed.

While I don't feel I am qualified as a marriage expert, I stand by the belief that commitment to honest and communication in a marriage is crucial, and I was very appreciative about how the author wrote this book. It's a very meaningful romantic story about an emotional journey between a married couple who loved each other deeply, but didn't understand each other well enough to keep it together the first time. While reunited estranged married couple romance will never be my favorite, I think that Sarah knocked it out of the park with this book. I am growing more stingy about five stars lately, but I can't help but give this book that rating. It's well-deserved. Bravo!

PS: I am glad to say that neither character was unfaithful to each other while they were apart. I absolutely hate that!!!

[*CJ* · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Once a Ferrara Wife..." is the story of Laurel and Cristiano.

Truly one of the best HQNs I have ever read!

The perfect combination of angst and love, this second chance romance had an estranged couple reunite for a relative's wedding. As their paths cross, old flames reunite and they inevitably fall into bed with one another.

And it is here the book differs. Usually at this point, we realize the whole drama was because of a evil OM/OW/misunderstanding, and bam HEA.

Au contraire, in this book, our MC IS at fault. We see the h and H bantering and arguing, finally revealing deep seated insecurities and heartbreak. They both obviously love each other like crazy, but a small decision changes the course of their lives, and unleashes hidden traumas.

I absolutely adored the strong but scarred heroine, the crazy in love but utterly oblivious hero, the interfering but well meaning family, loads of tearjerker moments, hot lovemaking, extreme groveling as well as dedicated chapters where the heroine and hero work their issues out.

FABULOUS read!

Safe
5/5

[Saly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating 4.5

Really enjoyed the heck out of this. I enjoy a good re-union story and this one had that in spades, loads of anger but beneath it all love and those three words don't come at the end and a hero who fights and grovels for the heroine. And a heroine with trust issues. Really enjoyable.

And guess what the hero and heroine are celibate and actually respect their marriage vows.

[Inna · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Wow, this really took me on quite the emotional ride, but in a good way. I think what made this story special was that you could really feel the love between the couple from nearly the very beginning. Both of them had such raw and painfully strong emotions for each other, and both of them tried their best to hide those feelings. I loved the progression of the relationship, but I mostly ABSOLUTELY ADORED the hero of this book. He was fantastic, amazing, swoon-worthy, etc. Once he realized just how much he fucked up in the past, he did everything in his power to fix it, unwaveringly.

This really is a beautiful story about not just love and passion, but about the relationship, and the effort it takes to make that relationship work. I loved it.

Oh and best part, safety is great because even though they separated for 2 years (story starts at reunion) , neither of them have been with any others. 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻 TW: miscarriage, infertility

[Lisa (Remarkablylisa) · Rating 2 out of 5]

-They were once married or is still married
- He catches her and makes her follow the original plan of getting married and acting happy in front of the press
- she was from an orphanage and really liked her independence so what happened was that she was pregnant but she experienced severe pain and then contacted the hero for help. He dismissed her and she lost the baby so she's going through the trauma of it all.
- he keeps using the excuse as a high-powered executive and not having the time to listen to his antics
- she calls him a bully

[Aou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too much reality but with a fairy tale ending!

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25-3.5 stars

This booked ticked a lot of my second chance boxes.

Both the H and the h felt wronged. I did like how they both eventually recognised that there was more they could have done to save their relationship before they broke apart for 2 years.

It was a solid coming together when they finally stopped long enough to chat things through and get to root of what tore them apart.

[Alex is The Romance Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sarah Morgan is one of my favorite Mills and Boon’s authors and I enjoy most of her books.
I loved the story of Once a Ferrara Wife and would have given it a 5 star review except for one thing that really irritated me (more about this later on).

This is a very intense, compelling and emotional story about Cristiano and Laurel Ferrara and I was captivated from the moment I started page 1 and I was so engrossed in the story that before I realized I had finished the book in one reading.

You are totally drawn into the lives of Cristiano & Laurel Ferrara from page 1 until the Epilogue which is by the way, their second HEA (what a luck having a chance again after their disastrous first and very short HEA, two years previously).
This is such an intense, compelling and emotional story and the author and at times I could feel their pain and anguish. The author has an incredible way of writing dialogue and building up her characters – the interaction between the two is truly amazing. It’s as if you know them personally and you are actually feeling their emotions.

I am irrevocably in love with Cristiano. A beautiful, rich as sin, sexy, gorgeous, strong alpha male, with a hot hot body – an Italian ….no a Sicilian one….that is not afraid to show his heart and emotions….not often seen in these type of men….I was knocked out by the depth of his love for Laurel and how hard he tried to understand her even when he was being rejected …..in such a horrible manner by her.

And the reason I did not give the higher rating is because I found Laurel to be so horrible to Cristiano…okay in the end she discovers that he is not the man who she believed had let her down and that she still loved him. I was irritated by her constant moaning about being let down, how she could take care of herself, how she didn’t need anyone to do anything for her, what a horrible childhood she had – okay she did…but that doesn’t mean that one has to allow that to control your life. Even when she is told by his sister and brother how much Cristiano loves her and how heartbroken he was when she left him, she still continues to give the poor guy a hard time. At times such childish behavior, feeling sorry for myself… and throughout all this drama, Cristiano continues to be caring, loving and understanding never giving up on her.

I adored Cristiano’s sister – who believes in love and fairytales and tries to get Laurel back together with Cristiano. Even his brother, Santo becomes involved – I wonder if there is going to be a book about him? I think he would make a great hero for some lucky heroine out there!!!!!

Settings are stunning – a resort and spa for the rich and famous, you feel the magical, enchanting and mythical atmosphere of Taormina with its winding streets and tiny passages….oh what a man….buying the woman he has always and will always love a medieval castle!!!!!

I was elated that the true love for each other overcame all the misunderstandings and obstacles and found happiness together…and with their growing family.

Second thoughts after writing this review…..i am giving 5 stars because I think it deserves it. It’s a fabulous fabulous book and I can guarantee that anyone who reads it will love it as much as me.

[Tmstprc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reread November 12,2023…

Upped to 5 stars. It’s an emotional story, and hits real life angst levels.

Reread December 1, 2022

This popped up several times in my GR feed and decided to do a reread.

Original review works on the reread…

This book has been popping up in my GR feed for a few days and obviously needed a reread.

Though filled with drama and angst, this book deals with three real life issues that can ruin a marriage…

1. The couple’s inability to communicate with one another: common in most HPs, their backstory has a heroine trying to communicate but not being heard and a hero so focused elsewhere that he’s incapable of of hearing her.

2. Power imbalance: again in the backstory and tied to their inability to communicate on the same level, gives him power, he placates and ignores her.

3. Miscarriage: really an ectopic pregnancy, this ties back to the other two issues. When she reaches out for help, knowing something is wrong with her pregnancy and in pain, he ignores her, turning off his phone during an important business meeting. She takes power and leaves.

There’s no info dump of their backstory, it unfold throughout the story. It’s hard to read, it’s sad and maybe a little too real for an HP fantasy.

4 real life stars

[Jen ♥]

Ehhh, they were both at fault. He's too prideful to understand where she's coming from, and she's too stubborn to open up to him and make him understand why she left.

It was an okay read, I suppose, though it didn't hold my interest that much. Love that they were celibate during their two year separation. Well, technically, they're still married so... 🤷‍♀️

[Dianna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Laurel is sitting in a grounded plane on a runway in Palermo, half listening to her seat mates commentary on the limo that’s cruising towards them. She has no time for such trivialities. She should never have returned to Sicily. There is much awfulness, but she could not turn down her friend’s demand that she attend this wedding. Oh, why didn’t she turn it down?

Anyway, that limo is for her, she realises. And it’s a good thing that this is actually the case, because how embarrassing if she’d got to the front of the plane and the stewards had told her to go sit down. Although of course it’s actually a bad thing, because now she has to sit in the back of a limo with her estranged husband Cristiano, and he is fumingly angry. Whatever Laurel has done, it’s dead horrible. My money is on her getting caught in bed with his greatest business enemy.

At Cristiano’s beautiful resort, only the bride, Cristiano’s sister, is pleased to see Laurel. Bride is all about how I’m sure your little relationship troubles were all a misunderstanding, and aren’t I great for bringing you back together? Cristiano’s brother takes Laurel to one side and says, because you are a weak and feeble woman I cannot beat you like I would if you were a man, but I excoriate you! I excoriate you times a thousand for what you have done!

So, she’s been caught in bed with the business enemy, and she ran over his dog?

Cristiano’s mother and assorted relatives will not talk to Laurel, but they send her laser beam death stares. Curse you, harpy! They mutely sing whenever she walks by. Oh, if we were not weak and feeble women, we would rend and claw you with our nails and teeth until you were dead!

So, bedded the business enemy, dead dog, and she stole nanna’s heirloom diamond engagement ring?

Laurel’s stoicism finally gives out and she rushes down to the beach, where the gentle crashing waves drown out the desolate moans of her heart.

Finally, Laurel and Cristiano have chats. So his big cranky is because she left him, and she finally gets around to telling him that she left him because of Revelation! He doesn’t think it’s that big a deal. Then she tells him Further Revelation!! Which, yes, isn’t great, but he was having a bit of a tough time too, you know. Finally, Laurel pulls out Most Terrible Revelation of Them All!!! And Cristiano is at last impressed. It seems like he may have been a tiny bit wrong about some stuff. He needs to go check up on some things, just to be sure.

So much suffering for Laurel, it’s just lovely. This is not a bit of a misunderstanding that turned into a fight and maybe if people had behaved a little more sensibly it wouldn’t have been so bad. This is satisfyingly big misery and then plenty of satisfying atonement.

There’s also bitter passionate sex and tender passionate sex, and snippets of tourism writing that make me want to visit Sicily.

[Melody Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable read. For once we get a lovable hero who isn't afraid to tell 'his woman' repeatedly that he loves her and what she means to him.

The hero was your typically HP alpha male who has been the head of his family for many years since the death of his father. He meets the heroine when she is hired by his younger brother to be his personal trainer. Our H falls for her like a ton of bricks and the feelings were returned.

The heroine never had a home and spent her life in foster care and orphanages. She has learned the hard way that she only has herself to depend on. The hero is not thrilled about that ndependence because every person in his family and beyond leans on him, depends on him. He begs and demands that she lean on him. So the one single time she gives in and does just that he lets her down in a huge and heart-shattering way. He was away on business which had become their way of life spending less and less time together. She was pregnant and had told him several times that she suspected something was seriously wrong but he poo-pooed it away thinking that she was neurotic, this woman who has never complained once in their marriage or in her life and yet he refused to take her seriously. This is a woman who has never asked her husband for a single thing, has never once called him at work etc. She began having severe pains in her lower abdomen and remembered how he had begged for her to lean on him so she broke down and called him. He talked to her doctor, who was a quack, and was told, oh she's fine. She won't lose the baby. The jerk...uh I mean hero...decides to believe what is easiest for him, the doctor, so he doesn't have to leave his important meeting. I won't go on about the details of what happened but she does lose the child. There was no other person where they lived that she knew. His family was out of town. He was out of town. It was an awful experience for her as she had to drive herself to the hospital while suffering terribly and go through this trauma all alone. What was horrific was she called her husband back but he didn't want his meeting interrupted so he turned his phone off.

As soon as she was released from the hospital she packed up and left him. Their child was dead and she most likely would not conceive again due to the damage that was done.

The hero was redeemed, mostly, and did a great job of groveling and proving himself. This tough and strong heroine didn't make it easy on him. She was definitely not a doormat or a wallflower. I thought that was a brilliant change since some of these HP heroines are so weak and flimsy.

I also read the second book of this duo and I honestly have to say that there was a lot of repitition in thought and words in both books. It was troublesome hearing about the situation...over and over again. That is why I was unable to give this a five-star rating. I do recommend both books.

[Mtve41 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Re-read while clearing out my storage and wanted to see if this was a keeper and well if anything (sorry unpopular opinion) I’d downgrade it to a 1 ⭐️

I tried my best to level with this woman’s uncompromising stance on how she’d been let down in her marriage on that ONE DAY. She was such an obstinate Karen that she left no room for any one to be more forgiving to her situation.

The entire book is based on this woman’s monstrous assumption that her husband left her to die while he was adding more zeroes to his generational wealth. She was an ugly broken record who said the most unkind deplorable things to her husband who was down on his knees, possibly close to going six feet under even to prove to this entitled, uncaring woman who couldn’t see beyond her fd up pov.

She incessantly kept repeating how this man was off on his meeting and has to always attend to his urgent phone calls while the only thing he should instead be attending to around the clock should be her. Every time he gets a work phone call, he should choose to dismiss it because she was more important to him and he had to prove this if he wanted a second chance on their marriage.

This is the kind of fairy tale where SM tried to tell you that a zillionaire could be treated like a puppy dog serving his wife and doing her bidding round the clock to please her, while the wife was still unsatisfied and still dishing out her caustic, sarcastic comments. What the f did she bring to their marriage even the second time around?

I couldn’t stand the h and her demands with the disrespect she gave her husband who was all but a slave to her needs. Can’t stand this level of entitled independence in a woman even given her sad childhood. Sorry, I hated her and she ruined this book for me even the second time round. Deleting. Hopefully I can also delete it from my brain.






~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nah. Tried really hard but this one didn’t work for me. Way too angsty for me and the h was too argumentative. I understand that she lost a baby and the H didn’t come cuz he was in a meeting but sorry, that isn’t enough ground for her grievances.

According to her own admission and past, the h is born tough and hasn’t been leaning on any one all her life. Except her rich Italian, almost-ex husband, whose fault is to have been MIA in a board meeting while she was having a miscarriage.

He’d be more to blame if he’d done it knowingly. But this is just creating fake angst. And the h just won’t shut the f up. Kept bringing up more argument on her deranged pov. Guess that’s how marriages break. You pick an argument over something that can be over looked and then don’t shut up till the ship finally sinks.

And in all honesty you really can’t depend on a human being in that way. What if he goes ahead and dies on you. Will you still be hating him all your life cuz he umm.. died. Sorry HP. This was too far stretched out!

[KC · Rating 3 out of 5]

The realistic, drawn-out conversations between Laurel and Cristiano drew me into the story. They actually spent a few weeks alone (several book pages) discussing Laurel's fears and disappointments, while Cristiano admitted his contribution to the failure of their marriage.

What I didn't like as much was Laurel's passive-aggressive behavior. I felt she needed to take some responsibility for the breakdown of their marriage too. She left Cristiano without talking to him first, never sharing what she needed in order to feel loved. How can someone give you what you want if they don't know anything is wrong? Cristiano wasn't a psychic so he couldn't read her mind. Duh.

[Ridley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny story with this one. I tweeted DA's Jane to ask if she had any semi-recent Presents to recommend when Sunita suggested this book. Next thing you know, Sarah Morgan tweets "Noooo I'm not ready to be creamed in #dabwaha and by @_ridley_ in the same week."

I had no idea I was so terrifying.

Long story short, she offers me a free copy of the book to show she was only kidding, and I happily accepted. Good thing too, as it was a great source of vitamins A(ngst) and D(rama), and I like to stay healthy.

Personal trainer to the stars Laurel Ferrara has reluctantly flown to Sicily to stand up as the maid of honor in her best friend's wedding. She's booked her flights without telling anyone the details and reserved a simple hotel room in the city center. Planning to quietly perform her wedding duties without entangling herself too much with the family, she's nonplussed when the bride's brother meets her at the airport and insists she's staying with him at the family's villa. The only contact she'd hoped to have with Cristiano Ferrara was in a lawyer's office, where they'd be signing divorce paperwork.

If you like second chance romances and angst so thick you could cut it with a knife, this is your book. Something traumatic drove these two to separate two years ago and Morgan does a great job of showing why they split as well as why they've worked things out for good this time. I enjoy how she shows us both characters' points of view on the event. When you're in Cristiano's head, you see the same mistrustful, overreacting Laurel he does. Then from Laurel's eyes you see the callous, stubborn, mansplaining Cristiano she walked out on. Because of this, you work out their problems along with them, and there's no true villain or victim. They were two people who acted out of a place of insecurity rather than communicated with each other.

I loved the main couple. Cristiano was the perfect Presents hero - handsome, successful, stubborn, domineering, protective - and Laurel his perfect counterpart with her boatload of insecurities from an unstable childhood. Both characters have ambition in spades, know what they want, and aren't going to let anyone push them around. Watching them spar was a joy. Seeing them reconcile was immensely satisfying.

A few nit-picky things irked me, including a predictable ending to the infertility plot line, but they were nothing serious. I'd recommend this to anyone looking for an angsty HP to read.

[KatieV · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was well written and angst ridden, but was only a "like" for me. I think it's simply a matter of taste. Just wasn't my favorite flavor of angst. The subject matter isn't what I typically seek in an HP. I prefer more crazy.

This was all about a marriage that fell apart due to faults on both sides and much of the angst is centered around miscarriage and fertility.

I felt the heroine contributed the most to the demise by refusing to communicate. Her past explained it, but I still found her frustrating and didn't identify with her. I admit I get a kick out of the Hero being the one with the most to answer for. He made mistakes, but she never gave him a chance to answer for them.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

The heroine Laurel arrives in Sicily a bag of nerves, to attend her best friend's wedding. She hasn't been back since she walked out on her marriage to Cristiano, the hero. Cristiano has never forgiven Laurel for giving up on them, and when they meet again he doesn't give her an inch. Laurel was deeply hurt by Cristiano's actions, or lack of, when she went through a very difficult experience. Laura grew up in care and having to look after herself, never wanting to be emotionally vulnerable to others. She had begun to trust Cristiano so she was very upset, but not really surprised, when he let her down. Cristiano struggles with his feelings when he and Laurel spend time together again, he both hates her for walking out without talking to him, and desires her so much he can't bear to let her go again. Cristiano's one wish is for Laurel to truly open up to him, but it never happens as Laurel is so used to bottling everything in. But after a fiery argument leads to them giving in to the passion between them, Laurel tells Cristian the truth. He is devastated but also determined to make Laurel love him again.

Oh, what can I say about this book... it really, really blew me away. Seriously. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. Not only is this such a superbly written book with a wonderful love story between the hero and heroine, but Sarah Morgan has also taken so many romance novel conventions and flipped them on their heads. For once we have a hero who actually says 'I love you' before the closing pages and without it being forced out of him... Thank you, Sarah, thank you! Also, it is very refreshing to read about a heroine whom is the more emotionally stilted one in the relationship. Laurel's reasons for being like this and her background are heartbreaking, well thought out and not at all trivial. There is a scene about halfway through the book (the airport scene) that could easily have been the perfect romantic ending but no, Sarah had more and it is spectacular.
This book has so much passion, tension, heartbreak, and tenderness all wrapped up in one of the best stories I have read in a long time.

Simply perfect!

Originally posted at http://everyday-is-the-same.blogspot....

[willaful · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars. Usually when a couple in a Harlequin Presents each think the other did them wrong, there's an external reason -- an Evil Other Woman led them astray, or a letter didn't get delivered, or a phone call was misunderstood. This story was interesting because, realistically, both parties are right -- or wrong, as the case may be. It was also interesting as a turnaround of the usual scenario: Laurel, who grew up in foster care, is the one who is emotionally closed off, while her husband Cristiano is the one who needs her to open up.

The story is a total angst fest, well supported by the characterizations. Even one of my biggest pet peeve plot elements magic sperm is actually well integrated into the story as a whole. Laurel's experience really touched me on a personal level, so this might not be such a tear-jerker for others, but aside from a little dragging in the middle it's a generally good read.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exciting opening scene. Great heroine, very real person, difficult childhood, rightfully mistrusting based on her husband's insensitivity to her needs. But she loves him and forgives. Hero loves his wife and learns about values through understanding how he wronged her. He is an alpha male but one who is very faithful and recognizes that he truly wronged heroine and must prove himself.

[Jasbell76 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Update
November 22/2022
I realized I hadn't have added information tags to the book. Maybe if I have time to reread it, I will post a brief- decent review.


Update
June 12, 2015
Great book. One of the best books by Mrs. Sarah Morgan, in my opinion 💖🤗

[Danny Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was just ok. It was real to life minus the super rich husband who bought her a castle of course.😂 Other than that it's about two very different types of people. The biggest issue though would be communication, or the lack there of from the h's character. H is a super rich, super busy business Sicilian man. h is a foster kid from England I believe turned personal trainer, turned rich man's wife. While trying to get a hold of her husband she has to be taken to the hospital where she has a horrible miscarriage. Come to find out he turned his phone off during a business deal because their doctor reassured him his wife was ok. He comes back and she leaves him without explaining anything that happened. For me, and the breakdown of their marriage both were at fault. Yes, the H made a huge error turning off his phone, but the h completely shut him out and ran away cowardly. I don't like cowards. The H was arrogant and thought his wife would always be there because you know marriage vows and everything. But the h completely shut him out and immediately asks for a divorce. They finally come together after two years at his younger sister's wedding. Both having been living in different countries.They're still married, and both have been celibate throughout. He verbally attacks her immediately, and she goes into her hard shell. The h frustrated me until FINALLY she spoke from the heart. It was like pulling teeth I tell you. He's a hot blooded Sicilian man, and her a stuffy English woman. Hey don't come at me. That's the way she came off despite her sad upbringing. So opposites attract I guess? On paper these two make no sense to why they're together. I'm Italian. We're loud and proud 😂. Overall it was ok, but dragged in some places for how short it was. Don't think I'm interested in reading the brother's book though.

[Emiliya Bozhilova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Много сладък, мил и даже достоверен втори шанс, където героите наистина се грижат един за друг 💗

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5