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The Playboy of Puerto Banús

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"Rich, famous and notorious. Raúl Sanchez Fuente scores three out of three."  

When she agreed to help out a friend, Estelle Connolly didn't expect to end up as an escort to a society wedding, or to catch the eye of the most powerful man in the room. 

Innocent Estelle struggles to retain her sophisticated cover especially when Raúl makes her an outrageous offer—the money to settle her family problems in exchange for a few months of her time…as Mrs. Sanchez! 

The contract has been signed, the Spanish honeymoon arranged, but there isn't a clause to cover all consequences of the wedding night….

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

31 people are currently reading
191 people want to read

About the author

Carol Marinelli

1,409 books450 followers
Carol Marinelli was born in England to Scottish parents, then emigrated to Australia, where there are loads of Scottish and English people who did exactly the same, so she’s very at home there.

She lives in the outer suburbs of Melbourne—pretty much in her car, driving her three children to their various commitments.

Carol writes for the Harlequin Presents and Medical lines and she also writes contemporary women's fiction (with a dark twist).
When she's not writing she's reading, when she's not reading she's writing.

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5 stars
85 (25%)
4 stars
116 (35%)
3 stars
91 (27%)
2 stars
27 (8%)
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11 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
Profile Image for Jenny.
3,162 reviews558 followers
January 11, 2018
Sweet story story about a virgin escort and a notorious playboy. Raul meets Estelle as an escort to a society wedding. She is there to accompany a politician twice her age and it is there she meets Raul. He is attracted to Estelle and makes her an offer she can't refuse since she is in desperate need of money.

I loved both H and h. Their banter was all kinds of cute and their chemistry intense. I could relate to Estelle. She is not the woman Raul thinks she is. She hates clubbing and partying. Instead she prefers reading and studying for her degree in architecture. She is extremely devoted to her family and she adores her brother. It is for his sake she accepts Raul's offer.

Raul is a complex character. He had his alpha hero moments but he is also incredibly sweet and vulnerable. I thought his reaction to Estelle's pregnancy was adorable. And all the things he did for her brother! He is such a softie!

Secondary characters are also great. My heart broke for Estelle's brother and his tragedy. He is a wonderful family man. Also the politician Estelle accompanies is a hoot!

I avoid this author but this read was a pleasant surprise. By far the best HP of this month!
Profile Image for Becky .
195 reviews173 followers
February 7, 2015
Thee was aspects that were interesting but I hate when heroine's virginity is her ticket to decent treatment. She had no reason to be a 25 year old virgin...had no morality, was willing to prostitute herself sexually for money, albeit for a good cause. Hero was a bad person, he was not a decent human being. Nothing but porn on his dvd collection, which he has a maid replace behind heroine's back and then proceeds to sleep with heroine in the same couch he's been sleeping with a slew of women while watching porn. Seruiously? This guy gets a virgin martyr? He uses women sexually without regard for their feelings and was beyond vicious to a woman he was involved with who genuinely loved him. Why should I care for an indecent, low quality man and want a HEA for him. Only character I really felt for was the poor OW.
Profile Image for StMargarets.
3,229 reviews634 followers
January 11, 2018
Surprisingly good story with an awful (but accurate) title. The hero is a playboy - his smokescreen for eschewing all intimacy. Why? His early trauma for one:

The heroine meets the hero at a wedding in Scotland. She is dressed like a tart and is being paid to escort an in-the-closet politician because her roommate (his regular escort) was too sick to attend. The heroine needs the money to help her disabled brother and his wife as they await their infant daughter's heart surgery.

The hero is interested in the heroine because she's a tart and he thinks she would be a good smokescreen to make his dying father happy. He uses her at the wedding to brutally reject an old girlfriend and then he offers enough money to help out her brother if she will agree to a short marriage of convenience.

The heroine agrees and is treated to the hero's decadent lifestyle on his yacht. Hero can't believe she is a virgin. They have a smokin' sex life, but the hero keeps reminding her he doesn't do love.

The hero is able to see his father on his deathbed and feels good about everything until the hero's father's will is read

I'm not really conveying the charm of this story. The hero is well-drawn considering he falls into the playboy category so easily. What saves him is his sense of the absurd - towards the end he affectionately calls the heroine his 'virgin tart.' The heroine was a sweetie who really tried not to fall for the hero and had no delusions that she would be the one to change him.

The minor characters were equally well-drawn. The PA who was the hero's father's mistress had been a mother figure to the hero his whole life and he was devastated by her betrayal and all the secrets. She understood this and kept reaching out to re-establish their relationships. I couldn't hate her - but I did hate his father who had almost no page time, but loomed over the story.

The in-the-closet politican was a charmer and I'm glad he got his happy ending. Same with the heroine's brother and sister-in-law who were't just cardboard cutout victims of circumstances. All in all, this was an entertaining read.

But keep in mind the hero exhibits sleazy playboy behavior (porn collection, going to nightclubs and staying out all night) when under stress so if that bothers you, you won't like this story. (He doesn't slut shame since he's a slut himself and he knows it)
Profile Image for Figlet.
559 reviews55 followers
July 29, 2016
Okay, I'm going to admit something at the risk of being thought of as the silliest woman on the planet.

This title has sat on my Kindle shelf for about three months, and I thought the title of the book was "The Pirate of Puerto Banus". Every time I saw it on the shelf, I read this as the title, and I thought that the heroine on the cover was wearing an eye patch over her right eye. I kept thinking to myself, "Is she the pirate? Is she missing an eye? What and where is Puerto Banus?" Anyway, being flu-ridden then subsequent sinus infection-ridden for the last five days, I needed to escape in a few Harlequins. After the first chapter, I was really unsure of who the pirate was, and I knew that Estelle had the use of both eyes. After the second chapter, I went back and looked at the cover and was just about to show it to someone and ask them if they thought she was wearing an eye patch. Then my eyes roamed up to the title, and I had the embarrassing realization that it was "Playboy" not "Pirate". Then I finally looked a little closer and realized Estelle was wearing sunglasses.

We're never going to speak of this again.

*cough*

This is REALLY great romance. Estelle is a strong woman with perfect eyesight brought low by circumstance who finds herself receiving an incredible offer from PLAYBOY Raul. Once you've read the book, the cover of Estelle in her bikini and men's shirt and SUNGLASSES makes perfect sense. There are no pirates (sadly because who doesn't love a pirate?), but there is a possessive alpha male who didn't even realize he was until he met his match in Estelle.

Profile Image for Vashti.
1,233 reviews29 followers
January 17, 2014
This author is a hit/miss with me and this was a definite hit! Enjoyed this story about the playboy and the virgin escort.
It was instant attraction at a society wedding when this couple met at a wedding in Scotland.She was there as a favor to her housemate who was the regular escort to an older gay politician and he was there solo.
What ensues is a moc with benefits and a truly good story that had me from beginning to end.Loved the epilogue that showed them with their baby.Now I wish that the author plans a story for Luka,the illegit half brother.
Profile Image for Tia.
Author 10 books141 followers
September 9, 2013
It was okay but it seems to me these novels are constantly rip offs of older ones, which are worse than the old ones. Ugh, I miss Penny Jordan, she always had something new that had me falling in love.
Profile Image for Jacqueline J.
3,565 reviews371 followers
December 9, 2013
I am enjoying this author's work. I really liked this one. I felt the hero was different enough while still being the same alpha HP hero I like. He really earned his playboy label. He hid behind the playboy thing. She was sweet and caring and just what he needed.
Profile Image for Bibi.
1,287 reviews137 followers
February 17, 2017
Oh Raul Raul, can I take you home? I'd be your suga mama any day...Lol.... only read this if you like bad boys. Brilliant.
Profile Image for Claude.
250 reviews24 followers
May 27, 2020
Ca fait longtemps que je n'ai pas lu un "classique" harlequin. De peur de ne trouver (comme souvent) que des riches mecs avec des soucis bien futiles, toujours à torturer les jeunes femmes "pauvres".

J'ai ouvert celui-ci par hasard (vacances, ennui) et j'ai totalement adoré.
Estelle est une jeune étudiante de 25 ans dont la vie a basculé il y'a quelques mois suite à un accident ayant entrainé de graves séquelles chez un proche. Elle se bat pour aider ce proche de son mieux...Jusqu'à se retrouver à jouer "l'escort-girl" pour un homme riche qui cherche à cacher son homosexualité. Pendant cette soirée elle tombe sur Juan. Un brillant homme d'affaire qui finit par lui faire une proposition qu'elle ne peut refuser: l'épouser pour quelques mois avec en retour un gros chèque.
Ces deux-là vont se lancer dans une aventure qui va les changer à jamais. Juan ouvre enfin les yeux sur le monde et grandit (youyou: pas trop tôt). Estelle prend son envol et reste un personnage fort, courageux que je n'oublierais pas de si tôt!

Cette histoire peut totalement se dérouler dans la vie réelle. C'est la beauté de ce court roman.

Profile Image for Lynsey A.
1,975 reviews
January 12, 2018
My Harlequin Presents reading has dwindled over the years and I only read one from time to time. I picked this one up based on reviews from my goodreads friends, Jenny and Vashti and I'm glad that I did. It was a nice leap back into the HP world. Sweet heroine, playboy hero but one who isn't a total jerk and actually can be kind of sweet.

I've enjoyed other HP books by Carol Marinelli. This was a nice treat.
Profile Image for Rgreader.
734 reviews54 followers
September 14, 2013
Could not finish. Made it to the halfway point.

I wanted to love this book but the story fell flat and the issues above pulled my interest out of the story.
Profile Image for Tonya Warner.
1,214 reviews13 followers
October 25, 2013
Estelle Connolly fills in for her roommate as an escort for a wedding date in Scotland. Gordon is a lovely man, and the money will help her brother for a little while. Trying to play at being his latest tart, she finds herself drawn to fellow guest, Raul Sanchez Fuente. Raul is way out of her league.

Raul has made the journey to attend his college friend's wedding. Having faced his own hellish crisis the night before, he finds himself drawn to Estelle. She might be a gold digger, but he knows he can handle a deal with her. A bride for a short while, giving his dying father peace, and a way to insure his business will continue. Then a quickie divorce after his father's passing, and he will head back to the partying, playboy life he wanted. But he finds that he actually wants Estelle, and a family.

Profile Image for Classy Lady.
125 reviews3 followers
September 8, 2016
I feel like this book needs a second part to talk about his brother story
I really want to know more about his brother
And I really want them both be a real brothers
I sell love the story bout i feel it wasn't finish yet
Profile Image for Shatarupa  Dhar.
620 reviews84 followers
December 6, 2018
I have joined Manali Dey, a friend on Bookstagram, for the #MillsandBoonReadathon for which we are reading 18 books, coz it's '18! This is Book 1.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

P.S. I have read 10 Carol Marinelli books till now, and out of those Secret Sheikh, Secret Baby remains the best read for me.
Profile Image for Trudy Miner.
415 reviews7 followers
October 23, 2013
When Estelle Connolly agreed to take her university flatmate's place as an escort for a high society wedding in the Scottish Highlands, little did she know how drastically it would change her life. Bored rich, playboy Raul Sanchez Fuente came to the wedding of his college friend after hearing some devastating news from his father. Their eyes meet and their lives are changed forever. Raul talks Estelle into a marriage of convenience until his father dies and he's released from the promise he made to marry; in return, he'll pay for all the medical treatments for her niece and pay the rest of her tuition. Unfortunately, once Raul has Estelle in his bed, he's decided never to let her go! And when Estelle turns up pregnant...........

I read this at one sitting; I couldn't put it down. It was just the sort of story for a lazy night that takes you far away to exciting stops in the Mediterranean. As Estelle comes to know the real Raul, she learns that his playboy ways were just a cover-up for an insecure man. Estelle proved to be Raul's undoing; she was a genuinely good person and he had never had to deal with one before.
Profile Image for Raquel.
1,332 reviews41 followers
August 25, 2017
Foi um livro recomendado por uma amiga minha que também adora leituras. Quando li a sinopse, disse logo que devia de ser mais um livro em que ele é muito mimado e tal. Por acaso em parte até é, mas quando Raúl conhece Estelle, a sua vida muda por completo e quer-a a qualquer custo. Porque tem que se casar e mostrar à família que está tudo bem e que vai resolver os problemas na família, e faz uma proposta irrecusável à Estelle para que ela esteja alguns meses a seu lado como a Sra Sanchez mas acontece o inesperado. Apaixonam-se. É um livro romântico e sensual e é verdadeiramente delicioso ler as tropelias entre os dois até mesmo quando se apaixonam.

http://aviciadadoslivros.blogspot.pt/...
Profile Image for Tawnya.
678 reviews28 followers
October 29, 2013
I enjoyed this novel, and recommend it.
Estelle Connolly went into a contract marriage with Raul Sanchez Fuente and did everything in her power and to her detriment to keep her side of the contract. She wasn't the pushover I often read about in Alpha Male romances, she simply did what was "her job" as she thought of it. Falling in love wasn't part of the job however, and the first chance she got, she left. Which makes a stronger fictional character than most real life humans.
As always Carol Marinelli made her biography bit as entertaining as always to read.
Profile Image for Mudpie.
861 reviews8 followers
July 15, 2017
I like everything about the book: characters, settings and credible plot. Everyone has redeeming qualities in the end and it may not be perfect but Raul seems willing to work hard to resolve things with his half brother ...I like that when he discovers Estelle's secret he did not go berserk about how she's betrayed the terms of contract or act hurt that she's keeping it from him. Instead he manned up, faced his feelings and admitted his mistakes. What's not to love?
1 review1 follower
September 1, 2013
I like this book. Maybe because I've been hoping for this kind of story, hehe.
I like it when the H doesn't get angry when h choose not to tell H about the baby yet.
I love the h soooo much... and the H too. I like everything about this book except the H's father decision to not keep his promise to H :( Thanks to Carol Marinelli for making my weekend ;)
Profile Image for Brittany.
1,195 reviews28 followers
January 27, 2014
This is a wonderful romance.

Estelle is a strong woman who finds herself brought low when she receives an incredible offer from possessive playboy Raul that will benefit her struggling brother. She accepts... and the fun begins.
Profile Image for Fanny.
2,396 reviews50 followers
September 25, 2014
Me encanto!!
Fue una lectura amena, sencilla y muy entretenida, me gustaron muchisimo los protagonistas y la trama aunque parecida a la de otras novelas harlequin se me hizo muy agradable.
Seguire leyendo las historias de Carol Marinelli, magnifica autora.

4 Estrellas!!
Profile Image for Beth.
112 reviews
August 5, 2016
3.5 stars
CM is hit and miss for me. This was definitely a hit.
Angst with no melodrama and strong heroine. Hoping there will be a book for Luka
146 reviews1 follower
January 23, 2014
I loved this book. There is love there is sensitivity and a heathy acknowledgement of being a human enough to fail and rise above it.
Profile Image for Megan.
3,622 reviews45 followers
August 7, 2017
So I've been reading this for a week or so and I don't think it should have taken me this long although I have only been reading this in 1 hour bursts during my lunch breaks but still thats long for a M&B book.

I'm not overly fussed with this, its interesting because I wanted to like it but I was a little bored. The hero isn't very nice even if he falls for her, he black mails her calls her names which I always find ironic calling someone a name if you're using their 'service' or its hypocritical of them but hey we'll forget that. He isn't nice, hes just not someone I want to read about, I like rough and ready but its nice if they admit it and then don't whine no one likes them... Wahh no one told you you had a brother, imagine being the secret child? Imagine having a dad every other weekend who loved you but you and your mother were a dirty little secret! But no kick off because you live in luxury, you had your fathers love and a whole company to control but you were left out from a family.

I felt some sorrow for him but not a lot.
Profile Image for Jamahat Julaiha.
43 reviews9 followers
November 16, 2017
Excellent story. Raul think Estelle a professional mistress who can think his proposition will succeed. He doesn't know what he saw just only Estelle impersonation. The real Estelle is opposite what he saw. He don't need a woman that clingy, who want forever. He will know in most sensual way that Estelle is nothing like the woman he think.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews

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