The Billionaire's Second-Chance Bride

The Romero Brothers #1

by Shadonna Richards

Betrayed by Mr. Wrong. Could she ever trust Mr. Right?
...
Meet Lucy Shillerton - twenty-nine, single and heartbroken. She'd lost her fiancé, Jeff, in a tragic accident with his mistress. But when she finds out that her eccentric aunt died and left her a company to run, Lucy braces herself for what is to come: Dream Weddings Inc. Her current project is to present an outrageous wedding for her latest client, a wealthy, older tycoon who wants to marry his young nurse.
...
In comes sexy, rich, dripping-with-charm and sworn bachelor, Antonio Romero III, the grandson of said tycoon, who has a good reason to shut down Lucy's "scam wedding" business. However, when he meets with sweet, wounded Lucy, shutting her down is the last thing on his mind.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Audiobook, Ebooks, Fiction, Amazon

176 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 26, 2013

About the author

Check out her website: https://shadonnarichards.blogspot.com

USA Today bestselling author Shadonna Richards enjoys reading and writing about the magic of romance and the power of love. She has a B.A. Degree in Psychology. Winner of Harlequin’s So You Think You Can Write 2010 Day Two Challenge, she is a proud mommy and lives with her husband and son.

Reviews

[Janice Steele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome

just finished Antonio and Lucy's story can't wait to go through the entire Romero series this weekend......Must read!!. The experience of each member of the family will be spellbinding as you go through it with them.

[Barb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meet Lucy Shillerton - twenty-nine, single and heartbroken. She'd lost her fiancé, Jeff, in a tragic accident with his mistress. But when she finds out that her eccentric aunt died and left her a company to run, Lucy braces herself for what is to come: Dream Weddings Inc. Her current project is to present an outrageous wedding for her latest client, a wealthy, older tycoon who wants to marry his young nurse.
In comes sexy, rich, dripping-with-charm and sworn bachelor, Antonio Romero III, the grandson of said tycoon, who has a good reason to shut down Lucy's "scam wedding" business. However, when he meets with sweet, wounded Lucy, shutting her down is the last thing on his mind.
The new sizzling romance in the bestselling Bride Series and book 1 of The Romero Brothers series!
She won't give her heart away because the last time she did, her fiance stomped on it. He won't give his heart away because he didn't think he had one to give. Very well written story. I will positively read Shadonna again. Loved the story, loved the characters. Can't wait for book 2 to come out. 5 stars.

[Renee Harold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written story on second chance romance

The main characters, Antonio and Lucy come together because of a mutual acquaintance whom Lucy is helping to get married while Antonio does not the nuptials to happen. The chemistry ignites with these two as they get into know one another and find out that true love does exists, but there are powers that be who want to destroy that. I truly enjoyed this book and couldn't wait to find out what happened to the couple I began to root for. I'm so looking forward to reading the next book in this series, I just happened to stumble upon this author and I'm so glad I did.

[TJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story wasn't for me. It felt dull and perfectly put together. Too perfect everything fell into place which didn't feel real at all. Like a badly written Harlequin. Maxine was the realist character out the bunch. Maybe her story will be more realistic.

[Monique · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF - So much infodumping and telling me about the characters and not enough showing. It left me cold and uninterested in the characters.

[☼♎ Carmen the Bootyshaker Temptress ☼♎ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This a cheesy, too perfect love story.

[Tammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lucy’s life was a mess, betrayed by her fiancé that died having an affair. She inherited her Aunt’s crazy wedding planning business. When she has to plan a wedding for the billionaire Toni Romero, his grandson Antonio is not happy. He gives Lucy one week to cancel the outrageous wedding. But sparks fly, chemistry is off the charts but when Toni winds up in the hospital. Antonio steps in. Lucy is heartbroken she is giving up, turning over the business to Maxine her assistant because her heart is not in it anymore. Will things change for the better or will Lucy swear off men for ever?

[Tammy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really like all sorts of books but I am glad this was free.
It felt super rushed and way too many music references of horrible music in my opinion- of course this is just my opinion.
I just couldn't connect with Lucy, you couldn't really tell what she was about and meeting a guy twice and in love that way didn't make a lot of sense to me.
Antonio might be good looking and damaged but also no connection.

[Ana Marisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

oh this wasn’t great and was annoying, i just listened to it as an audiobook while cleaning

[Deborah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lucy Shillerton is a single 29 year old woman who 2 years ago lost her Fiance in a tragic accident. Unfortunately, he just happened to be in the car with his Mistress when the accident occurred and they both happen to be naked from the waist down.
Lucy inherits her aunts Dream Wedding business and has received a new client by the name of Antonio Romero Sr.
Antonio Romero Sr. is a seventy-six year old billionaire who is marring his forty-nine year old nurse in a Fun Birds themed wedding.

Antonio's grandson, Antonio Romero III, has no intention of letting his grandfather go though with this wedding. Not only does he think that his grandfathers fiancee is a gold digger only after what he can offer her like all the other women has been since his grandmothers death, but the wedding is also dangerous. His grandfather and his fiancee want to be catapulted to the alter via sling shot like in the game Angry Birds.
Antonio III marches into Dream Weddings and demands that Lucy put an end to this sham once and for all.
Lucy has no intention on doing that because for one, she has already spent the deposit that was given for the wedding and two, its not her place to tell the senior Mr. Romero who he can and cannot marry or what type of wedding he can or cannot have. He has given Lucy until Friday (its now Monday) to call this thing off or she will regret it.

Antonio can't seem to stop thinking about Lucy but since he doesn't believe in marriage and can't seem to trust women, he tries to keep his distance from her.
After Lucy was betrayed by her fiance, she also has a problem with trust and knows that Antonio III is a playboy and has no intention on acting on the feelings that she is having for him.

Fast forward to Thursday. Antonio and Lucy realize that they are in love with one another and end up sleeping together but, of course there is someone that doesn't want them together and will stop at nothing to keep them apart.

This book has a good storyline, unfortunately it was rushed and you don't get to see how the relationships blossom, why the person out to ruin his relationship did what they did, or exactly what happened to that person.(in depth)
This book was filled with thoughts and after thoughts and there wasn't a lot of dialog between the characters.
I really wanted to like this book more but, just couldn't.

[Shannon, ☺☻CFM☺☻ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just finished The Billionaire's Second-Chance Bride it was OK.

The H grandfather hires the h to plan is wedding to his 47 year old nurse. The H threatens the h to cancel the wedding or he will ruin her business. But they fall in love and the H plans the h dream wedding. They get engaged and married on the same day.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
This is a fun, swoon-worthy read. Antonio is all that and more. Both Antonio and Lucy have been hurt by people in their past and have trust issues. It’s fun watching their romance and seeing how they go from opponents to in love. They are fun, entertaining characters. I enjoyed many of the secondary characters. I wish that some of the subplots had been used more effectively in the story, as it would’ve added so much more.

[Latricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I liked the story but even for a romance the story moved too quickly and too perfectly at times. The breakup was too staged and the reunion happened way too easily with the briefest of explanations. I will read the next book in the series because I think the author will work out these issues.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful

This was a funny how these two met. Shelley inherited her aunts wacky wedding business. And one of the couples she has is the senior Romero and his nurse. But his grandson Antonio wants to stop it. But he gets a bit of a shock when he meets Shelley. They have found out that they like each other.

[Elle Markov · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was a short cute story that could have been better

the conflict was completely skipped over an the resolution took place in 1 page

I say read, if you want something to pass the time

[Mary Stockwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good short read

I enjoyed reading this book very much. It is just the right length for a quick romance. It's kind of a modern Cinderella story.

[Paige Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

*listened to as an audiobook for free on Spotify*

First, the narrator was a monotonous drone.

Second, these characters were bizarre and so unrealistic. Maxine had me wanting to punch a hole through the wall with the amount of times she said “girl” and “girlfriend.” Antonio and Lucy were absolutely delusional. Both had supposed trust issues yet fell in love at first sight and got engaged and married two months later on the same day… what? So much for protecting Antonio’s family inheritance! I also thought it was so cringey that (1) Lucy mentioned being in love with Antonio after their second meeting and first kiss or (2) the fact that she said aloud to him that she could tell the breakfast he prepared was made with LOVE. Also, what the hell is up with neither of them attempting to reach out after the fraudulent e-mail breakup or Antonio passing Shelley’s gift off as his own with the engagement?

There were also so many little things about the characters, especially Lucy, that left me confused. How did Lucy plan weddings for billionaires but mentioned in the first chapter her business could not withstand even a $12,000 suit? I also did not understand how she experienced so much death around her and yet at 29 years old had never heard of a PoA. She also needed to get a grip. Every time something in her love life was not going just as she imagined, Lucy wanted to throw away her whole business that was entrusted to her by her deceased aunt. Lucy needed a freaking Xanax.

[Kirsty Ross · Rating 1 out of 5]

My review is based on listening to the audiobook.
The narrator's voice is so monotonous that I actually fell asleep! There is no energy in the reading. Questions don't have a natural inflection and since it's a single narrator, there is no way to tell if it's Lucy or Antonio's point of view.
On top of that, the characters were in love after having only met each other 3 times. I get that insta-love is a trope, but at least try and make it believable. The description in the book is overdone. Lucy blushes, we know she's embarrassed or shy or even getting horny by the words around it, the scene and conversation she is having. You don't need to tell us 'Lucy blushed. She was embarrassed.' Or whatever else. Show, don't tell.
There are also points in the story where the narrator repeats whole sentences (that it doesn't make sense to repeat) which is really jarring and brings you back out of the narrative.
I finished listening to the book because there was only 1.5 hours left on it and I could listen while doing something else. I have tobsay though, I won't be listening to anything else with this narrator and it's unlikely I will read or listen to any books by this author again. It's such a shame because the premise is good; it's just poorly executed by both the author and the narrator.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick read. I literately read this book in a couple of hours. This was the first in the series hosting the romances of the Romero billionaires. If you love the insta-love/lust romances then this is a good one. Unfortunately there are wasn’t really much in the way of character development and there were a couple of aspects I wished had more elaboration. For example, this story has a jealous, vindictive antagonist who I wanted to see get what she deserved for her conniving. Unfortunately that issue was resolved off the pages with a couple of sentences. Also, the heroine seemed to come off like a doormat. She wasn’t strong at all and not the type of woman a man such as Antonio Romero would be with which is why their happily-ever-after didn’t convince me they’d be together for the long term.

Despite my disappointment with a few aspects of this book, the author’s writing was engaging and overall I though the book was decent. I am planning to give the next book in the series a chance. After that I’ll decide if I’m going to read more.

[Ashante Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Antonio & Lucy): cute short story. Slow burn. Lucy has inherited a wedding planning business though this business is a lot out of the norm. They specialize in extreme or wild wedding themes. Antonio is livid with Lucy's business and in turn Lucy. He's trying to stop his grandfather from marrying a woman young enough to be his granddaughter. The two bump heads on the marriage issue several times when they finally can't ignore the chemistry between them. The love scenes are not extremely detailed but they aren't just skipped over. I love the humor in the story and the plot twist. It was really a sweet story.

[Jen]

I was having a hard time getting through this due to the audiobook (it was so bad I thought it was an AI generated voice until the narrator was attempting to do voices, THAT was clearly human) but I kept trying to push past it and get into the story anyway.

I made it to the end of chapter one. The man is berating her and she's zoning out and feeling horny because his cologne is nice and his face is attractive.

I don't buy it, sorry. 🤷‍♀️
If you want to give it a go, definitely skip the audiobook if you can help it.

[Svalora · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audio of this book — it was HORRIBLE!! Between the repeated phrases and the ringing phone in the background on several occasions - it was very annoying and definitely distracted from what might have been an ok book…. I honestly don’t know if the book skipped in the middle of scenes or the recording did, so it’s difficult for me to rate this book any higher. If you’re going to the expense of audio, make sure it’s recorded in a soundproof location and then edited correctly, or you’ve wasted your money!!

[Miss Maureen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kira Omans has got to be the worst reader in the world of audiobook narrators. After a few pages of listening someone talking every sentence as if it's its own paragraph, I just couldn't take it anymore. I have no idea if the book is any good or not, because my brain couldn't take the way she reads. I borrowed the whole series on Hoopla & thought what a waste of borrows. Then I looked at the other narrators for the rest of the series and was happy to find out she only read that one.

[Shan ~A~ · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am sorry to say that I didn't like this book.

By the time I was done I was so very tired of seeing the name Antonio Romero III. Why were they calling this many by his entire the name so much in this book. That was annoying.

This was not sexy or fun or even romantic. The entire "relationship" between Lucy and Antonio felt forced.

[A.G.Jenkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute

This was your typical Harlequin romance novel. I wish this book had more dialogue writing. Instead of the repetitive description writing. The pace of the story was so typical because as your reading it you knew what was going to happen next. But the story was cute and who doesn't love a happy ending!

[Joelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was...nice, but it had no spice, just so simple, nothing to really hook you on, it was like planned to be exact, no bumps on the road, not serious ones anyway, I wouldn't say that I hated this book, but I think it would've been a great hit, if some things in the book were changed and more things added

[Harley Lingenfelter · Rating 1 out of 5]

I refuse to have a DNF book, but dang it this one was HARD to finish! 90% of this book was just describing the male love interest, and the rest was the actual plot. It was fast paced and was too perfect. There was a small conflict that was overcome in less than a chapter. Overall, I will not and do not recommend.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book of the series and can read as a standalone. This was an ok read with likable characters, but there was not a lot of overall substance. Antonio and Lucy’s relationship progressed at an unrealistic pace, which made this entire storyline hard to relate to. If you are looking for a quick read without a lot of details…this is for. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Helena · Rating 1 out of 5]

Below average

The idea behind it was ok. No grammar or spelling errors. But too spread out. Need more sustenance in the characters. Story line needs work. Too much fluff and over explaining.

[Joan Neal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not for me..

I tried. I only made it half way through. I found this story very juvenile. I didn't like the characters. I hated the ridiculousness of the ideas of the wedding of the grandfather. I just couldn't find anyone I liked to propel me through this story.