Wife in the Shadows

by Sara Craven

The private face of a public marriage

The manipulative machinations of the great Manzini family have locked Elena Blake into marriage. The reluctant groom is Italy's most infamous womanizer, Count Angelo Manzini.

In society's spotlight, Angelo bestows dutiful kisses on his shy new countess. But behind closed doors, his apparently biddable bride refuses to stand in the shadows. Challenged by Elena's defiance, Angelo finds himself captivated by the thought of possessing her!

Genres: Harlequin, Romance, Harlequin Presents, Marriage Of Convenience, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Fiction

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Anne Bushell was born on October 1938 in South Devon, England, just before World War II and grew up in a house crammed with books. She was always a voracious reader, some of her all-time favorites books are: "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen, "Middlemarch" by George Eliot, "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë, "Gone With the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell and "The Code of the Woosters" by P. G. Wodehouse.

She worked as journalist at the Paignton Observer, but after her marriage, she moved to the north of England, where she worked as teacher. After she returned to journalism, she joined the Middlesbrough Writers' Group, where she met other romance writer Mildred Grieveson (Anne Mather). She started to wrote romance, and she had her first novel "Garden of Dreams" accepted by Mills & Boon in 1975, she published her work under the pseudonym of Sara Craven. In 2010 she became chairman of the Southern Writers' Conference, and the next year was elected the twenty-six Chairman (2011–2013) of the Romantic Novelists' Association.

Divorced twice, Annie lives in Somerset, South West England, and shares her home with a West Highland white terrier called Bertie Wooster. In her house, she had several thousand books, and an amazing video collection. When she's not writing, she enjoys watching very old films, listening to music, going to the theatre, and eating in good restaurants. She also likes to travel in Europe, to inspire her romances, especially in France, Greece and Italy where many of her novels are set. Since the birth of her twin grandchildren, she is also a regular visitor to New York City, where the little tots live. In 1997, she was the overall winner of the BBC's Mastermind, winning the last final presented by Magnus Magnusson.

Reviews

[Dianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s April, the cruellest month, and Elena is getting ready to go to a party. Her maid Donata is dressing her in some gown thing Elena hates, and helping with Elena’s makeup (which is a waste of time because Elena is so plain) and doing Elena’s hair, which she’s actually pretty good at. Elena is miserable about Donata, because Donata clearly thinks she is hopeless and Elena agrees, but nobody bonds over personal criticism, so these two just aren’t getting along. Then Elena emerges from her boudoir into her beautiful mansion, and her perfect handsome husband gives her diamonds and takes her arm, and whispers ‘tonight’ to her, and it’s all miserable and Elena is trapped, and fate is about to deal her an inexorable and fatal blow.

If this wasn’t a romance, the ‘tonight’ could have been about something completely different, like killing the president to save a seven year old, but because it’s a romance it’s a pretty safe bet that ‘tonight’ is for bedtimes. It’s a comfort to know that such bedtimes have the emotional power equivalent of assassinating a world leader to save an innocent child.

‘Tonight’ is still many pages in the future, for Elena escapes into a flashback, and the story restarts itself last June.

Angelo is visiting his nice nanna and his evil auntie, and they are both insistent that he must get married, because he is a Count, and must secure the line of succession. Angelo’s not terribly keen on the idea, especially because his nanna and aunt are very crassly hinting they know about his current but immanently defunct relationship with Silvia, a married evil hussy. They suggest some girl named Elena, because they knew her mum. Angelo nixes the idea, he met Elena at one of Silvia’s dinner parties, and she was boring.

Nanna and the Aunt are disappointed, but Angelo has a bigger problem. Angelo needs to get a loan from Prince Crocodile’s bank, or his fashion house will suffer and employees will be flung starving into Roman gutters. He must ponder how to best extract money from Prince Crocodile, and how to more firmly insist to Silvia the evil hussy that they are no longer an item.

Silvia, meanwhile, visits her cousin Elena and persuades her to come along and visit their Madrina (godmother), who is a Princess, at her country Princess palace. But Elena wants to go to her sea cottage to be alone! No, Elena must come to the Princess palace, it’s important.

Silvia is very beautiful and spoiled and married to a rich man. Elena is plain and shy and she has a job as a translator and doesn’t really swank around in the same circles as Silvia. But Silvia is her only living relative, so she agrees. Anyway, Elena always gets to stay in the Princess tower when she visits Princess Madrina, so it’s not all bad.

Princess Madrina is the wife of Prince Crocodile, so Angelo is also heads to the palace, because he needs to schmooze that loan. His nanna is also there, and some other old rich aristos. It’s a very weird party for Silvia to crash, but she’s got schemes. She gets Angelo alone and persuades him to visit her inner palace one last time, and provides directions. Which Angelo follows, and he gets into bed with a naked sleeping girl, but that naked sleeping girl is Elena.

Elena gets out a few ‘eeps’ but simultaneously there’s a knock on the door, and the door is flung open. It is Princess Madrina and cronies! ‘Elena, there’s an intruder in the garden!’ Princess Madrina brandishes her crossbow and heads to the tower window. ‘He will rue the night he stepped foot on Crocodile lands … oh hello, you have naked company.’ Or something like that.

So there’s Elena in bed with Angelo, and everyone is super shocked, and Elena and Angelo must get married, because he has compromised her. Suddenly, we’re back in the 19th century (or an even earlier century) and honour is a huge deal, and two unmarried people getting naked is everybody’s business and everybody’s shame. While in days of yore far worse things have probably gone down in the Princess palace, if you’re rich and titled and decide you want to live as if you’re back in the olden days, you go big and commit. And perhaps Princess Madrina and Prince Crocodile were looking forward to very soon putting up a plaque stating, ‘now scandal free for a century!’ Google translate tells me that in Latin that’s: quia scandalum nunc libero a saeculo! I think they would write it in Latin rather than Italian for the extra posh factor.

Prince Crocodile decides that he won’t lend Angelo any money unless Angelo marries Elena. Wow, banks. They’ll do anything to torture their customers. Someday there’ll be a TV show called ‘Loan Applications’ where contestants will battle Hunger Games style for a mortgage. Elena is less easy to persuade into marriage: she’s not really that interested in preventing the descent of Angelo’s employees into gutters. Couldn’t he go to another bank? No?

All Angelo really has for persuasion is that if they don’t marry, Silvia will be exposed to scandal and then divorce, and maybe Elena wouldn’t like everyone talking about how they were simultaneously naked in the Princess tower, and also, Crocodile and Madrina will be disappointed they can’t get their plaque.

‘It’ll be a marriage in name only,’ Angelo sneers, ‘because you are so plain, and I will be too busy sleeping with other hussies, and then your cousin again because she is beautiful and not you, you plain plainy pants,’ is what Elena hears, but she still goes along with it. Her only win is that she strategizes keeping her job as a translator, on a work from home basis. Angelo is not happy.

Neither is Elena, and they avoid each other unless they have to go to balls and assemblies and routs and the opera, and all the other 19th century aristo things modern Italian aristos do. Elena starts getting pressured to Produce the Heir, and eventually Angelo suggests it might a nice hobby for them, having a baby Countling. Elena thought she’d be out of the marriage after a year, tops, but fine, she’ll go along with it. But: only if they get to have politely appalling sex.

This is very upsetting to Angelo because he has skills. How dare she deny him the right to demonstrate them?

Politely appalling sex is kind of kinky, what with repressing all those sensations and feels, and lying back and not quite thinking of England, and keeping most of your clothes on, and then your partner asking if you’re comfortable post deed. If he’d dragged her to her knees on the cold flagstone floor, and insisted they pray for a half hour beforehand, I’d have been in heaven. I do love a bit of politely appalling sex.

Elena endures, and we’re back at the party in April, and she can endure no more and she flees. She goes to her sea cottage, and competently writes her highly technical translations of complex stuff, and walks the neighbour’s dog. While she’s, and I’m being generous, at least 65% responsible for her own sufferings, I still liked her for having a great job and sticking with it.

Then comes the literary device, and this story is elevated from kind of good, with all those role playing rich aristos, to epic greatness. It’s a bit overkill to have both a long flashback and this literary device and it’s completely transparent, but it was just awesome. And then politely appalling sex was locked in a cupboard and there were star explosions and impossible to deny feels, and a hero finally saying just gorgeous things. And there were also nuns and it was all rounded off with some championship level grovelling, and I’m betting Donata was forgiven or got the sack. This is most definitely my favourite Sara Craven until I read the next one.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

SPOILERS
Dangerously handsome Angelo Manzini was a member of modern day Italian aristocracy.
He was a Count and a playboy and owned a fashion house.
He knew he should be married and produce an heir to the title but wanted this to be achieved without having to abandon his bachelor pleasures.

He was currently having an affair with a young and very beautiful woman, Silvia, who was married to a wealthy but boring man. Silvia was ripe for mischief and was a passionate and insatiable lover.

Angelo found himself ambushed, one day, by his Contessa grandmother. She had found him a candidate for a future wife.
Her name was Elena, she was an English girl with an Italian grandmother, and was living in Italy doing translations for a living.
His mistress Silvia was Elena's only living relatively.
He'd met Elena at one of Silvia's dinner parties. She was quiet and nondescript and the fact that he'd barely noticed her, said it all.
He told his nonna that to him Elena was a complete nonentity, a girl without looks, personality or significance.

He was also aware that his liaison with Silvia was running its course. He had never fallen in love or promised anything to anyone.
A few days later he indeed ended the affair.

Silvia and Elena were invited to their aristocratic godmother's manor who had guests for the weekend. One of the guests was Angelo Manzini. Silvia's reaction to his presence made clear to Elena that they were having an affair.

Silvia had begged Angelo that afternoon to have one last night together. Tempted, Angelo agreed and that night had followed Silvia's directions to her room only to find out that he got in bed with Elena instead.
Soon her godmother along with other people came crashing into the room. You see, Silvia set them up to be caught for revenge.

Angelo and Elena had to get married for various reasons. None of the two wanted this marriage and there was a lot of resentment between them.
It was to be a business deal, never to be consummated and to be annulled at a later date.
Angelo told her she was not his idea of a desirable bride. He would continue to seek his pleasures where he found them, though with more discretion.
Elena thought him a person with the morals of an alley cat.

Elena took residence at his country estate and he would spend weekdays in Rome, coming home mostly on weekends.
Months had passed, their relationship continued to be strained and cold. Angelo knew she was unhappy.
He'd realised she'd indeed had a brilliant mind and a strong will but he knew she dislike him.
He never tried to woo her.

One day he was on the brink of spending an afternoon in bed with a beautiful woman but realised he could not do it. He instead visited Elena right after and asked her to make their marriage a real one and become the mother of his child.
Elena in fear of falling in love with him, said she would only agree if he came to her once a month on her most fertile day. They were to have mechanical sex. So no kissing, no foreplay, clothes stayed on.

At one of the high society parties they attended, Silvia was there and Angelo spent a lot of time with her. Elena could see the passion still burned between them to the point that she suspected they've resumed their affair.
That night Elena told Angelo that she could not do this anymore and left. Angelo accepted that.

One day, Angelo had sent her an email. He was coming home. They had to talk.
Elena knew he was going to ask for the dissolvement of their marriage and could not bear to see Silvia's triumph.

She fled to the little house her Italian grandmother had left for her in a little seaside town.
She was playing on the beach with the neighbour's dog, one day. She felt exhilarated with a sense of freedom and she danced in and out of the water, singing when suddenly she'd noticed a man in the distance watching her, but he had soon disappeared.

That night she was having dinner at the trattoria when she saw him again. A good looking, sexy man.
Someone she never saw in that town before. He'd asked her to join him but she'd refused.

The next day she met him on the beach. He said the day before he saw a girl laughing and dancing in the sea as if she did not have one care in the world. He wanted to find out what could have prompted such happiness.
She said it was the knowledge that she had no more reason to be sad.

At the trattoria that evening he said his name was Luca. She introduced herself as Helen. They had dinner together. She said this is such a mistake.
He asked if it was because she was married.
She said her husband was a stranger to her, an arranged marriage forced on both of them.
It did not work out that's why she was there.

The next day they've spent their time on the beach, having fun and getting to know each other.
He had awoken a feeling of longing to Elena but in the end she knew that this would lead nowhere even though he was the opposite of her husband and he actually found her attractive and desirable.

They've made love in her little house and it was a revelation for Elena, though she knew that this was only temporary but she had no regrets.
As the days slid past, Elena knew she never been happier in her life, she'd been reborn, but she still told him that she knew there was no future for the two of them and they've better end it now.

The next day he did not come to her. She went to his Hotel looking for him. There she'd learn that Angelo Manzini had received a phone call and he'd checked out. He went back to Rome.
Wow! The author had deceived the reader. Elena's dream lover was after all her husband.

Back home she'd found a letter from him.
"I did not come in order to become your lover but to agree terms for the separation, but l got sidetracked. The ridiculous pretence is now over. Luca and Helen no longer exist and should be forgotten. The marriage between us is over".
Elena felt humiliated and devastated. He was only amusing himself.

A few days later, Silvia came to see her. She said she was divorcing her husband, she was pregnant and Angelo was delighted.

Elena had found a sanctuary at the convent. Six weeks went by and she now knew she was pregnant.
Angelo had finally found her. He said he wrote the letter in hurt and anger for her rejection of him even after all they've been to each other.
He had never wished to be married but once she became his wife things changed. His country manor was just a house before, but with Elena in it, it became a place he was glad to return to, even though she treated him like a stranger and when she'd run away he decided to set her free as she was obviously unhappy.

But seeing her on the beach, he saw a girl he didn't recognise, someone he longed to know in every way. So he became Luca and courted her as his Helen. A chance to meet again without outside interference, to see if they might have fallen in love.
And he did fall in love with her and spent the happiest days of his life in that little house with her.
The other woman, Silvia, got her comeuppance in this book. A rare treat for Harlequin books.
Silvia's pregnancy was off course a ruse.

[StMargarets · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sara Craven wrote another Regency disguised as an HP. In this case it's an rake and poor relation forced to marry when they are set up to be caught in the heroine's bedroom during a house party. The heroine's married cousin was trying to obscure her affair with the hero.

The heroine moves to his Italian villa, while the hero is in town on business during the week. Once a month they have cold mechanical sex for the purpose of producing an heir. It all reads like a Mary Balogh story - especially since the heroine is so shut down.

Then a twist!

The evil cousin makes the heroine think she and the hero are still an item. Heroine flees to her little house by the sea . . .

The hero follows her and checks into a nearby hotel. He calls himself another name and then begins a courtship with the heroine. The way it is written the reader thinks the heroine is having an affair with a different man and that she is finally happy. There is another twist when the cousin tells the heroine she is pregnant by the hero. The heroine flees to a convent, where the hero finds her a few weeks later. He gives a very sweet declaration, and it is a believable HEA because of their interlude as "Luca"and "Helen. "

This story is a great example of Sara Craven's range as a writer working within the narrow confines of category romance. The romance community lost a good writer this week. It seems she has one last HP due out in March of next year. RIP, Sara Craven. You gave endless hours of entertainment.

[Debbie DiFiore · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this on my computer and thought I had read it before so I went in blind and was totally destroyed and crying my heart out. I am so depressed. I really don't know what to think. I knew what was going on at the end but it still made me cry. And the visit from Silvia, one of the most evil exes I have ever read about, just floored me. I knew he was a cheating bastard. First there was the girl when he was engaged that he planned on spending the afternoon with and he most likely did, they weren't married then but still I hated that they never clarified that but then he almost does it again after they are married. Yes I kn0w he didn't but he had it all arranged. I just don't know what to believe. I really hated him. She pissed me off too because she just wouldn't even try but I felt for her at the end. I gave it three stars and it might have been four if not for him being Cheaty McCheaterson for the first part of the story. And the note, that awful note he left her was just too too much. It was so cruel. I wanted him gutted. Tortured big time. Oh and maybe drawn and quartered too. I am bloodtthirsty. I want him to hurt like he did her. I still don't trust him at all either. He's going to break her heart. He sure broke mine. And he made me cry to boot. I don't like crying.

[KC · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author raised her game three-quarters of the way in by implementing a "shady" literary device which had me holding my breath. I can't complain because I started to enjoy the book more: Ellie dropped her frigid persona while the angst and passion increased and, when it was nearly over, I finally believed our protagonists could achieve a happy ending.

I would have rated the book as average before this crucial change in tone occurred, mostly because it was difficult to warm up to Ellie who acted so aloof with Angelo. If one's read enough romances you'll recognize this as a self-defense mechanism she erected out of a fear of getting her heart broken. And if you read too fast, you might not catch this vulnerability because it was doled out in a subtle manner.

Despite his womanizing inclinations, Angelo turned out to be a considerate hero with some depth to his character. He stayed faithful to Ellie even though she kept her distance. He had briefly considered cheating but didn't go through with it, having an epiphany that he wanted to try to make his marriage work. I also liked Angelo admitting how unfair his initial impression of Ellie had been, because she was a stronger and more vibrant person than he'd thought. This perception made his falling in love with Ellie more believable. And to cap it to all off, I enjoyed his sweet and heartfelt declaration of love at the end, which is why I believe Sara Craven writes some of the best endings in HelPlesslandia.

[Nonieღserenity2bliss · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm really disappointed, especially after the synopsis on the back cover sounds very promising. I'm not a fan of the author's style of writing, to be really honest. I find it lacks necessary dialogues to convey the tension and duress the characters are in. Instead, it is written in inner-thoughts style that is very boring and dull. Until the end, I find the characters lack in personality and emotional depth.

[Aou · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 stars

[niteskycs · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 stars

not sure if i actually enjoyed the relationship between the leads but this book was unique in that they genuinely didn't desire one another or catch feelings until a significant amount of time has passed in their "marriage."

angelo and elena remain cold to one another, spend a lot of time avoiding each other, and sleep together only once a month in a effort to produce an heir. the fact that there are several time jumps helps the book in my opinion, because you get to see how much time has gone by without the relationship thawing.

the ending where angelo follows her to her cottage and they have an "affair" in willful ignorance as helen and luca was interesting because they connected and enjoyed each other's company away from the circumstances of their forced marriage. so basically, my rating and enjoyment of the book comes from how i felt it was a pretty unique take on marriage of convenience trope where lust wasn't really the driving factor behind the relationship.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of Elena and Angelo. Angelo has recently ended an affair with his married lover (Elena's cousin) and she is angry with him. Out of revenge she sets home up and he unknowingly goes to Elena's room one night, whilst staying at the home of an important business associate who is also the husband of Elena's godmother. Elena is shocked by events, especially the knowledge that her cousin set her up, but realises the need to avoid a scandal. To help this her godmother suggests that she and Angelo pretend to be engaged. Neither of them want to marry, nor do they particularly like each other, however with no sign of the scandal dying down soon they continue with the pretence and eventually agree to a marriage of convenience. Elena also agrees to try and have Angelo's child, but after a while without success Elena is deeply unhappy and she leaves. She spends time at her grandmothers coastal cottage where she meets a man and they get to know one another and she learns to be happy again. But the pressures from life are never far away from either of them.

I think this is a wonderful story. There are many elements of this book that are true Sara Craven style, but also some wonderfully surprising moments. The bare-bones of this plot are very standard but with some spectacular writing this turned into a truly original romance. There is a particular plot twist that is, in my opinion, a stroke of genius and actually had me almost holding my breath. The many layers of emotion in this book really draw you in and the pace and flow of this story is perfect.

This is one of the best Sara Craven books I have read. Recommended!

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

[*CJ*]

"Wife in the Shadows" is the story of Ellie and Angelo.

To think I might end 2019 with this utter POS book is my misfortune.

The H is a tomcat who probably has syphilis, and is having an affair with the h's married cousin. While he tries to weasel his way into her bed one last time, he finds himself caught with the h instead- and is forced to marry her to keep up appearances.

By the time I realized what a utter load of crap I was reading, I was absolutely appalled and refused to finish this book.

Nope.
Nope.
Unrated.

[Jacqueline J · Rating 3 out of 5]

So it had some good points and some not so good points. It started off okay but the characters and the writing sort of went hazy as the book went on. As to the plot twist, it wasn't well written enough to make me care one way or the other although what was going on was pretty obvious. The author didn't sell me on it however. Ultimately just okay.

[Fiona Marsden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sara Craven used to be one of my favourite reads back in the dawn of time. Then I got so sick of her sleazy, manwhore, adulterous cheating anti-heroes that I gave up. The most recent one I read The Santangeli Marriage started with him committing adultery after his marriage with a married woman and blaming it on the way his very youthful, inexperienced wife treated him. Which she only did because she'd found out what an adulterous manwhore he was. That book was such a downer in so many ways.

Anyway, I picked this one up because of the twist. I wanted to see how she did this twist people were talking about. And we have again a typical manwhore adulterous cheating "hero" who gets tricked into being caught in the heroine Elena's room by her cousin Sylvie, his recently dumped mistress (a married woman) because he couldn't keep his fly done up one last time.

The end result of this is they end up married to save his business and to save Elena's cheating adulterous whore of a cousin's good name. I'm not exaggerating here. She is the classic Other Woman of the worst kind.

Angelo proposed a business marriage with no sex and of a temporary nature. But somehow things start to change, even though Elena is fighting the good fight to keep indifferent to him. It's tough, because for about two seconds, before she realised just what a douchbag he was, she was attracted to him. But she is a strong woman and determined not to succumb.

This becomes way harder when he proposes they change the terms and she provide him with an heir. It was a pity that this came hard on the heels of Sylvie giving Elena a hard time so she decides it's going to be purely business in the bedroom and no pleasure.

I found it really interesting that Angelo, an acknowledged whizzkid in the bedroom agreed to this. It had to be torture for both of them and I think this is why I started to believe he could be redeemed. He followed the rules, was considerate and thoughtful to her comfort. He wanted it to be pleasurable despite her determination to keep it clinical.

Of course it couldn't go on and something had to break. It was Elena who broke, seeing Sylvie apparently gaining ascendancy over Angelo again. This is a major clue as to how her feelings were changing.

This was where the book became really interesting with the introduction of "The Other Man". A brief interlude where Elena shows us what she could be like with a man who loves her. But things like that can't go on forever and of course Sylvie is both a background influence and an active protagonist in the final conflict.

I didn't expect to like this book. I certainly never expected to love it. But for some reason, the character arc of the hero worked for me. I believe he suffered enough for redemption and I believe that Elena also grew in courage. For much of the book she lived in fear and all her strength went into fighting her feelings for Angelo. For me it was an emotional read and I did get a little weepy at the end which is why I gave it the five stars. No it's not perfect but I got all the feels and in romance, that's what counts.

[Soma · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐
This is not really as bad as what the other review was saying.
I liked how the heroine never once threw herself at the Hero at any time.

[Missy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A interesting twisted storyline - Count has mistress who happens to be your only relative, your married cousin who is pissed at the count for ending the affair. While away at thier godmother's for weekend the cousin decides to get revenge on the count by wrecking his business deal that he there trying to close. The cousin tricks the count into one last fling & sends him to the heroine's room only to caught naked in bed by everyone forcing them into a pretend engagement to save his business deal, the cousin's marriage, and the heroine's honor. In the end they need to get married to save his businesss deal & instead of being grateful to the heroine the count is a complete a#@ & their marriage is in name only. The count really is a womanizing a#@, the cousin a selfish b!@#h, and the heroine a pansy-a#@ doormat.

[Primadonna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Meh. I don't get the chemistry. I dislike the hero's unscrupulous bed-hopping, esp. with other people's wives. Since I cannot respect him, it's hard for me to like this book.

[lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

first time 3.5 stars for me! !
these 2 killed me and God I thought she is having an affair with another man! imagine that in hp! ?

[Lu Bielefeld · Rating 3 out of 5]

A amante do herói é uma mulher casada e ele é muito raso para o meu gosto. A amante é a prima da heroína. Tudo é muito fácil na vida dele até ele cair numa cilada e ter que casar com a heroína que é a otária no plano todo.
Tudo acontece por causa do comportamento promíscuo dele e ele ainda tenta culpar os outros.
A heroína entra na história sem saber muito o que está acontecendo e cai na cilada também.
Ele é um arrogante babaca e a heroína é tímida e insegura. Uma receita para o desastre.

Depois do casamento eles levam vidas separadas e ele leva uma mulher para o quarto do hotel mas muda de ideia. Ele queria transar mas acaba desistindo.
-------------
The lover of the hero is a married woman and he is too shallow for my taste. The lover is the cousin of heroine. Everything is very easy in his life until he falls into a trap and have to marry the heroine who is the loser in the whole plan.
Everything happens because of promiscuous behavior from him and he still tries to blame others.
Heroin enters the story without knowing what's going on and falls into the trap as well.
He's an arrogant jerk and the heroine's shy and insecure. A recipe for disaster.

After the wedding they lead separate lives and he takes a woman to a hotel room but changes his mind. He wanted to have sex but ends up giving up.

[Cecilia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I almost really liked this - classic HP, with overbearing hero and apparently powerless heroine; however, the overbearing hero doesn't always get his way and the heroine is no dimwitted doormat.

What kept it from being a 4 was a couple issues. First, the narrative perspective starts out split between hero and heroine, but then part way through the book abruptly changes so that it's only hers. This is probably to preserve a twist-esque thing that happens in the middle of the book (though it was obvious to me what was going on), but what results is a massive info-dump at the end. The other was the skanky cousin of the heroine who keeps popping up as a stereotypical schemer out to destroy others for her own entertainment/gain. This was too conventional.

Otherwise, it was enjoyable and engaging.

[iamGamz · Rating 4 out of 5]

My second read of this book. I read it she ago and enjoyed it then. It was pretty much the same the-reading it.

The H was an ass. The h was way to timid with no self esteem. The OW was a bitch. The grandmother, aunt and godmother are a bunch of interfering old biddies.

A good portion of the book is in flashback. It told the sad tale of the start of the relationship and how it led to the current situation. And just when it all starts to make sense, the author threw in a lovely plot twist three quarters of the way in. That was fun.

I couldn’t feel sympathy for either character and actually enjoyed watching them make themselves miserable. One honest half hour conversation would have cleared up a lot of their misconceptions.

Still, it was a good read and I’m glad and I am glad that I read it again.

[Roub · Rating 3 out of 5]

it got 3 stars only bcoz sara craven is a very talented author n she keeps u entertained and interested in what would be happening next. unfortunately i did not care much for the story as i disliked the heroine very much. she acted like a cold fish for most of the book.as if she was frigid

[Romance_reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting read. It started out slow and then took a completely different turn by way of a twist that I didn't really see coming. I certainly didn't regret staying up to finish this one.

[Margo · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a lot of angst, but all in all it's a very romantic book. It isn't what I've come to expect from Sara Craven, for sure. The feelings between the MCs at the end are extremely intense and because they have been so miserable together for so long, they both are aware of what a gift it is that their relationship could be transformed.

DEFINITE SPOILER: I am never clear on what SWE entails exactly, so I'm going to spell it out -- it's a marriage of convenience and it is arranged with the understanding that he will be finding release elsewhere. However, it is eventually revealed that while he considered it, he never did.

The h is proud but very lonely, so it's painful to read sometimes; however, it's worth it.

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot didn’t enthrall me but I could see people who like a slow-burn Harlequin Prsents liking this one.

[Vanessa · Rating 1 out of 5]

This just didn’t work for me. The whole forced marriage in a contemporary w/ people who weren’t even HER family pulling the strings….No. It seemed that all wanted to rope Angelo into matrimony and Elena “Ellie” was the patsy that seemed to be suitable for him. Of course, they wouldn’t have picked her unless she was pure, but I’m not sure how they would even know that as she didn’t come across as sharing that private info w/ others. All stand to benefit from this force MOC, but Ellie. Angelo promises her things that he just can’t seem to deliver in the end for no rhyme or reason other than the man can’t make a decision and stick w/ it as is shown throughout the story. (the dumping of OW then one last time, the MOC nothing more then the changing tune, etc.) So Angelo’s specialty is infidelity and he offers that up to break the engagement – wondered why he can participate in all of that scandalous activity and yet it’s not questioned in regards to his good upstanding family name?



Angelo was a complete POW. He preferred married women to free ones and he NEVER considered himself as guilty of adultery even though he was the other party in the r/s. Angelo also has no problem w/ lying to obtain what he wants and it seemed to hold true throughout the story. Angelo comes across as believing that all cats are the same color in the dark when he is caught. He plays on Ellie’s soft heart and compassion for her terrible relative and manipulative fair weather godmother to get what he wants – financing for a business venture!



So much of this didn’t make sense. Here is Angelo concerned w/ financing and he thought it would be a good idea to potentially get caught w/ cousin under this fine moral man’s roof? The whole game play that was really his idea and Ellie goes along w/ acting as though he was a completely different man – which seems to have annoyed a lot of the readers. Made you think she was suffering from some type of disorder because she should have at least acknowledged it in her thoughts. Perhaps it was to be an example of what they could have been if they had met under different circumstances. However, I doubt that Angelo would have spared Ellie a second glance because she truly was overshadowed by her cousin, and he thought of her as a nonentity when he had originally met her. Also for some reason it felt like the type of scenario he had employed before to obtain a new mistress – married to another man mistress his weakness it would seem. I couldn’t get past the fact that Ellie was in essence sloppy seconds to her cousin, whom Angelo could not say no to, and we are to trust him in the end because body language could sometimes be misleading. That comment should apply both ways and Angelo is not adverse to manipulating things to get what he wants. Easier to hang on to an inexperienced woman who possibly won’t wander (yet you have to wonder about that as she went along w/ the game so complacently) than to tangle w/ one that you KNOW will seek out other companions. I’m not even sure if Angelo won’t attempt to return to his normal ways, but as long as he doesn’t sample her only relative then Ellie will accept what he is willing to give her.



The whole stupidity of the woman having to be in love w/ the man to accept his seed…well apparently some people in the real world buy that too!!

[Wendy Darling · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars I didn’t like the first three quarters of this book at all. The machinations of Ellie’s scheming cousin were annoying, all the family meddling and Italian histrionics were tiresome, Angelo is a distasteful playboy, and even Ellie inexplicably allows herself to be railroaded into a marriage she doesn’t want. (Plus agrees to sleep with her husband only so she can have a baby?)

The story doesn’t get at all interesting until Ellie leaves Angelo and retreats to a seaside cottage owned by her late grandmother. Here, she licks her wounds and lets the comfort of the home and simple fishing village soothe her wounded soul. She falls into a routine of a simpler way of life, from the clothes she wears to walks on the beach to dining at the same cafe every night. One day, she meets a handsome man who quietly asks her about her life and continues to show up to see her everyday. He tells her his name is Luca, and she introduces herself as Helen, a version of her own name. Gradually she tells him bits about her marriage and what she’s been hiding from, and against her better judgment finds herself irresistibly drawn to him—so much so, she embarks upon an affair. I don’t much like infidelity plots, but this really was very well done. You feel for her and understand why she’s drawn to this guy, and it feels like a dreamlike interlude outside of her life.

But then! You find out Luca is really Angelo, and they have been mutually behaving as though they were strangers, and getting to know each other in a way they never did before. (Luca being Angelo did occur to me in the beginning, but when his name was different I dismissed it, so it still ended up being mostly a surprise.) I really loved the whole interlude and thought the twist was so well done.

The latter part of the book really deserved a much better beginning, however. The early parts were off-putting, not at all compelling, I disliked just about everyone, and it felt just plain messy and undisciplined. But you really feel the connection later on and root for them as a couple, so I’m glad I stuck with it and finished the story. Worth reading again, though I’ll skim/skip the first half for sure.

2 stars to the first 3/4, 4+ stars to the last part, rounded up because it provoked a strong, appreciative reaction in me.

[Nadia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is funny how can you tell from one book that you love author. I could tell it about Sarah Morgan and Olivia Gates and now Sara Craven.
This story was almost a five-star. The only problem was that Elle always said aloud the opposite of what she thought. But if that was it the story would be much shorter. Or not there at all.
I hated that cousin of hers all the way trough the book. What a harpy! And I pitted Angelo cause he desperately tried to make it right but she was too strong and too against it.
author also fooled me about the identity of her lover. First I thought it was Angelo and they were playing but then the way she thought about him and some of her words said to him made me question that. I didn't want to believe that cause there was no way back to her husband and their HEA if Luca was indeed some strange guy met on a beach.

[Bubu · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 stars
The twist saved the book

[Debby]

DNF, so no rating.

The book is a giant flashback of about 100 pages and then the present happens. Hated it. Hated the style, hated the story, hated them. She is boring and repressed, he is a male HO sleeping with married women.

[SamS · Rating 2 out of 5]

I see a pattern here in all of her books, as instead of being formidable Alpha dudes with enough self respect to take willing but unengaged fiery women to take as mistresses, Sara Cavern's Heroes are of the lesser slimy-snake sorts who have shameful torrid affairs with married vixens. I don't know what kind of men she thinks are attractive and irresistible, but there is something very lowering and unapealling about men who sneak around for a tumble with a married woman behind their husbands back. That's not alpha behaviour. Alpha man will have a woman only submit to himself and keep his dignity as the top of the food chain intact, not be a side dish to a married woman. This is I think more in line to the undeserving rakes of the regency period who have no other life goal than to stick into as many holes as possible while wasting away their inheritance money, not the business tycoon with a noble title like she is so obsessed with in her characters. I think the author has no idea what an alpha male should be or it's some personal experience reflecting. Which I find disturbing. The more modern HP writers like Lucy Monroe, Jeanie Lucas have nailed the Alpha game. And oh yes, classic Michelle Reid's men are prime alpha examples.

And then there's Sara Cavern's signature "wooden" brides, who, I shall concede, is quite refreshing that they are not prone to be burning with desire by the slightest touch of the male species and the ever betraying treacherous body syndrome, but what's more appalling is their inability to even RESPOND to the fire once lighted. Like she can't even provide a single reaction while doing the deed and just lies their like a log. And what's more annoying is the constant virgin martyr tendency to sacrifice themselves at the altar even after the H tries to be soft and reasonable to her. She just wants to be the victim. Victim playing is the worst trope and I loathe the characters who induce angst unnecessarily from nothing substantial.

Although I would say this story was quite unique and intriguing, with an unpredictable twist, which is rare for HP landia. So 1 star more for that. Will check out some more books of her if I find the urge.

[Riz · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars