Carrying A Sicilian Secret

by Caitlin Crews

Onverwacht zwanger van een sexy Siciliaan…

Alceu Vaccaro weet best dat Dioni Adrianakis, de zus van zijn beste vriend, verboden terrein is. Maar ze is zó mooi en lief, hij moet haar wel verleiden! Niet veel later ontdekt hij dat ze zwanger is – terwijl hij heeft gezworen dat er nooit meer een Vaccaro-erfgenaam zal zijn...

Dioni is net zo geschokt als Alceu, en nu eist hij ook nog dat ze in het belang van het kind trouwen. Ze is al jaren stiekem verliefd op de Siciliaanse tycoon, maar ze kan toch niet zomaar haar jawoord geven aan een man die niet van haar houdt?

Genres: Harlequin, Romance, Marriage Of Convenience

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published February 25, 2025

About the author

Caitlin Crews discovered her first romance novel at the age of twelve, in a bargain bin at the local five and dime. It involved swashbuckling pirates, grand adventures, a heroine with rustling skirts and a mind of her own, and a seriously mouthwatering and masterful hero. The book (the title of which remains lost in the mists of time) made a serious impression. Caitlin was immediately smitten with romances and romance heroes, to the detriment of her middle school social life. And so began her life-long love affair with romance novels, many of which she insists on keeping near her at all times, thus creating a fire hazard of love wherever she lives.

Caitlin has made her home in places as far-flung as York, England and Atlanta, Georgia. She was raised near New York City, and fell in love with London on her first visit when she was a teenager. She has backpacked in Zimbabwe, been on safari in Botswana, and visited tiny villages in Namibia. She has, while visiting the place in question, declared her intention to live in Prague, Dublin, Paris, Athens, Nice, the Greek Islands, Rome, Venice, and/or any of the Hawaiian islands. Writing about exotic places seems like the next best thing to actually moving there.

She currently lives in Oregon with her animator/comic book artist husband and their menagerie of ridiculous animals.

Reviews

[Esther]

It was good but CC has written much better books then this.

Crush on her brothers best friend.
Becomes pregnant on her brother wedding day. Hero was best man she was maid of honor.
He doesn't know, accidentally finds out.
Goes after her and marries her.
They work out their issues and have HEA.

Some parts were somewhat slow.
I liked the heroine but didn't love her.
Hero was okay.

Epilogue was perfection. Leave it to CC, she always comes through on the epilogues.

[Aou]

I was bored!

[Sue Child]

Loved spending time in Crew's voice. I love the gothic atmosphere she can add to a story by having secondary characters wafting or vamping around.

[Page Passion]

What are the chances I read two Rebecca retelling themes back to back? Good thing I like Rebecca! Caitlin Crews had to be my number one Presents author! I just love her prose and how her stories unfold. These tropes have been done to death but CC always breathes new life them.

[Charlie]

4.25 stars! I loved this duet (the first one is my favorite though). It always amazes me how much character and relationship development Caitlin Crews manages to put into her categories.
In this one I especially loved how gothic it felt despite the sunny setting of Sicily (the MMC’s mother slinking around in the background like a vampire was my favorite thing about this book). And of course, since this is a Presents and by Crews, it is deliciously dramatic and still full of real emotion. I just can’t get enough of her writing.
If you love My Dark Romeo and/or Rebecca, this might be a story for you!

[Vee]

3,5 stars

Tropes : brother’s bestie x bestie’s sister, second chance romance, ONS, unplanned pregnancy, forced marriage, tortured H, grumpy x sunshine
Ending : HEA (decades later)
Triggers : mentioned of s@icide, mention of child abuse (emotional), 💀 of childbirth
Spice : 🌶️🌶️/5
Angst : 🔥🔥🔥🔥/5
OM/OW drama : none
Celibate while separated: yes for h/ unsure about H
Intimacy details: H was h’s one and only lover, no condom, vanilla
Standalone/Series : standalone

Hero : Alceu Vaccaro (30s?)
Heroine: Dioni Andrianakis/ Vaccaro (20s)

After struggling to find dark books to fish me out of this pool of slump, I decided to read HP books again and this one happened to exist in my tbr list. The plot was nothing new but it was enough to keep me engaged.

The usual hero that pushed the heroine because he believed his bloodline was tainted and he was a big bad wolf. The heroine kept pushing and he relented. Then there was 3rd act ‘break up’ before the heroine pushed him again and finally he accepted his feelings for her and they lived happily ever after. The end

[Janette Gellar]

Carrying a Sicilian Secret

Dioni is the very protected heiress to a Greek hotel empire. Her family underestimate her because she's not the elegant beauty that is expected of
an heiress so her father doesn't think she has any value to his empire. She has one hot night with her brother's best friend and ends up pregnant. Alceu is the heir to Vaccaro family. They don't say it but it feels like the family is a mafia family and Alceu planned to end the line with himself and stop the spread of his evil blood. I didn't really understand the logic of that because Alceu himself is a good person who is doing good to the world and I couldn't figure out why he couldn't see it. The story was nice and gave me classic Harlequin vibes.

I received a copy of this book and this is my honest opinions.

[Carmelita Clardy]

Very good

This is very good book, the H is the best friend and business partner of the h. She has always been drawn to him which eventually led to love for her. The H is arrogant, ruthless, emotionally withdrawn, he is trying to live down the past behaviors of his parents. They had a one night stand at her brother’s wedding and he finds her pregnant. He demands that they marry. The h’s outlook on life is bright and sunny. She never sees the negative in the world. The H is afraid that his blood is cursed and fears that he is unlovable. The plot has the right amount of drama and the characters are very well written, I couldn’t put it down. I am very happy they found their HEA. Great ending.

[Andrea Wenger]

Alceu’s forbidden passion for Dioni results in an unexpected pregnancy, forcing him to confront his vow against continuing his family line. While Alceu insists on marriage, Dioni demands more than a convenient arrangement, determined to re-ignite the fiery connection between them.

I love these characters. Alceu is strong but damaged after his parents’ dysfunctional marriage and abominable parenting. Dioni is amazing, quietly and kindly fighting any resistance she encounters in her determination to heal her new family. I enjoyed the audiobook narration.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

[Lindseyrenee]

an interesting flip on gothic romance

The FMC was fun and interesting and I liked her a lot. Unfortunately, her reasonableness meant the angst wasn’t really angsting.

The MMC was just kind of obtuse and I don’t have much respect for him. He couldn’t see through his mother’s melodrama? Really???

[Charese]

Solid 3 ⭐. I enjoyed getting to know these characters. The narration was good as well. This is the type of book that people enjoy reading to have a quick scandalous read. All in all, it was a good 3/5 star rating.

Thank you NetGalley, for the ARC I received in exchange for my honest review.

[Harlequin Books]

Contemporary Romance
Miniseries
Notorious Mediterranean Marriages (Book #2)

[Harlequin Books]

Contemporary Romance
Miniseries
Notorious Mediterranean Marriages (Book #2)

[Jenny]

Another sweet love story by CC!

[Chantal Venter]

There is lots of angst and passion. I enjoyed the story very much.

[JmsBndGrl]

Ok story, poor writing

[Dar]

Oh these two, it took both of them realizing and overcoming their deeply ingrained trauma’s to finally accept and love themselves, and then each other <3