Second - Best Wife

by Rebecca Winters

Luca della Provere was all Gabriella Holt had ever wanted in a man and more -- tall, dark and devilishly handsome. Gaby had taken one look into his eyes and fallen -- hard. But it hadn't taken her long to discover that Luke was well and truly out of circulation. With another woman for a rival she would have stood a fighting chance, but the dating game held no interest for Luke and, whatever the temptation, Gaby knew she couldn't argue with God! There was nothing she could do -- unless, of course, there was someone up there on her side....

Genres: Harlequin, Romance, Contemporary Romance, Harlequin Romance, Fiction, Hqn

186 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

aka Rebecca Brown Burton, Rebecca Burton

Rebecca Winters, born Rebecca Brown Burton, was the author of over 175 romance novels published with Harlequin, delighting readers worldwide for more than 35 years. Her stories, translated into many languages, have sold nearly thirty million copies. A French teacher turned novelist, she combined her love of language, family, and storytelling into a remarkable literary legacy.

Reviews

[Debbie DiFiore · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite the interesting book. Our lovely heroine snared herself a priest!! This was totally classic Harlequin, with the over the top emotions and trials and temptation. I actually loved it. It was so implausible, so dated and everything I love in a romance including an Italian hero. Who was days away from taking his vows even, until Eve presented him with the Apple of temptation, which was the heroine climbing a tree in a skirt. And he went wild with lust. They both did but after a lot of odd contrived events, and a missing brother, she snuck away and went home. She was heartbroken but guess what, he came after her and they married. Happily ever after. The epilogue was cute. I do love those vintage Harlequins so much.

[Margo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This h really had some tough competition!

[JillyB · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s 1983, I’m 14 and there is this little mini-series called Thorn Birds on the tv. Thus began my fascination with Priests and forbidden love. Unfortunately, I have not found too many books out there that have this theme in Harlequins.

Heroine: Gabriella is a 22 year old American living in Italy for 6 weeks. She had promised her Grandmother that she would go there as this was the area her great grandmother came from. While there, she meets Giovanni, they become good friends as he is one of the few Italians who doesn’t seem to want to get into her pants. She believes him to be penniless as she is until he takes her to his home about 2 nights before she needs to return to Las Vegas(her home). He is from a prominent family and the house is a castle with original art from famous Italian artists. Everyone is under the impression she is there as the friends intended bride, even the brother(our hero) Luca who she instantly falls in love/lust with.

Hero- Luca is 28, tall, dark and Italian…oh and on the cusp of taking his vows as a priest(our h doesn’t know this initially). The H is rather cold to the h upon meeting her(suppressed insta lust). He believes her to be engaged to the brother as the brother has led the family to believe so. He becomes shocked to know that no, they are not engaged, and no, she had no idea they were a wealthy prominent family in Italy.

The story is continued below with spoilers. I don’t go into great detail, but probably too much for someone who wants a fresh read. I give a quick no spoiler recap at the end.



After the dinner party the om(brother) brings the h back to the pensione with the promise of taking her to the great ball the next night(her last night in Italy). However, he gets in a car accident and the Hero ends up taking her to the hospital to see him. He will be fine, but insists that the H should take the h to the ball instead. Our h, who now knows the H is going to be a priest, wants to stay as far away from him as possible as she is overwhelmed by feelings of love and attraction. She decides to slip out of the Pensione in the morning to avoid the ball, and go on a sight seeing trip to research her ancestors.

Hero shows up on trip. Hero takes over. Hero helps her discover her roots. Hero saves her from a bee in a tree, where they have a very passionate interlude(that would have been concluded in the farmhouse, had the Hero not remembered himself. ) She takes the blame for the interlude, but the H tells her that way before she was showing off her thigh up in the tree he was enamored with her. They drive back in an uncomfortable silence and the h is leaping out the door before the car has even stopped. She wishes him luck in his priesthood but needs to leave by 5:30 in the morning, so this is goodbye. She runs into the building and cries for her breaking heart.

The next morning she is ready to leave, and who is waiting for her? Yes its the Hero, again. The brother has disappeared. Hero takes her back to the palazzo, where he and his mom are trying to find out where the om might have gone. Heroine says what she knows, and the hero takes off with an idea as to where to find him. He warns the h to stay put. Of course, she doesn't, and explains to the mother that she needs to catch up to her bus as she is going back home. The mother lets her go despite the son’s edict that she should stay.

After several hours on the bus, it comes to a stop. Police are involved. Is it drugs? I think you can guess that no it is not drugs. The heroine has a stolen item in her bag and is arrested. The brother comes to see her secretly and disappears again telling her that the hero will be rescuing her soon.

The hero rescues her and takes her to a family home. She uses the housekeeper Bianca(oh wow a Bianca that is not an ow) as a shield to stay distant from the H. She can’t resist him and knows it would be wrong for her to entice a future priest. So, in the early morning light she runs again, and this time she makes it back to Las Vegas. She is miserable, losing weight and her family doesn’t know what to do with her. Some time has passed(weeks), and the h realizes the H would have taken his vows now. Then bang bang bang, he knocks in the door of her brother’s trailer (because she didn’t open it thinking she was hallucinating). They have their big declaration of love and come to find out the Giovanni the H’s brother set this all in motion because he thought they would be good together. He knew being a Priest was not his brother’s calling, however, it is his calling! There is an epilogue and the h and H are happily married surrounded by friends and family. The groom whisks her away, because the bride earned her white wedding dress and it is time to change her status.

Basically, this story is about 2 people who fall in love instantly. Since this book is heavier on the spiritual side of things, one could say that the fates conspired to put these two together for insta love. So be warned you need to believe in love at first sight. Their romance is about 48 hours long and during that time the h runs away at least 3 times to avoid the H and her overwhelming feelings for him. She knows their love is forbidden. He chases her down every time, finally having their declarations of love for each other and what will be their impending marriage. There are very little passionate clinches in the book and no sex. There are a couple of surprises in the book, but an in tune reader may pick up on this early on. So if you are looking for a mild taboo romance, with some cheese thrown, in this one is for you.

[Sandie Pegues · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for romantics!

This book was the first Harlequin romance book I read as a teen. I loved it then, and I still adore it now!

[Elgyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

s. 85 a bílá blůzka ušmudlaná od rtěnky a skvrn od třešní
Nedovedu si představit, co přesně vyváděli v koruně stromu, když ONA měla blůzku od rtěnky.

s. 59 přestavy [představy]
s. 77 kvůli které sem přijeli [jsme sem]
s. 115 nebo se se rozhodl
s. 119 kde [kdo]
sobě, „Je
s. 143 s svých [o svých]


uvozovky - s. 33, 35, 36, 52, 53, 61, 75, 97, 102 (2x), 103, 112

[Su · Rating 2 out of 5]

Has many unusual plot twists. What was about the red headed great-grand mother that H left for later to explain and forgot to reveal after all? Or did I miss something while skipping some parts towards the end - I tend to do that when HQ book becomes unbearably cheesy.

[nidia napa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute

Great read, fun and sweet. A perfect reminder of the time as it was written in. I would definitely recommend it.

[SaN~ · Rating 2 out of 5]

sbnrnya nih buku berpotensi bagus tp ntah knapa gw berasa biasa aja..
mgkn krn uda rada jadul yah n baru dibaca skrg..
si gaby begitu ktm luke langsung klepek2 n lsg ga bisa berpisah ama dia..
lsg berasa ga bisa idup n ga bs membayangin ama co laen lagi..
masa bisa seheboh itu yah pengaruh seseorang?
yah.. maybe emang bisa sih..
tp ttp aja gw ngerasa ada yg kurang dr buku ini..
ga tau apaan jg sih.. bingung jelasinnya.. hehe..
intinya yah so-so deh..
not bad but not so good.. ;)

[Kipi (the academic stitcher) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept had lots of potential.

[Elektragedia · Rating 2 out of 5]

si la historia fuera mas larga tendría mejor calificación, porque tiene potencial y mucho.

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

my grandma lent me this book