Bellissima

by Anya Richards

"His seductive rhythm calls to the passionate soul hiding within "

Jane Rollins is anything but plain, but to keep her position as housekeeper to a wealthy family, she is content to hide her beauty behind a dull facade. This deception has become second-nature to her until dance master Sergio Fontini waltzes into her life.

While the other inhabitants of the house see him as a foreigner and beneath their notice, Jane sees strength, barely leashed power, and an aura of iron control an irresistible, arousing combination.

Sergio sees through Jane s disguise to the woman beneath, and the desires in her veiled gaze call to him like the utterly irresistible strains of a beautiful symphony. The circumstances couldn t be worse, for seducing her will endanger both their livelihoods.

Yet there are lessons he cannot resist teaching her, steps of a dance that crescendos to her final surrender

A deliciously seductive Italian unmasks a supposedly respectable Victorian woman and leads her into a lust-filled pas de deux."

109 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 23, 2014

About the author

After living a checkered past, and despite an avowed disinterest in domesticity, multi-published author Anya Richards settled in Ontario, Canada, with husband, kids and two cats who plot world domination, one food bowl at a time. Having trained the humans around her to recognize the ‘Do Not Disturb’ vibes she gives off when writing, she’s still trying to get the cats to honor her need for space. The suspicion is that they perfectly understand, but choose those moments when she’s most engrossed to once more prove who wears the pants in the house.

Reviews

[Desere · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jane Rollins is anything but a plain Jane, but in order to keep her position as housekeeper for a wealthy family she hides her beauty and just goes on working every day, with no problems. That is until the master of dance Sergio Fontini waltzes into her life.

Sergio sees the real beauty that lies behind the drab clothes and he wants to badly uncover it for all the world to see. The question of course is why would Jane even let him do so, she's been working real hard to keep up the facade in the first place.

Then there's the matter of life of death, for if Sergio persists and seduces Jane it will put both their livelihoods at risk, and then there will be nothing left for them and one cannot survive on love along, right ?

This read was a little different than what I usually read, it was still romance but with the different setting I can't say I was completely comfortable, kind of like when you know everyone knows a secret but you are the last to know.

I liked the passion and romance that sparkles between Sergio and Jane, and I absolutely adored that Sergio could see the real Jane , it was a really nice and sweet touch especially because I did not really see that coming , it 's something I expect to pop up in contemporary romance reads but in historical I was thinking more they meet , but their love is forbidden and then they find a way kind of element , but the author as I said surprised me and I really liked it.

I great message about how there is always a way to make things work, it might look bleak but it will work out if you look hard enough there's a way.

4 star review
" He sees her, the real her, but will she let him keep her?"

[Janie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Bellissima" is my first read by author Anya Richards. This book was HOT. The story of Jane Rollins, a housekeeper and Sergio Fontini, a 'dance instructor.'

Jane, is anything but a plain Jane, she spies on Sergio as he is teaching the young girls of the house the waltz. She finds him attractive and tends to fantasize about him. When she brings him tea after his lesson she is in for a surprise. He knows that she is not who she seems. In order for Jane to be able to find work, as a young woman, she has padded her body. She decreases her bust by wrapping it, and she pads her body to make it look as if she is slightly overweight. Nothing gets by playboy Sergio who knows that a woman of size doesn't move in the same way as Jane is moving. He gets her to talk about her past and why she is who she is.

Sergio is not all who he seems either. His family owns a trade where they make jewelry for others and he is an artist that draws up plans for his family. Sergio is trying to distance himself from his family by making his living another way. What will Jane do when she finds out? The feelings they have for each other is combustible. When they get together they can't seems to keep their hands off each other. "Plain" Jane doesn't want to believe that she is desirable, and that she deserves happiness in her life.

There is, of course, much more to the story that I can't tell you about without giving away too much of the story. It's a fast read, erotic, but a historical romance too. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

[Jennifer Schultheis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anya Richards, knows how to deliver scorching hot romances and Bellissima, is as hot as they come. Just look at the cover....so sexy! Bellissima is an erotic romance, with a historical background. I had no trouble following the story line and this story kept my attention throughout the whole book. If fact, I was hooked from the very first page. Even though Bellissima is a quick and easy read, the details were spot on and any loose ends were tied up perfectly. I loved the characters Anya Richards created! I felt like the characters had so much sexual chemistry, that it easily rated off the charts.

This story revolves around Jane and Sergio. Jane is a housekeeper who keeps her true figure hidden, and Sergio gives dance lessons to some of the girls in the house. Sergio knows right from the beginning that Jane is hiding and immediately plans to rectify that. When these two characters come together, it's incredibly sensual and passionate.

This book definitely does not disappoint and I can't wait to see what else Anya Richards has in store for her readers.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this story Jane is not who she seems after a childhood with no parents she is taken in and taught how to run a house among other things but she is a strong person who does her job well as a housekeeper but when the family she works for hires a dance instructor to teach their daughters to dance Jane is drawn to Sergio like she has never been before and the feeling is mutual. Sergio comes from an Italian family that run a jewellery company but when Sergio meets Jane he defies his strict father to be with Jane. This is a sensual,steamy and heartwarming story as Sergia and Jane journey to a HEA

[Nas Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

BELLISSIMA by author Anya Richards is a September 2014 release by Samhain Publishing.

It's super hot, historical saga. I loved this author Anya Richards writing. She brought to live the settings of the era so beautifully that I felt I was in that era with the hero and the heroine.