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Too Hot to Handle #5
Dangerous Alliance
A Fiery, Unconventional Marriage... "Is the idea of marriage to me so unacceptable?" A seemingly innocent question, but when spoken by Dimitri Kostakidas it was deeply, disturbingly provocative. Leanne knew she was in danger of being overpowered by Dimitri's vibrant Latin sexuality... . Years ago, her response might have been different: as an impressionable teenager Leanne had fancied herself in love with Dimitri. But now she would do anything rather than share his bed! There was just one problem... the heat of Dimitri's passion scorched her senses. As her husband, would he prove untamable?
Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 1994
31 people are currently reading
180 people want to read
About the author
Helen Bianchin
380 books228 followersHelen Shirley was born on February 20 1939 in New Zealand, where she grew up, an only child possessed by a vivid imagination and a love for reading. She wrote stories for amusement in her early teenage years, and when she left leaving school, she took a secretarial job at a father-and-son legal firm.
At age twenty-one Helen joined a girlfriend and embarked on a working holiday in Australia, travelling via cruise ship from Auckland to Melbourne. Alas, no shipboard romance, as she spent all four days in her cabin suffering from sea-sickness! After fifteen months working in Melbourne, Helen and her friend bought a vehicle and took three months to drive the length and breadth of Australia, choosing to work in Cairns in order to fund the final leg of our journey to Sydney.
It was in Cairns that Helen met her future husband, Danilo Bianchin, an Italian immigrant from Treviso. He was a tobacco sharefarmer from the tobacco farming community of Mareeba. His English was pitiful, and her command of Italian was nil. Six months later they married, and Helen was flung into cooking for up to nine tobacco pickers, stringing tobacco, feeding 200 chickens, a few turkeys, ducks... plus killing, cleaning and cooking the same! Her knowledge of Italian improved, and there were hilarious moments in retrospect. Some of what she endured was cooking on a wood-burning stove, having no running hot water, a primitive shower and toilet facilities, washing uniforms for two soccer teams during the soccer season... floods, horrendous hailstone damage to tobacco crops, hardship, and the stillbirth of their first child. Then, to their joy, Helen's daughter, Lucia, was born. Three years later the couple returned to New Zealand, where they settled for sixteen years. During those early years, they added two sons, Angelo and Peter, to the family.
With multiple anecdotes of farm life in an Italian community to friends, the idea of writing a book occurred. A romance, set on a tobacco farm in Australia's far north, Queensland, featuring an Italian hero. Helen says, "the background was authentic, believe me!" However the hero was rich and owned the farm artistic license! It took her a year to complete a passable manuscript, typed on a portable typewriter at the dining room table. That first effort was deemed too short with insufficient detail. Helen rewrote it. This time it was considered too long with too much extraneous detail. She revised, then sent it to London. Four months later she received a telegram from Alan Boon (Mills & Boon) to say they intended to publish and a contract would be sent in the mail. It was the most wonderful news!
Helen wrote ten more books while living in New Zealand, then in 1981, her family resettled in Australia, on Queensland's Gold Coast. She has since published twenty-five more books. Today, with computer technology, the mechanics of writing are much easier. However, the writing process doesn't change. Helen says that she's having a good day if she can achieve 5 good pages, which she is likely to change, edit and rewrite the following day.
She loves creating characters, giving them life and providing a situation where their emotions are tested and love wins out. For her, the greatest praise is for a reader to say they couldn't put the book down... then Helen knows that she has achieved what she set out to do -- "create a moving enjoyable story which holds the reader entertained from beginning to end."
Helen's hobbies are tennis, table-tennis, judo, reading. She loves movies, and leads an active social life.
At age twenty-one Helen joined a girlfriend and embarked on a working holiday in Australia, travelling via cruise ship from Auckland to Melbourne. Alas, no shipboard romance, as she spent all four days in her cabin suffering from sea-sickness! After fifteen months working in Melbourne, Helen and her friend bought a vehicle and took three months to drive the length and breadth of Australia, choosing to work in Cairns in order to fund the final leg of our journey to Sydney.
It was in Cairns that Helen met her future husband, Danilo Bianchin, an Italian immigrant from Treviso. He was a tobacco sharefarmer from the tobacco farming community of Mareeba. His English was pitiful, and her command of Italian was nil. Six months later they married, and Helen was flung into cooking for up to nine tobacco pickers, stringing tobacco, feeding 200 chickens, a few turkeys, ducks... plus killing, cleaning and cooking the same! Her knowledge of Italian improved, and there were hilarious moments in retrospect. Some of what she endured was cooking on a wood-burning stove, having no running hot water, a primitive shower and toilet facilities, washing uniforms for two soccer teams during the soccer season... floods, horrendous hailstone damage to tobacco crops, hardship, and the stillbirth of their first child. Then, to their joy, Helen's daughter, Lucia, was born. Three years later the couple returned to New Zealand, where they settled for sixteen years. During those early years, they added two sons, Angelo and Peter, to the family.
With multiple anecdotes of farm life in an Italian community to friends, the idea of writing a book occurred. A romance, set on a tobacco farm in Australia's far north, Queensland, featuring an Italian hero. Helen says, "the background was authentic, believe me!" However the hero was rich and owned the farm artistic license! It took her a year to complete a passable manuscript, typed on a portable typewriter at the dining room table. That first effort was deemed too short with insufficient detail. Helen rewrote it. This time it was considered too long with too much extraneous detail. She revised, then sent it to London. Four months later she received a telegram from Alan Boon (Mills & Boon) to say they intended to publish and a contract would be sent in the mail. It was the most wonderful news!
Helen wrote ten more books while living in New Zealand, then in 1981, her family resettled in Australia, on Queensland's Gold Coast. She has since published twenty-five more books. Today, with computer technology, the mechanics of writing are much easier. However, the writing process doesn't change. Helen says that she's having a good day if she can achieve 5 good pages, which she is likely to change, edit and rewrite the following day.
She loves creating characters, giving them life and providing a situation where their emotions are tested and love wins out. For her, the greatest praise is for a reader to say they couldn't put the book down... then Helen knows that she has achieved what she set out to do -- "create a moving enjoyable story which holds the reader entertained from beginning to end."
Helen's hobbies are tennis, table-tennis, judo, reading. She loves movies, and leads an active social life.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
July 16, 2018
Re Dangerous Alliance - Helen Bianchin's standard day at the HP office is also number five of the Too Hot To Handle series with her typical society marriage of convenience trope.
This time the 25 year old h has to marry her stepbrother. Mainly cause her widowed mum remarried a gadzillionaire and now is dying of cancer and the h, who has been running her own beauty salon for years, is apparently too stupid to fend off fortune hunters or live without the H's domineering bullying in her life.
First the H emotionally blackmails her into an engagement and then plays on her mother's obvious approaching death, so they marry. We get the usual HB high society parties and angsty h Purple Passion Drama. We also get the stalkerific high society evil OW trope that is the HB hallmark.
The h has always had a crush on the H and at her 21st birthday got kissed and then rejected by her so most of the book is the OW being witchy, the h having mopey moments about the H's Lurve Force Mojo forcing her to adore him when he clearly only sees her as way to keep his father's money in the pot and the usual HB angsty drama.
It all comes to a head when the evil OW hands the h a set of apartment keys and indicates that the h needs to give them back to the H after their little afternoon love fest. The h confronts the H. The H then drags the h to his personal apartment and the door is a computer key lock, this means that the H never took the OW there, the H claims the OW has never lived at his apartment.
(Which very well may be true, but once again HB fails us, because the OW did have the keys to the H's company apartment and I don't think this H was fastidious enough to confine his amorous adventures to the h or his personal penthouse, he distinctly announces that when he chooses to bed a woman, he doesn't take them to his own place. So what was the whole point to that scene?)
Of course the h believes that the keys not fitting into the H's apartment door means that he is completely innocent of cheating on her, so she enacts one of the most humiliating on her knees scenes in HPlandia ever, before running off to check on the management of her Gold Coast beauty salon.
The H then claims that he was only waiting for the h to grow up a bit before claiming her, but she avoided him a lot, and when they did go out she was civil but nothing else, so he just put it on his list to get around to eventually. Then her mother was dying and he had his opportunity to bully her into marrying and the added bonus of getting several million dollars of his father's money back.
He tells her she is his dearest love and the h decides to just roll over and be his dutiful doormat and get a manager for her business as the H plans to take her to the Mediterranean for another mediocre and trite HB HEA.
This one is a standard Helen Bianchin with all the little usual HB flourishes and an incredibly domineering H who is so enigmatic as to be completely unreadable. I have no idear if he loves the h or if he just wanted his father's money back. I have no idear if he cheated, tho his attitude would indicate that he did, cause sex was like using tissue for him and the h certainly wasn't treated as anything special.
Either way, I just did not care, cause the h was too weak to take a stand and too stupid with lust to do anything constructive. It isn't really a bad book, just boring, but it does satisfy the requirements of the HB type of HP outing.
This time the 25 year old h has to marry her stepbrother. Mainly cause her widowed mum remarried a gadzillionaire and now is dying of cancer and the h, who has been running her own beauty salon for years, is apparently too stupid to fend off fortune hunters or live without the H's domineering bullying in her life.
First the H emotionally blackmails her into an engagement and then plays on her mother's obvious approaching death, so they marry. We get the usual HB high society parties and angsty h Purple Passion Drama. We also get the stalkerific high society evil OW trope that is the HB hallmark.
The h has always had a crush on the H and at her 21st birthday got kissed and then rejected by her so most of the book is the OW being witchy, the h having mopey moments about the H's Lurve Force Mojo forcing her to adore him when he clearly only sees her as way to keep his father's money in the pot and the usual HB angsty drama.
It all comes to a head when the evil OW hands the h a set of apartment keys and indicates that the h needs to give them back to the H after their little afternoon love fest. The h confronts the H. The H then drags the h to his personal apartment and the door is a computer key lock, this means that the H never took the OW there, the H claims the OW has never lived at his apartment.
(Which very well may be true, but once again HB fails us, because the OW did have the keys to the H's company apartment and I don't think this H was fastidious enough to confine his amorous adventures to the h or his personal penthouse, he distinctly announces that when he chooses to bed a woman, he doesn't take them to his own place. So what was the whole point to that scene?)
Of course the h believes that the keys not fitting into the H's apartment door means that he is completely innocent of cheating on her, so she enacts one of the most humiliating on her knees scenes in HPlandia ever, before running off to check on the management of her Gold Coast beauty salon.
The H then claims that he was only waiting for the h to grow up a bit before claiming her, but she avoided him a lot, and when they did go out she was civil but nothing else, so he just put it on his list to get around to eventually. Then her mother was dying and he had his opportunity to bully her into marrying and the added bonus of getting several million dollars of his father's money back.
He tells her she is his dearest love and the h decides to just roll over and be his dutiful doormat and get a manager for her business as the H plans to take her to the Mediterranean for another mediocre and trite HB HEA.
This one is a standard Helen Bianchin with all the little usual HB flourishes and an incredibly domineering H who is so enigmatic as to be completely unreadable. I have no idear if he loves the h or if he just wanted his father's money back. I have no idear if he cheated, tho his attitude would indicate that he did, cause sex was like using tissue for him and the h certainly wasn't treated as anything special.
Either way, I just did not care, cause the h was too weak to take a stand and too stupid with lust to do anything constructive. It isn't really a bad book, just boring, but it does satisfy the requirements of the HB type of HP outing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 18, 2017
Why? Why God?
Why did I decide to read this BORING ASS BOOK ?
There's no personality to these MC's and I even HATED the heroine's mother who is dying from cancer. Yep. That's how awful, bland, monotonous and stupid all of these characters were ...
I take full responsibility for this major disappointment: I knew what Helen Bianchin's later novels were like and yet I still stubbornly gave this yawnfest a try. Her earlier novels were so much better - the ones she wrote before she became all obsessed with the life and times of the rich and snobbish. The author's tendency to focus too much on descriptive minutiae detracts from the MC's and their relationship to each other. I swear there were a long two pages that detailed the heroine's search through her mother's fabulous marble bathroom for migraine pills. The only thing Bianchin left out was the brand of tampon the heroine uses...
And let's not forget the characterization of the servants as being so happy, eager to please and totally doting on their employers. Omg, are there really servants who love doing their jobs? I got tired of reading about how gracious and loyal and kind was the housekeeper/cook . Then there's the ex OW who behaves like bitter stalking bitch, who literally embarrasses himself by acting clingy and desperate to the H who is indifferent and dismissive to her in public. This bitch needed to get some lessons in pride.
I hated everything about this book. Helen Bianchin's earlier novels were so much better. The hero did not even declare his love in a definitive way at the end either ...
Whatever ...
Why did I decide to read this BORING ASS BOOK ?
There's no personality to these MC's and I even HATED the heroine's mother who is dying from cancer. Yep. That's how awful, bland, monotonous and stupid all of these characters were ...
I take full responsibility for this major disappointment: I knew what Helen Bianchin's later novels were like and yet I still stubbornly gave this yawnfest a try. Her earlier novels were so much better - the ones she wrote before she became all obsessed with the life and times of the rich and snobbish. The author's tendency to focus too much on descriptive minutiae detracts from the MC's and their relationship to each other. I swear there were a long two pages that detailed the heroine's search through her mother's fabulous marble bathroom for migraine pills. The only thing Bianchin left out was the brand of tampon the heroine uses...
And let's not forget the characterization of the servants as being so happy, eager to please and totally doting on their employers. Omg, are there really servants who love doing their jobs? I got tired of reading about how gracious and loyal and kind was the housekeeper/cook . Then there's the ex OW who behaves like bitter stalking bitch, who literally embarrasses himself by acting clingy and desperate to the H who is indifferent and dismissive to her in public. This bitch needed to get some lessons in pride.
I hated everything about this book. Helen Bianchin's earlier novels were so much better. The hero did not even declare his love in a definitive way at the end either ...
Whatever ...
July 2, 2013
This was fairly good right up until the end when it wasn't. The hero was arrogant and controlling for no real reason. You knew he had loved her for a long time and had jumped at the chance to force her into marriage supposedly to satisfy her dying mother. Yet at the end there was no climatic event (fiction writing 101) and he never came right out and said he loved her. He just said "you are my love." I don't consider that adequate after all the bullying he did. There needed to be some discussion about why he rejected her 5 years ago. We are led to assume that he thought she was too young. I don't like to assume. I want to read it. There were other unsatisfying parts for example, there was a place where he says that if anyone hurts her they will have to answer to him yet when she admits that an ex lover of his has been saying hurtful things and intimating that she and the hero had slept together the day before, he gets mad at the heroine for believing her. That just makes him a dick in my opinion.
Although this story had some great bones and I typically love an infatuated hero who maneuvers the heroine into marriage, here the follow through didn't quite cut it.
Ultimately rather disappointing.
Although this story had some great bones and I typically love an infatuated hero who maneuvers the heroine into marriage, here the follow through didn't quite cut it.
Ultimately rather disappointing.
January 11, 2022
He is a wonderful, determined, loving, passionate H. And I like the storyline with him pushing her into a marriage with him. I like it when a H uses the bulldozer tactics on a h.
She is childish and annoying. I don’t understand why she gets upset with him when the OW tries to make trouble, even after seeing him take her side against the OW again and again. She doesn’t deserve him.
Anyway, good read. 4 stars.
She is childish and annoying. I don’t understand why she gets upset with him when the OW tries to make trouble, even after seeing him take her side against the OW again and again. She doesn’t deserve him.
Anyway, good read. 4 stars.
September 23, 2020
Very typical Helen Bianchin, but for some reason it worked for me.
I need to check and see if the husband’s friend, Leon Andre has a book...
I need to check and see if the husband’s friend, Leon Andre has a book...
August 11, 2017
"Dangerous Alliance" is the story of Leanne and Dmitiri, and a book which totally deserves to be in HQN treasury.
Leanne and Dmitri are step siblings, who have grown estranged in the past 5 years.
Paige now lives alone running her beauty clinic, when her mother Paige falls sick to cancer and she has to return to Melbourne to face her past and childhood love, Dmitri. A fake proposal for the sake of pleasing an ailing mother, leads to a "pretend" marriage.. or does it?
This was an absolute pleasure to read.
A hero caring- both towards the h and mother, non violent but possessive and assertive, a smart independent heroine who did not unnecessarily fight her feelings, no pushing away and a good amount of lovemaking for a 1994 book.
This absolutely made my morning because of how likable both the leads were!
There's some ex drama, but the H nips it in the bud.
Totally enjoyed it!
Safe with exceptions
4.5/5
PS. ADORE the old school cover!
Leanne and Dmitri are step siblings, who have grown estranged in the past 5 years.
Paige now lives alone running her beauty clinic, when her mother Paige falls sick to cancer and she has to return to Melbourne to face her past and childhood love, Dmitri. A fake proposal for the sake of pleasing an ailing mother, leads to a "pretend" marriage.. or does it?
This was an absolute pleasure to read.
A hero caring- both towards the h and mother, non violent but possessive and assertive, a smart independent heroine who did not unnecessarily fight her feelings, no pushing away and a good amount of lovemaking for a 1994 book.
This absolutely made my morning because of how likable both the leads were!
There's some ex drama, but the H nips it in the bud.
Totally enjoyed it!
Safe with exceptions
4.5/5
PS. ADORE the old school cover!
March 30, 2021
\A fiery, unconventional marriage...
"Is the idea of marriage to me so unacceptable?"
A seemingly innocent question, but when spoken by Dimitri Kostakidas it was deeply, disturbingly provocative. Leanne knew she was in danger of being overpowered by Dimitri's vibrant Latin sexuality....
Years ago, her response might have been different: as an impressionable teenager Leanne had fancied herself in love with Dimitri. But now she would do anything rather than share his bed! There was just one problem...the heat of Dimitri's passion scorched her senses. As her husband, would he prove untamable? (less)
"Is the idea of marriage to me so unacceptable?"
A seemingly innocent question, but when spoken by Dimitri Kostakidas it was deeply, disturbingly provocative. Leanne knew she was in danger of being overpowered by Dimitri's vibrant Latin sexuality....
Years ago, her response might have been different: as an impressionable teenager Leanne had fancied herself in love with Dimitri. But now she would do anything rather than share his bed! There was just one problem...the heat of Dimitri's passion scorched her senses. As her husband, would he prove untamable? (less)
January 1, 2018
Once Dimitri Kostakidas crushed Leanne’s girlish dreams, refusing her offer of love on a night that would be forever seared into her brain. Now, her mother’s failing health had thrown them together once more and Leanne guarded her heart from a second cruel rejection.
Fate, it seemed, had other plans. For not only did Dimitri seem unaccountably thoughtful and attentive, but his proposal of marriage was all any girl could wish for. Still, could Leanne trust her feelings? Was the hasty wedding really the answer to her mother’s fervent hopes and dreams for these two special people or a mere façade?
I enjoyed the Australian setting of the story and this brief glimpse into the realm of the fabulously wealthy. Nevertheless, most of us cannot purchase life or happiness and the realization of Dimitri’s love for Leanne brought a genuine smile to my lips.
Fate, it seemed, had other plans. For not only did Dimitri seem unaccountably thoughtful and attentive, but his proposal of marriage was all any girl could wish for. Still, could Leanne trust her feelings? Was the hasty wedding really the answer to her mother’s fervent hopes and dreams for these two special people or a mere façade?
I enjoyed the Australian setting of the story and this brief glimpse into the realm of the fabulously wealthy. Nevertheless, most of us cannot purchase life or happiness and the realization of Dimitri’s love for Leanne brought a genuine smile to my lips.
September 12, 2010
I think I would have liked this book better if the hero had been a little more forthcoming with his feelings on all but the last few pages. The ex was a persistent nagging influence that he could have dealt with in just three little words...I love you. C'mon, is it so hard?? With some of these, heroes, I guess it is.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 23, 2021
I have never read this author before but saw a little ad in the back of an old book and thought to give it a try. Maybe I picked the wrong one to start out with but if I had to sum up the book it would be this: immediately having finished it, I went to review it and could not remember the title. I had to look it up. I mean, I didn't even have a 5 minute window until forgetfulness. As soon as I got to the last word, my mind was squeaky clean. I've had this happen to me with movies where I walked out of a theater and literally couldn't think of what I had just watched but I've rarely had it happen to me with books. In fact, I'm trying to think when.
The book is mostly fluff. I got to read about the h's daily routine which was interspersed throughout. I read about her getting off a plane, checking in to her room, taking a shower, getting out clean underwear and stocking, getting dressed and putting on some light makeup, putting her hair up in a topknot and then leaving the room where she got in her car and drove there.
Did it take up a lot of space? No. But it was repetitive throughout the book whenever she got home from wherever, went to wherever, traveled to wherever, etc. You get the idea. I mean, it's ok. I get it. You come home and get ready for bed, you remove your makeup, shower, dry off, get into your nightie, get into bed and fall asleep. Or not as the heroine sometimes stared at the ceiling or tossed and turned before falling asleep.
The H was a little controlling but honestly, he probably had to be. The h is 25. The H is 38. He's more experienced and worldly. The h is not. In fact, she seemed to be stuck around the maturity level of 18. I'm not knocking 18. I'm just saying in relation to 38, she hadn't quite worked out the teenage reactive behavior that we HOPEFULLY grow out of at some point. So she would often act like a petulant teenager. Not in an annoying way so much as a "does he like me? Does he not? I can't tell. So instead I'll just stay quiet and give him a blank look and talk like I am older and more mature and confident when I'm really REALLY not." So you know, honestly, she probably needed this father figure to let her run her length until she got to the end of her leash and then reel her back in.
Honestly, now that I think about it, if I was a 38 year old wealthy, powerful, worldly and experienced male, I can't really think why I would want a life partner I'd have to basically school. Maybe it's because he didn't have kids yet and so he had the patience for this sh*t. I mean, when I was 38, I wasn't wealthy, powerful or this worldly/experienced person but I could not imagine having to put up with a teenage acting male partner. Ugh.
So you know. If you like fairly mellow romances where the most titillation you'll get is when the guy just basically takes you by the hand and has to lead you somewhere or say "I expect you at this dinner" and give you a stern look then...it's all good.
The book is mostly fluff. I got to read about the h's daily routine which was interspersed throughout. I read about her getting off a plane, checking in to her room, taking a shower, getting out clean underwear and stocking, getting dressed and putting on some light makeup, putting her hair up in a topknot and then leaving the room where she got in her car and drove there.
Did it take up a lot of space? No. But it was repetitive throughout the book whenever she got home from wherever, went to wherever, traveled to wherever, etc. You get the idea. I mean, it's ok. I get it. You come home and get ready for bed, you remove your makeup, shower, dry off, get into your nightie, get into bed and fall asleep. Or not as the heroine sometimes stared at the ceiling or tossed and turned before falling asleep.
The H was a little controlling but honestly, he probably had to be. The h is 25. The H is 38. He's more experienced and worldly. The h is not. In fact, she seemed to be stuck around the maturity level of 18. I'm not knocking 18. I'm just saying in relation to 38, she hadn't quite worked out the teenage reactive behavior that we HOPEFULLY grow out of at some point. So she would often act like a petulant teenager. Not in an annoying way so much as a "does he like me? Does he not? I can't tell. So instead I'll just stay quiet and give him a blank look and talk like I am older and more mature and confident when I'm really REALLY not." So you know, honestly, she probably needed this father figure to let her run her length until she got to the end of her leash and then reel her back in.
Honestly, now that I think about it, if I was a 38 year old wealthy, powerful, worldly and experienced male, I can't really think why I would want a life partner I'd have to basically school. Maybe it's because he didn't have kids yet and so he had the patience for this sh*t. I mean, when I was 38, I wasn't wealthy, powerful or this worldly/experienced person but I could not imagine having to put up with a teenage acting male partner. Ugh.
So you know. If you like fairly mellow romances where the most titillation you'll get is when the guy just basically takes you by the hand and has to lead you somewhere or say "I expect you at this dinner" and give you a stern look then...it's all good.
October 1, 2020
I had no idea this was just what I needed right now, but there you have it. The hero and heroine are stepsiblings; the heroine, the hero's beloved stepmother, is dying, and the hero tells her that he and the heroine are romantically involved. The heroine assumes it's because he wants to make her mother happy - as anyone who has ever read a romance novel realizes, it's because he's in love with her. She's fixated on a pass she made at him when she was twenty-one which he rejected, but it's clear that he felt (at thirty-something) that she was too young for him, and she then bolted and made a life for herself as a successful beautician/clinic owner while avoiding all contact with him. It's an old book so there's the fairly inevitable "I ought to shake you" lines here and there, but it's clear that the heroine is an independent woman and that's one of the things the hero likes about her.
February 8, 2020
3.5 stars
A solid old-school romance featuring unrequited love from h for her step-brother hero (no blood connection, of course). She was rejected in the past and left for a few years.
Her mother is terminally ill and needs her so she decides to come back and stay close to her.
In a whirlwind of events she finds herself engaged and then married (!?!?!) with the H.
Just a marriage of convenience he says, for her mother's sake: she longed to see them happy together.... no need to say, the step from "convenient marriage" to "steamy passionate lovemaking" is really short!
OW involved - insecure/stubborn h -alpha (very alpha) male.
Really enjoyed it
A solid old-school romance featuring unrequited love from h for her step-brother hero (no blood connection, of course). She was rejected in the past and left for a few years.
Her mother is terminally ill and needs her so she decides to come back and stay close to her.
In a whirlwind of events she finds herself engaged and then married (!?!?!) with the H.
Just a marriage of convenience he says, for her mother's sake: she longed to see them happy together.... no need to say, the step from "convenient marriage" to "steamy passionate lovemaking" is really short!
OW involved - insecure/stubborn h -alpha (very alpha) male.
Really enjoyed it
December 8, 2015
A fiery, unconventional marriage...
"Is the idea of marriage to me so unacceptable?"
A seemingly innocent question, but when spoken by Dimitri Kostakidas it was deeply, disturbingly provocative. Leanne knew she was in danger of being overpowered by Dimitri's vibrant Latin sexuality....
Years ago, her response might have been different: as an impressionable teenager Leanne had fancied herself in love with Dimitri. But now she would do anything rather than share his bed! There was just one problem...the heat of Dimitri's passion scorched her senses. As her husband, would he prove untamable?
"Is the idea of marriage to me so unacceptable?"
A seemingly innocent question, but when spoken by Dimitri Kostakidas it was deeply, disturbingly provocative. Leanne knew she was in danger of being overpowered by Dimitri's vibrant Latin sexuality....
Years ago, her response might have been different: as an impressionable teenager Leanne had fancied herself in love with Dimitri. But now she would do anything rather than share his bed! There was just one problem...the heat of Dimitri's passion scorched her senses. As her husband, would he prove untamable?
July 29, 2013
An ok read according to me but nothing to say much about.
February 27, 2015
not bad but too cliched! i've read this trope so many times dat it lost its appeal and der was nthg remotely special about this one!
December 20, 2020
2.5
Leanne returns home to be with her mother in her final days and has to deal with her stepbrother, Dmitri, for whom she has harbored a devastating crush for years...even though she tries to hide it after she humiliated herself horribly pursuing him years ago. Now of course, Dmitri is suggesting they pretend to be engaged, since it's her mother's dying wish that she be settled financially with a stable man who will love her...and who better than Dmitri (which will also allow Leanne's inheritance to stay within Dmitri's family)? Leanne gets emotionally blackmailed into agreeing and before she knows it, she is married to Dmitri in a masterfully planned out manipulation that was definitely not an accident or even the result of one lie too many. But now Leanne is married to a man she loves, who may never love her the way she wants to be loved. And to make matters worse, Dmitri's (former?) mistress is making things all the worse for her.
In this case, nothing says "I love you," like manipulating your sweetheart into marriage against her will, taunting her attempts to maintain her independence at every turn and allowing her to believe she's stuck in a marriage without love. This of course is why I SERIOUSLY doubted that the hero even loved the heroine at all. I never got the sense that said, "yup," he's in love but just doesn't know how to express it." I truly did buy into the idea that it was financially expedient for him and gave him a nice stable, hostess-like, biddable wife to boot. Because Leanne truly is a doormat. I very much enjoyed that she tried to maintain her backbone and even has a few good attempts at independence, but each and every time she fears she's gone too far or that she's angered him too much, she caves and becomes even more subservient to him (with the exception of that one little act of defiance there at the end, but she intends to make it up to him, wink, wink). Truly, although she doesn't want to be, she is going to become his beck and call girl. And he's going to have a mistress in no time because as far as I know, he still has that company apartment that Shanna was staying in and those keys are available for the next gal. And I can believe he'll be unfaithful because, like I said, it didn't feel like he loved her. These two had some good chemistry and he was awfully good at turning her into a puddle of lusty goo, but it always felt like he was taunting her with it. And I just couldn't get past his initial need to emotionally blackmail this woman when he supposedly loved her. Not to mention the fact he was carrying on with Shanna when he was supposedly waiting for the heroine to become his wife. You love her, you wait for her. He could have pursued her much sooner if he was really that much in love with her, right?
In retrospect, I can see all the things I disliked about this, but it was really easy to read on as I went. The angst and the relationship tension made for very engaging reading, even as I was cringing at how doormat-like the heroine was becoming. I enjoyed the read, even if I didn't love the characters and their behaviors so much.
Leanne returns home to be with her mother in her final days and has to deal with her stepbrother, Dmitri, for whom she has harbored a devastating crush for years...even though she tries to hide it after she humiliated herself horribly pursuing him years ago. Now of course, Dmitri is suggesting they pretend to be engaged, since it's her mother's dying wish that she be settled financially with a stable man who will love her...and who better than Dmitri (which will also allow Leanne's inheritance to stay within Dmitri's family)? Leanne gets emotionally blackmailed into agreeing and before she knows it, she is married to Dmitri in a masterfully planned out manipulation that was definitely not an accident or even the result of one lie too many. But now Leanne is married to a man she loves, who may never love her the way she wants to be loved. And to make matters worse, Dmitri's (former?) mistress is making things all the worse for her.
In this case, nothing says "I love you," like manipulating your sweetheart into marriage against her will, taunting her attempts to maintain her independence at every turn and allowing her to believe she's stuck in a marriage without love. This of course is why I SERIOUSLY doubted that the hero even loved the heroine at all. I never got the sense that said, "yup," he's in love but just doesn't know how to express it." I truly did buy into the idea that it was financially expedient for him and gave him a nice stable, hostess-like, biddable wife to boot. Because Leanne truly is a doormat. I very much enjoyed that she tried to maintain her backbone and even has a few good attempts at independence, but each and every time she fears she's gone too far or that she's angered him too much, she caves and becomes even more subservient to him (with the exception of that one little act of defiance there at the end, but she intends to make it up to him, wink, wink). Truly, although she doesn't want to be, she is going to become his beck and call girl. And he's going to have a mistress in no time because as far as I know, he still has that company apartment that Shanna was staying in and those keys are available for the next gal. And I can believe he'll be unfaithful because, like I said, it didn't feel like he loved her. These two had some good chemistry and he was awfully good at turning her into a puddle of lusty goo, but it always felt like he was taunting her with it. And I just couldn't get past his initial need to emotionally blackmail this woman when he supposedly loved her. Not to mention the fact he was carrying on with Shanna when he was supposedly waiting for the heroine to become his wife. You love her, you wait for her. He could have pursued her much sooner if he was really that much in love with her, right?
In retrospect, I can see all the things I disliked about this, but it was really easy to read on as I went. The angst and the relationship tension made for very engaging reading, even as I was cringing at how doormat-like the heroine was becoming. I enjoyed the read, even if I didn't love the characters and their behaviors so much.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 28, 2025
I wasn’t the biggest fan of than of this book because I thought the h was a bit of a numptie.
Also why does she call her mum Paige ALL the time? They have a loving relationship so why the first name?
The H and h are step siblings with 2 lovely parents dad has been dead a while when the book opens and mum is also terminally ill when the h flies home.
She was in love with H and had smoochies on her 22st he then seemingly gently turns her down so she leaves home, sets up a successful beauty business on the Gold Coast and avoids the H for next 4 years until called home due to mums illness.
H seems like a pretty sound guy to be honest yes he does some grabbing of the h by the wrist “hard” and he definitely uses his skillz to bamboozle her into bed but he’s not a forcing it guy and he’s level headed. Sure he’s had girlfriends but none they stay in his home.
He does force h’s hand in marriage but we defo get the impression he’s playing the long game and wants the h for love. The h however is an insecure moron who goes on about his ex ALL the time. Sure she tries to cause mischief but he was clear that relationship was over before they met up again and he gives her no reason to be jel. h just doesn’t let it go though she goes on ALL the time about his “experience” get over it love the guys nearly 40 and he wasn’t upset when you “said” you had experimented (even though you hadn’t) he wanted you to live life a bit before he married you for a HEA.
Also why does she call her mum Paige ALL the time? They have a loving relationship so why the first name?
The H and h are step siblings with 2 lovely parents dad has been dead a while when the book opens and mum is also terminally ill when the h flies home.
She was in love with H and had smoochies on her 22st he then seemingly gently turns her down so she leaves home, sets up a successful beauty business on the Gold Coast and avoids the H for next 4 years until called home due to mums illness.
H seems like a pretty sound guy to be honest yes he does some grabbing of the h by the wrist “hard” and he definitely uses his skillz to bamboozle her into bed but he’s not a forcing it guy and he’s level headed. Sure he’s had girlfriends but none they stay in his home.
He does force h’s hand in marriage but we defo get the impression he’s playing the long game and wants the h for love. The h however is an insecure moron who goes on about his ex ALL the time. Sure she tries to cause mischief but he was clear that relationship was over before they met up again and he gives her no reason to be jel. h just doesn’t let it go though she goes on ALL the time about his “experience” get over it love the guys nearly 40 and he wasn’t upset when you “said” you had experimented (even though you hadn’t) he wanted you to live life a bit before he married you for a HEA.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 2, 2020
Realmente no sé si sea por la traducción o que mismo pero este libro realmente tiene escenas machistas que el autor quiere disfrazar como algo "romántico" un ejemplo de ello fue cuando Dimitri literalmente LE PROHIBIÓ a Leanne trabajar hasta de noche aún cuando ella no tenía ningún inconveniente con ello o cuando ella fingía tener cualquier asunto que atender y el la obligaba a cancelarlo porque ella debía acompañarlo a sus fiestas y reuniones de trabajo ugh no pude tolerarlo y además nunca se pudo ver un desarrollo en la relación de los protagonistas ya que solo pasaban cogiendo, la única vez que se pudo leer un conversación significativa fue al final (lo terminé porque no me gusta dejar las cosas inconclusas) y aún siendo el final él nunca le declaró su amor por ella completamente, no sé por todo ello no puedo darle más de 3 estrellas
September 29, 2020
Leanne rushes home to find her mother Paige in the hospital dying from cancer. Dimitri is waiting for her. He is Paige's step son whom adore's her and will do anything for her. Including marrying Leanne. If this had happened five years ago Leanne would have been in heaven. Now she wants to leave the past there, in the past. What happens when mom is gone? Will there be someone else waiting for him? In true Bianchin fashion there are just enough twists to make the story good. I have read this and will read it again.
February 12, 2018
Oh, dear, where do I start? This hero is one of the most manipulative, controlling bullies I've ever seen, and I have read a lot of Harlequin/Mills & Boon books. But this guy takes the cake. He is never fully honest about his intentions with the heroine, which for me, does not bode well for their HEA. As a result, the poor heroine was a completely bewildered doormat, to suit the plot. Do not read this book. Believe me, it's not worth the time.
December 15, 2022
Lady in waiting!
I found this to be a very easy read kind of a corny story in the beginning,but once you get past the why and how it turns out to be an excellent romance.
I feel anyone who choy this book will not be disappointed enjoy!.
I found this to be a very easy read kind of a corny story in the beginning,but once you get past the why and how it turns out to be an excellent romance.
I feel anyone who choy this book will not be disappointed enjoy!.
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December 7, 2019Latin??? A Greek?!!
People write about other nationalities at least should conduct some basic research on culture, history etc.
People write about other nationalities at least should conduct some basic research on culture, history etc.
December 19, 2020
No real chemistry!
July 3, 2022
I liked that h was honest with herself and H.
October 30, 2023
Wanted to like it but the main couple just didn’t gel, and their reasoning wasn’t strong enough. I say skip.
May 31, 2024
meh, para pasar el rato safa
May 30, 2021
Leanne and Dimitri are step siblings. Leanne loved Dimitri and tried to show him her feelings at her 21's birthday, but was cruelly rejected. Therefore, for 5 years, she kept well away from him in another country till her mother's sudden illness brought her back and forced her to marry him.
I wasn't encouraged to complete it at first because I though I predicted most of its events after the first two chapters, but I managed to complete it eventually so I guess it was fine.
I wasn't encouraged to complete it at first because I though I predicted most of its events after the first two chapters, but I managed to complete it eventually so I guess it was fine.
October 28, 2012
Una narrativa interesante, los hechos se suceden en un buen ritmo y los protas son carismáticos. Leanne, aunque insegura como suelen ser las chicas de Bianchin, tiene algo de sentido comun que le da un equilibrio agradable. Dimitri es simpatico, protege Leanne sin dominarla. El desenlace es lo que parece desde el inicio, todavía hay momentos en que te crees equivocado.
May 23, 2021
Leeanne had a real crush on her stepbrother Dimitri when a teen but now they are getting married. It is her dying mothers last request. While the marriage end with the death? or is there more to the relationship?
October 20, 2016
Star Rating: ★★½☆☆
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