Una novia insolente

The Legacies of Powerful Men #1

by Lynne Graham

¡Su inesperada mujer!

Cristo Ravelli lamentaba el día que había oído el apellido «Brophy». No le había extrañado que su padre hubiera muerto dejando una prole de hijos ilegítimos, pero para silenciar ese escándalo Cristo debía convencer a la tutora de los niños, la encantadora Belle, para que se uniera a sus planes.

La única preocupación de Belle Brophy eran sus hermanos y haría lo que fuera por proporcionarles la seguridad que ella nunca había tenido. Así que cuando ese guapísimo italiano le propuso matrimonio no pudo decir que no. Pero una vez tuvo el anillo en el dedo Belle descubrió rápidamente ¡que el matrimonio era mucho más que decir «sí, quiero»!

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

175 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2014

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.


Lynne Graham was born on July 30, 1956 of Irish-Scottish parentage. She has livedin Northern Ireland all her life. She grew up in a seaside village with herbrother. She learnt to read at the age of 3, and haven't stopped since then.

Lynne first met her husband when she was 14. At 15, she wrote her firstbook, but it was rejected everywhere. Lynne married after she completed adegree at Edinburgh University. She started writing again when she was athome with her first child. It took several attempts before she sold herfirst book in 1987 and the delight of seeing that first book for sale in thelocal newsagents has never been forgotten. Now, there are over 10 million ofher books in print worldwide.

Lynne always wanted a large family and has five children. Her eldest and heronly natural child is 19 and currently at university. Her other fourchildren, who are every bit as dear to her heart, are adopted. She has two9-year-olds adopted from Sri Lanka and a 5- and a 3-year-old adopted fromGuatemala. In Lynne's home, there is a rich and diverse cultural mix, whichadds a whole extra dimension of interest and discovery to family life. Thefamily lives in a country house surrounded by a woodland garden, which iswonderfully private. The family has two pets. Thomas, a very large andaffectionate black cat, bosses the dog and hunts rabbits. The dog is Daisy,an adorable but not very bright white West Highland terrier, who loves beingchased by the cat. At night, dog and cat sleep together in front of thekitchen stove. Lynne loves gardening, cooking, collects everything from oldtoys to rock specimens and is crazy about every aspect of Christmas.

Reviews

[Alp · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I enjoyed this book for the most part. The plot was simple and predictable, yet the story itself was short and moved quickly. It had so much potential to be a 4-stars read for me, but sadly, this book ended up getting only 3 stars from me. Why? Let’s just say the heroine, Belle, was my biggest problem. Every time I started to get into the groove of the story, she managed to do something that really irritated me. She's the worst Lynne Graham's heroine ever!

Nevertheless, the next book’s blurb sounds promising. I'll continue this series for certain.

[Alex is The Romance Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ravelli’s Defiant Bride is the first book of Lynne Graham’s The Legacies of Powerful Men trilogy of three brothers and what happens after the death of their father.

Cristo Ravelli travels to Ireland to arrange for the adoption of his father’s illegitimate children but all his plans are thwarted by their feisty half-sister, who pretends to be their mother (who is dead) to avoid the family from being separated. ( I did think it a bit of a stretch that someone had 5 children by the age of 25….but hey, these days, people start young…right?????)
A marriage of convenience is agreed upon and pretty soon Belle Brophy (love her name) finds herself falling in love with a Ravelli and scared she will have her heart broken just like her mother.

This is such a lovely story. And despite the predictability of the plot……angsty moments, the consequences of Belle’s lie and misunderstandings, it was still great reading. Cristo is not your usual super alpha-male…he’s kind and understanding, admired and respected Belle, who at times did some pretty crazy things…..

Loved Belle’s family….the kids were really amazing and cute and the grandmother was totally fabulous!
The settings are vividly written…..loved the Ireland scenes.
The love scene on Cristo & Belle’s wedding night was absolutely awesome. Sensual and beautiful and stunning…
I am looking forward to Nik and Betsy’s story next…wow, there’s something going on there that’s totally intriguing.

Another great read by one of my fav authors.

[Vintage · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely a 3 star HP and a 3 star Lynne Graham. No major angst, no heart-wrenching emotive scenes, no big mean moments, well no big mean OTT moments. The worst it gets is the hero's mother pitches a teeny fit when she finds out he married her ex-husband's mistress' daughter which is a little understandable, and the H does call the heroine a gold-digger but he qualifies it as saying she a gold-digger he just had the best sex with. Oh, romance.

It takes a while to finesse out family relationships as they are complicated. Example: at the beginning of the book one brother is talking to another brother who is two months older than the other. Daddy was a serial cheater of mega proportions as evidenced that the heroine has FIVE half-siblings. I'm glad the heroine's mother died off page as her complete and total lack of self-respect and, frankly, stupidity in getting pregnant five times by the yucky dad was not endearing and disturbing when you think how it would affect her children. I don't even think she has being Irish Catholic to fall back on as a reason not to use birth control because I doubt the Catholic Church and the Pope look on infidelity with a more open eye.

Not much to add to everyone else's reviews. This seemed a place holder for bigger, better, ansgtier reads to come. The heroine even has her college degree and gets to use her financial smarts. Ah, but wait, I see we have a dyslexic, ex-waitress coming up in the next book.

[StMargarets · Rating 3 out of 5]

By coincidence I ended up reading two "guardians of children" stories in a row. Kim Lawrence's The Italian's Ruthless Marriage Bargain didn't work for me, but this one - with an even wilder premise - did work for me.

Heroine is the half sister to *five* siblings, the product(s) of a 15+ year affair between the heroine's Irish housekeeper mother and the hero's can't-keep-it-zipped father. Both mom and dad are dead and the university grad (yay!) heroine is trying to keep her brothers and sisters together and the Italian tycoon hero is trying to sweep his father's indiscretions under the rug.

Hero's plan: disown the children and put them out for adoption
Heroine's plan: pretend to be her mother

Okay - bad plans from the beginning.

Plan after insta-lust: let's get married and adopt all the children.

Sure, why not?

The rest of the story is the heroine proving she's more than a virgin/blackmailing sex object and the hero learning he's not really in love with his sister-in-law (sequel bait for the next story in the series).

This was an interesting twist on the marrying for children trope. I liked the educated heroine and the Jack Russell terrier.

[Izzah ꒰Duchess of Cabria ಇ ⭑✧ ᴏɴ ᴘᴀᴛʀᴇᴏɴ ✧ ⋆꒱ · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, even the most hardcore Harlequin authors mellow out in later years...
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🕮⋆˚࿔✎𓂃 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬
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[Vashti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable first book in a trio of half brothers journey to love.This is Christo's and Belle's journey.
Christo's father left behind 5 illegit children behind in Ireland.Belle's mother was Christo's father's mistress for the past 20 plus years.Within a span of a few months,they each die and the children are left penniless with Belle and their grandmother to take care of them.
Christo's plan is to have them adopted , but Belle has a few choice words to say about this.She attempts to make Christo believe that she is her Mum,but ,blows it during a conversation.Chris to comes up with a plan he feels will benefit the children and keep his other brothers out of the limelight.He proposes a MOC with benefits.She agrees,and they marry and head off to Italy with the youngest brother in tow.
This was an engaging read and I loved the character of Christo.Nothing beats a Lynne Graham alpha male,I adore them! They start off as total asshats,and by the end ,they are so in love with the heroine.The heroine took some time to like ,but as the story went on,her like ability grew on me.She was a strong,intelligent heroine who put her half siblings need ahead of her own.It was great when she finally came to realize she loved the hero.
The background of Nic and Betsy's story has me intrigued and cannot wait to read their story.
This is classic LG and one her many fans will enjoy.

[Fanniny Moreno Zavaleta · Rating 5 out of 5]

It didn't start promising when Cristo was so dismissive of his illegitimate siblings. He may not have been in the best terms with his brothers (Nik and Zarif) but you could see he at least felt affection for them so I hated that he made the distinction just because the Brophy's were born from a peasant mother. Fortunately he redeems himself.

It was funny watching Belle pretend to be her mom (because it felt so ridiculous) and was glad that the angst for that wasn't over dragged. I also liked her showing him she was super intelligent and capable at business. What I didn't like was that she seemed to forget about little Franco all the time she was working with Cristo.

Maybe it was just my luck that I picked Jess's promise and then immediately this one. But I don't like it much when Hero's think they've been in love before (I mean with someone BEFORE he met the heroine). Forget I said anything, now that I think about it one of my perverse side rejoices when the hero admits that what he felt for the OW was nothing compared with what he feels for the heroine.

Having said that, I love a hero that loses it from the moment he sees the heroine and makes stupid decisions he would never have done had it been someone else in front of him (at least I want to think he's intelligent outside from his time with the heroine or he wouldn't be a billionaire, right?). And sorry but I also liked his pervert ways (him wanting to be the one removing her wedding dress and him wanting her in lingerie). Not that I forgave him easily after the careless/stupid/hurtful words he told Belle after they first had sex.

Also loved grandma Isa and the rest of the Brophy clan especially Bruno and Franco.

[Melody Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sweet love story between Cristo Ravelli and Belle Brophy. Cristo has a father who was such a manwhore. He had a long term mistress who is Belle's mother. She had been his mistress for twenty years and has five children by him. Cristo was always ashamed of the father he barely knew. After his father passes away he is shocked to find out there is another whole family by his father and they were left with nothing. Cristo is half-siblings with these five children plus he has two grown half brothers that he has a relationship with.

Belle's father was not Mr. Ravelli but her mother's first husband who also passed away. The five children and Belle lived together as brothers and sisters. After the death of Mr. Ravelli, Cristo, his son and executor of his will, goes to their home and property where this family lives to immediately put it up for sale. They will now be homeless and I thought it quite unfeeling for him to put them out of the home they grew up in.

He ends up marrying Belle for convenience and so the children wouldn't be separated. Immediately after consummating their marriage he says some very hurtful things to her. He was still in the top position if you get my meaning when he calls her a gold-digger, blackmailer and social climber and he is convinced. It breaks her heart. Especially since she just gave him her virginity. She quickly leaves the bed and he is threatening to divorce her if she refused to sleep with him.

This is their story, a journey to a HEA. I really liked this and as I have read book two as well but this one was head and shoulders above that. Book two I had many, many problems with and hated the hero. In this book I loved the hero and heroine. The children were super kids and so loving as was Belle's Grandmother.

I highly recommend this but I can't recommend the second book and I am passing on the third. It has some things in it that are triggers for me.

[Shivani Singh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somehow the story lacks sparkle. I feel like it’s inanimate. No life. No feeling of reality.

Heroine’s mother was housekeeper to a billionaire Italian. Sleazy billionaire. Italian. He had three marriages. Three sons. Legitimate. Hero is eldest son.

With his housekeeper sleazy billionaire fathered five children. Illegitimate.

Now they’re both dead. Heroine’s mother and hero’s father.

Heroine and hero both share these five siblings. They decide to marry. Hero wants to hush up matter. This is his ONLY solution. Can’t get how this is solution.

The sex was lukewarm as always. I’m sorry to say Lynne Graham never does it for me as far as the intimacy goes. It is unbelievable. She has a few stock paragraphs she uses in every single book.

The heroine always closes her eyes and tells the hero in a long suffering way - just do it.

Every book. Every book.

Just do it.

If he raises a concern about her virginity the heroine says forget about it. Just do it.

Why make her a virgin at all?

Nike should pay Lynne Graham

I found it beyond horrible that the hero saw another woman in lingerie (a model) and got terribly turned on. Horrible. Some explanation he gives the girl- I was thinking of you. Yuck. Hurtful. She accepts his version.

The siblings were too many in number. I’m 55% done. Only one child is there. Franco. Other four are relegated outside pages.

The book is somehow too domestic. Too mundane.

There’s a banking crisis. What is this banking crisis?? No idea. The hero and heroine sit at their laptops and solve it.

He immediately after accuses her of leaking the story of their illegitimate siblings to the press.

Why create such a stupid hero.

All I carry away from this book is one thing. The heroine’s beauty. She is tall leggy. Auburn ringlets and grass green eyes. She sits or walks showing her long legs.

I can’t remember anything else of note.

Nope. It’s two stars for me. But since it’s LG. Gave it three.

This is one of her miss ones. She’s given some amazing hits. Not this though.

Still haven’t finished it.

[JennyG · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read it yesterday and I cannot remember a thing about it except that the heroine was a redhead. No special scenes LG is famous for, no sexual tension and no conflict. VERY flat, BLAH read.

I'll have to reread some of her oldies like A Savage Betrayal, The Spanish Groom or The Veranchetti Marriage to remind myself why I used to love this author. I still remember almost every scene in those books. They ARE UNFORGETTABLE!

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, sweet marriage of convenience story but for me the hero was not alpha enough and there was not enough angst. Like my friend Vashti said the background of Nic and Betsy's story has me very intrigued and cannot wait to read their story!

[Emona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cristo Ravelli’s decision to put his deceased father’s five illegitimate children up for adoption is met by their angry, beautiful Irish firebrand of a half-sister blocking his way.
Now he’s left with only one option — to marry Belle Brophy.

Belle is prepared to fight for the rights of her orphaned half-siblings, but she doesn’t expect a proposal from their oldest brother, Cristo, or that she, just like her mother, may be left brokenhearted by a Ravelli.
The romance is heart wrenching, starring a hero who is callous because of his past and an innocent, spitfire heroine. The author’s fluid narrative showcases the breathtaking landscapes.
The co-star kiddos and the wedding night lovemaking is perfection.

However, if the characters had fought less and sat together to talk it out, the convenient marriage could have been avoided.
I would have preferred if there was a necessary or dire reason for this marriage of convenience.
The writing was predictably smooth and did not contain much drama.
It was lacking from the usual intensity the author’s older stories have.
Cristo is the average alpha male but he treated Belle right and respected her.
He had calm and cool mind which was in total contrast to the heroine.
Belle is a strong heroine who knows how to stand up for herself. She was part crazy and part sensible, imagine pretending to be the mother of five children when you are not even twenty five, but it did not stop Belle from doing the exact same thing.

Overall, it is a well written romance with an enjoyable story.
It’s not the author’s best but it’s not bad either.

[*CJ* · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Ravelli's Defiant Bride" is the story of Belle and Christo.

So I had already read this series back in 2014, but do not remember a word of what it was. Hence this is a reread.

When Belle's mother passes away, leaving her as the non-legal caretaker of her 5 illegitimate kids, Belle makes a desperate bid to get them their birthright.
Cristo Ravelli has been aware all his life of his father's promiscuous and callous attitude, but he is still shocked to learn that he left a bunch of kids in an Irish country estate without even a penny to their name! In a desperate attempt to avoid another scandal, he travels there- only to come across an overdressed curvy goddess, who claims to be his father's mistress.
Belle realizes that her beloved siblings might be forced to go to an orphanage, and hence pretends to be her mother Mary infront of Christo- but her plans go awry when in a fit of rage she reveals her identity!
Soon Christo comes up a plan to stop the secret from spreading- marry Belle so her step-siblings get their legacy, while he gets her delectable body.
But as they embark on this passion filled marriage, they realize sex is not enough to make it work. Can these two loves find happiness together?
So what I enjoyed about this book was
-Hot bang bang
-The issues were ADDRESSED and resolved instantly
-The OW plot was insantly solved
-Low angst sweet read
Starts my day with a good mood!
Safe
4/5

[Giovanni · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty good romance from Lynne Graham.

Cristo and Belle (love the names btw) had a marriage of convenience for their brothers & sisters' sake. Quite a mess, I'd say. Belle hated the Ravelli family to the core, especially her siblings' father. While Cristo, an unfeeling man, was focused on the scandal that it would bring. He already felt guilty after created such a mess between his brothers.

So they had their own focus, but it only resulted to one solution. Marriage, of course. I like they're both mature persons. I know they had some flaws, made some mistakes, but the way they handle it was good. Yes, they fight, they yelled to each other, but they honest to each other. That's a plus.

The story only need a heavier conflict to make this a better one. Still a pleasurable read!

[Mizuki · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.8 stars. The author has interesting ideas, but the ending part is just uneventful.

[Meetu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very strange beginning. How can a girl pretend she is her mother (with 5 illegitimate kids with a married man) and hope to get away with it even for a little while? Men lust after their brothers wives but they aren't considered hero's in my mind. To have unrelated people marrying because half siblings need family name.. No the storyline is not to my taste.
The romance between the hero and heroine had some moments that were supposed to be romantic but I felt they were too forced. The connections of relatives are too weird for my old fashioned head. I did not like this one at all

[Jacqueline J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best effort by LG. Dare I say that it seemed just a bit like phoning it in. The whole bit with the heroine pretending to be her mother was pretty lame. It wasn't effective in anyway and didn't add anything to the story. It was like she just said "hmm what can I throw in for cute meet?" The rest of it wasn't bad just was nothing to write home about. Still LG is my favorite HP author so needless to say I will be reading the other two books in the series and hoping for real gems which I know LG can come up with.

[Hasmidah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love it!!!

[Treece · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmmm, now where do I start? Boons & Mills superstar author, Lynne Graham has been one of my favs for a while now. Along with a few others I could add, including Carole Mortimer, a long-time steadfast writer who has surpassed most of her colleagues. This means Ms. Graham is still holding and is in good company. She has a brilliant way with character descriptions, and by adding a spin on Beauty and the Beast in Ravelli's Defiant Bride, she proves once again why I continue to enjoy her delectable books. Here's an overview of the characters: The children are delightful, particularly little Franco as well as Belle's grandmother, Isa. Cristo is downright, ahem, dazzling--ice on the outside, animal magnetism and hungry for Belle's pure flesh on the inside--yet flawed in a rather base, ugly way that twists him. Belle is smart, loyal, passionate and does not take any crap off Cristo. I adore a heroine who stands up to her lover, and is not blinded by her feelings, nor does she think she is perfect. Two wounded souls with strong hearts and an amazing code of honor. What could go wrong? What indeed?

Now down to business.

This author has a way with the physical, and the sex--boy, oh, boy--she knows her way around a sex scene without being offensive and lurid, or just downright silly and boring. That's for all you types who shy away from that sort of thing, or snort with laughter and disgust. Belle and Cristo are hot, beautifully flawed people you like right away for various reasons.

It was great watching them overcome their pride, anger and resentment to defeat a sordid, and awful childhood instigated by two selfish, foolish and narcissistic parents. Together they bring out the best in one another, and this is what true romance with a HEA is about.

My goal is to finish the trilogy which involves Christo's brothers and their stories. It has been quite enjoyable thus far, as well as intriguing. It could have ended with cliches, but it concluded with humor and a glimpse into the happiness this pair achieved despite their unfortunate beginning.

[Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

DID NOT THINK MUCH TO THIS


Cristo Ravelli's father Gaetano has died. Gaetano had been married a few times, he was the archetypal womaniser. Then Cristo discovers that Gaetano had fathered 5 illegitimate children with a woman in Ireland, but has left no provision for them in his will. Cristo decides to travel to Ireland and deal with the matter personally. He intends to have the children adopted. But their guardian Belle Brophy has other plans.

This is a very predictable story. I would not have minded that so much if the family connection between Belle and Cristo made it seem inappropriate IMO for them to marry, or maybe I'm just being too picky. Belle's mother had a long standing affair with Cristo's father so the 5 children were not only Cristo's half siblings they were also Belle's. It was all a bit weird for them to then get married IMO. Add in the fact that the reason for the marriage was the children, who were then ignored for the rest of the story. Plus I wasn't buying into Belle and Cristo's relationship it all seemed forced.

[Ixthus]

She slid out of the bed like an electrified eel and raced into the bathroom in search of a weapon of mass destruction but there was no club, no gun, no whip, nothing with which to thump him good.
Yeah, H is such an ass

[Rgreader · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a LG fan I had high hopes for Ravelli's Defiant Bride. I almost did not finish it due too the heroine annoying me in the beginning. I decided to endure and am glad I did because this turned into a good read.

What I liked- the story. It's a marriage of convenience which grows to love. The hero- edgy but not very badass. Still an alpha who fell in love with the heroine against his will. She was a shrew at first. The heroine- didn't like her in the beginning because she was an irritating shrew but eventually she became tamed.
I liked the heroine's grandma. She was the voice of reason.
I liked the heroine acknowledged her mom's affair with a womanizer and married man wasn't good and caused havoc for her and her siblings.

What I didn't like- the heroine was such an annoying shrew in the beginning I almost stopped reading.

Ravelli's Defiant Bride had that old school LG feel to it. Compelling, amusing moments that are memorable. Think I will keep this one.

[shms · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5*.I read this because of RT Review 4.5* rating and as you can see didn't agree with it. It started off a little skewy and I thought not another 'lying for the best' h. But thank goodness that wasn't the case. Actually read like an old school HP, if things like iPod and Skype hadn't been mentioned it could have been one of LG's older books.

This really did improve as it went on.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

going through the motions. reads more like a checklist or synopsis. I actually forgot to finish this one until I read book three and realized I had a chapter left to go on this one. so I went back and finished and really, there was no need.

[Kathleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much sex, not enough story. Repetitive descriptions of the red-haired heroine and the dark, handsome hero. I didn't feel the love, with all the sex and the excessive focus on superficial features.

[Kate McMurry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Belle! She's a terrific heroine.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gonna try to keep this brief.

I was kind of disappointed in this book to be honest. I was expecting so much more in the love story between, Cristo and Belle especially after reading the story after this Christakis's Rebellious Wife where Cristo and Belle just seemed so in love and were really connected and had that special bond that soul mates tend to do in this book so I was definitely curious to see how their love story played out and how it all began where they were this deeply connected couple. It must have been some type of love story to have that type of devotion to one another. A story of epic portions.

But it wasn't. It kind blah, in my opinion. I mean it was okay, but it was kind of boring to be honest. I felt more emotion coming off in book number two of this series (this is book number one in the series) than I did this one. I totally didn't understand how they fell in love or why or even when. It didn't make any sense especially from him where it seemed to come out of left field. I wasn't feeling any loving emotions coming off of him. Caring? Sure, but not love. No way. He was far from that emotion. To me he was more in their physical attraction more than anything else with that being his intent focus of getting her back underneath him. But that was it. No tender emotions seemed to come from those love scenes. He just thought the sex was hot and that was it. He loved her passion, but not her as person. I just didn't see it.

And the love scenes were kind of blah as well. There weren't exciting. There weren't hot. There weren't really emotional intense nor passionately intense. They were just a bunch bodies moving against each other in hopes of getting the other one off as soon as they ripped their clothes off, and it wasn't hot. It was just bunch of quick motions all thrown together, but nothing more. I expected a bit more or at least have more of an edge to them. Something. But they weren't. It was just missing something. I was missing their connection I guess both physically and emotionally. Again it just felt like they were just looking to getting laid and getting off and that was it especially from him.

I get the attraction was there from the beginning and I know I was told that, but I didn't feel that just like I didn't love scenes. There wasn't really tension there. It was just they had the hots for each other and that was it. There was no real fighting their attraction for each other because he became obvious that they were going to end up bed together, and that just made it less sexy in my mind. That tension and build up just wasn't there for me.

Another thing that wasn't there was the angst. There was none, and there could have been some and some delicious angst with some of things presented in the book, but instead of using those things to amp up angst it was passed over and dealt with in quick manner and hardly and obstacle at all. And since there was no angst, there wasn't that deep seated conflict either emotional or situational because everything tended to be dealt with in such way that it was. One problem was handled then the next with a bit sex thrown in the mix in between, but that didn't make it fun or exciting. It just made it predictable and blah.

Going tell in the spoiler tab what could have been done to up the angst that would have made it more intense and made it an more emotional love story. Major spoilers ahead. Read at your own risk

One way to up the intensity in the book was to not reveal the fact too soon that Belle was pretending to be her mother, not that I liked that angle and thought it was bit crazy, but understood why she did what she did, didn't mean I liked it that much. That way the conflict would be deeply rooted within the plot. For one he would have all these conflicting emotions that he wanted a woman that he thought was his father's mistress that had five of Cristo's father's children, which Cristo didn't like because he knew it would cause his family a deep scandal, which was to be avoided at all cost. It was the reason he came to meet with Belle in the first place, to make this scandal disappear. I think if Belle played the role of her mother a bit longer, I think it would have just increased the emotions on so many levels and there would have been a lot of tension and back forth between her and Cristo with him denying his attraction to her and making him go crazy in the process. While her case, she could have denied that she wanted because she knew she had to play to role of her mother and not give too much away. So there would be tension within her not only the sexual variety, but also tension that she couldn't reveal who she truly was to him because she was playing a role where she wasn't herself or allowed to be in order to protect siblings.

Can you not see the juicy tension from that just alone if this was how the book played out? Because there would have been so much wealth there. Then when he did find out who she was then he could felt this sense betrayal as well as mistrust between them when he learned this. That he could come to dislike her and vow to make her pay for making a fool or him or something like that. Then she vowed to do anything to make sure he didn't punish her siblings, etc. Then he could have done with what he pleased with that and come to terms with his feelings of how he felt about this woman who lied to him. That would have just upped the angst level so high.

But he discovered the truth pretty earlier on with her slip up, but there was really no emotion behind his discovery. It was kind just ho hum, so what, oh by the way you have to leave your house because I own it not. There was no tension there. Just it was what it was. That was it.

Another thing that could have upped the angst in this book was the whole issue of Betsy. Now Betsy's story, I already and I knew what happened between her and Nik and their relationship so there was no mystery since I read these books out of order. But I knew also that Nik and Betsy got back together and lived happily ever after, after a pretty rocky road, and even though it was alluded to in their story that there was this friendship between Betsy and Cristo, with Cristo believing to have feelings of her beyond friendship, I wanted to know more and hoped this book would show me the extent of their relationship, but sadly it didn't.

In fact Betsy no where in this book and was only talked and talked about by Cristo had the nature of their relationship to Belle, but that was it? It would have been so much more juicer if she was in the picture and would created some necessary tension between Belle and Cristo that was needed, and though there was a tiny bit of tension not enough tension to give the story the edge that it needed. And it needed. If Betsy came into play, I could have seen how Cristo acted with her as would have Belle, which would have triggered her jealousy as well as question herself and her relationship to Cristo. She could have wondered if their physical relationship was only happening because Cristo couldn't act on his feelings with Betsy. And though it was addressed near the end and jealous on Belle's part, it just happened all too quick and resolved even quicker I thought. This part could have been dragged out more and played out more before my eyes instead of all this telling go on. By showing Cristo and Besty's relationship that could have played out before Belle's eyes, I could see how she felt and how it was hurting her and just all the emotions she would have gone through at discovering the possibility that her husband was in love with somebody else and would have loved her like he loved Betsy. She could feeling that she was second choice, a backup, or a substitute and just explore that for her on an emotional stand point. That would have made the story more interesting.

Also I would have liked to have seen the interaction with Betsy and Belle, and feel tension there as well. I imagine Belle feeling hostile to Betsy with Betsy kind of question why and not understanding after being nice Belle. That could have added to the drama well. I would have liked to see that played out more instead of just dealt with the issue in the last remaining pages which did nothing really. And just brushed aside like nothing.

These would have been a couple of the ways that could have made the story more interesting and emotional intensity instead of just feeling like blah fest. It would have given it the sparked it needed and me engrossed in the story, but instead it just seemed to hop from problem to the next without any read consequences .

It just needed more of spark. Some excitement instead of words on page making me fall asleep. I wanted to believe in the love story of Cristo and Belle, but I just couldn't. I wasn't behind them as a couple because they didn't fit aside from physically. Nothing pointed to emotional closeness really, or that they were on the journey of falling in love. I felt none of that. Their revelations that they were in love were too unbelievable for me, I needed more evidence to back it up without out there lacks the believability of it, therefore I am not going to be invested in their story. And why should I when I don't believe it. Plus there was just a lack of passion for me and connection between the two them. They just didn't mesh for me. Like I said the meshed more in book two than there own story, which shouldn't be the case. That's a big red flag in romance.

To me, I didn't feel like these two belonged together because nothing really back it up aside from they were very physically attracted to each other, and that was it. But that's not enough in romance. There needed to be more.

Plus the tension wasn't there as well that would have added to the emotional roller coaster ride that I enjoy in romance novels. It's why I read them in the first place, but instead there was nothing in this book. Fleeting conflict at best, but nothing to upped the intensity like I said that so that it could have been a great story and a great emotional ride that I took along with Cristo and Belle. I wanted to feel what they felt, but I just didn't.

Plus other issues that should have been addressed weren't. Mainly Cristo's reaction to his five siblings. He seemed to accept them when Nik came by, but did he really. Did he in his heart consider them his siblings? His family? Or wasn't there yet? I couldn't tell. I thought that should be something there. I guess it was meant to be shown by him tolerating Franco, but that didn't mean he cared about them. So not happy about that point.

I was thoroughly disappointed in this book, and I expected so much more than I thought I would be getting. I thought the Betsy issue would come more into play especially when it was mention in her book, but just wasn't. I expected more emotionally especially from the way Cristo and Belle acted in book two, and I expected a more rocky road for them than I got here. Their romance was too easy, and what's the point of that in book. I want see the hardship and the tension that what brings the entertainment value to the book. I hate when it's too easy or too unbelievable and that was what happened in this book, and I didn't like that.

I know what I want from my romance novels, and this just wasn't it. I needed more from emotional stand point. Feel more of the connection between the couple so when they do have passionate scenes they feel real and hotter that way because without that connection its just bodies moving against each other. That's it. There has to be something more behind it than the lust. Or just being able to feel the passion between the couple might helped as well, but it didn't happen here because there was no tension between them I thought. There needed to be some of that. I needed more believability as well. Without that there's nothing and it lessens my enjoyment factor.

Again I have said this before, I will still continue to read Lynne Graham books, but it seems lately I either really love her books or I don't with nothing in between. Some her books are utterly fantastic and I do not dissuade her as writer because she is good and she has so very high marks in my book and I will praise a lot of books. Just not this one. It just missed the mark and the spark for me. I needed more than I got, sorry to say.

Hopefully book 3 in this series will, with this one disappointing me. Let see if the youngest brother can bring me joy and entertainment. I hope so. I want those great Lynne Graham books again that I could praise and count as a favorite of mine.

[Courtney · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Insanely insecure heroine, not very likable hero, the plot was alright but the whole thing fell flat and felt pretty cliche. Belle drove me crazy with how insecure she was and her, honestly, ridiculous expectations considering she entered into a marriage of convenience, not a love match. Christo is better than Belle and seems to grow a little throughout the book, but yeah. There wasn't really any one defining moment that brings them together, at least not one that stood out and I think that's what really brought the book down.

But the part that bothered me the most, and this is just personal preference, is that the character POV would change one paragraph to another without any real indication that it was happening, and sometimes it would only change for one paragraph and then go back again. It made the flow of it suffer.

[Pauline Destinugrainy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cristo sedang berupaya menutupi skandal ayahnya yang memiliki 5 orang anak dari wanita simpanannya. Sebaliknya Belle, kakak dari 5 anak itu, berupaya untuk mendapatkan keadilan bagi adik-adiknya. Cristo lalu mempunyai ide menikahi Belle, agar bisa tetap menanggung 5 orang adiknya.

Proses Cristo dan Belle saling mengenal dan memahami, dan mencoba meninggalkan masa lalu kelam mereka cukup rumit. Setidaknya Cristo lebih dewasa, dan Belle tidak emosional. Karena novel ini berseri, masih ada 2 adik Cristo lainnya yang akan mendapatkan kisahnya sendiri.

[More Books Than Time · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good, quite enjoyable, but one of a long line of gee-we-must-get-married books where rich guy doesn't particularly want to marry anyone but gorgeous girl somehow must be his wife. Not a lot of tension in this one.