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Tuscan Encounter
"Possession is nine-tenths of the law."
In Claudia's case, the old saying couldn't have been more true. The Tuscan farmhouse she'd just bought would perfect home for her soon-to-be husband.
The landlord, it seemed, felt differently. Cesare di Stefano, a man of power in the area, disputed Claudia's ownership. The battle seemed set to be both lengthy and bitter--until, amongst the verbal sparring, sparks of attraction started to fly.
Yet nothing could come of it, Claudia assured herself. Surely it was Vito she loved. Surely....
In Claudia's case, the old saying couldn't have been more true. The Tuscan farmhouse she'd just bought would perfect home for her soon-to-be husband.
The landlord, it seemed, felt differently. Cesare di Stefano, a man of power in the area, disputed Claudia's ownership. The battle seemed set to be both lengthy and bitter--until, amongst the verbal sparring, sparks of attraction started to fly.
Yet nothing could come of it, Claudia assured herself. Surely it was Vito she loved. Surely....
- GenresHarlequin Presents
189 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 12, 1988
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 11, 2017
RE Tuscan Encounter - MK is back with an h who has single-handedly built up an English wine importing business and gotten herself engaged to an Italian accountant in Tuscany. So little note here, the H is not the h's fiance, they don't actually consummate the relationship, but technically she is engaged to another guy for most of the story.
Anyhows, the h impulsively buys a Tuscan farm with vineyards and then gets into a battle with the local Duc, who actually owns the land. The h bought it from his tenants, using a new Italian law that gave generational tenant farm workers the right to sell the land their families had cultivated. The h's very patronizing fiance tells her that she is a bad business woman and that she will not be able to keep the house that she wants. There is a lot of bickering between the two and we start to wonder just why this very independent h is with the condescending and patronizing fiance.
The h decides to go talk to the Duc herself and he wastes no time trying to charm her and delay any discussion about the land the h supposedly bought. Eventually they wind up getting into an argument and the h is very verbal on the uselessness of the aristocratic idle rich. She vows to take the H on in The International Court of the Hague, since every Italian man she runs into seems to think she is useless and can't run a business. MK makes this clear that is NOT true, the h has amassed a pretty big fortune based on her own skills, but unfortunately she just isn't going to win against a powerful Italian aristocrat.
The h is still fuming over the situation when one the Duc H's trucks runs her off the road, the h considers this is an act of retaliation, (in fact she thinks it is an assassination attempt,) but the h gets into a bad accident with a stone pillar and winds up recuperating at the Duc's Italian Villa. While she is there, roofie kisses and seduction attempts abound and the h comes to realize that maybe her engagement was the result of the h looking for a man to lean on father figure instead of true love, cause now she is in love with the H.
The H surprises the h by revealing he is a big time engineering designer who makes everything from dresses to cars and his designs are frequently used in all sorts of products. We also find out that the H's truck was just trying to take the right of way, (supposedly,) and the h just got in the way so it really was an accident.
The h decides that she has to talk to her fiance and test out her feelings for sure. She thinks she is in love with the H, but she also feels that she needs to consider the situation more carefully cause she felt enough for the other guy to agree to marry him. The H is vehemently against this and he warns her that her fiance is a fortune hunter.
The h returns to the fiance, and he tries to rape her after finding out she isn't a virgin, (she had one prior relationship and never slept with the H either,) but she fights him off and flees his house when his mother interrupts them. The h winds up spending the night in the H's family church, furious that when she called the H to rescue her, his staff claimed he was gone. Since the H had sworn that if the h went to talk to the fiance after the H had thrown her engagement ring into his lake he would cut her out of his life, the h figures the H is keeping his word.
She goes back to England and focuses on her business and having mopey moments. She meets one of the H's friends who wants her to be on a program about wines, and the friend tells her that the H has a houseful of ladies and is coming to England. The h is mad about the ladies, tho the H's friends says they were mostly relatives, but she does leave a message for the H to call her when he gets to the English hotel he is staying at.
The H shows up a few hours later and the big reconciliation happens after the H explains that he really was gone the night the h left him. He got her message but the ex-fiance's sister lied and said the h was still with the fiance and they were planning the wedding. All the ladies he had in his house really were his relatives, he has been having mopey moments of his own while they were parted. The h explains what actually happened with the fiance and the H shows the h the fabulous evening gown he designed for her. The h decides to let a manager run her business and she will move to Italy, marry the H and write a book about wines. The H and h then retire for the big lurve mojo moment for the HEA.
This one is okay, there is some interesting bits about growing grapes for wines. The conflicts over the land and the truck accident are pretty quickly swept under the rug and it turns out not to matter since the H is marrying the h and she gets to share it all anyways. The romance was sweet, if rather rushed, and so this one is an average outing in HPlandia with a believable HEA.
Anyhows, the h impulsively buys a Tuscan farm with vineyards and then gets into a battle with the local Duc, who actually owns the land. The h bought it from his tenants, using a new Italian law that gave generational tenant farm workers the right to sell the land their families had cultivated. The h's very patronizing fiance tells her that she is a bad business woman and that she will not be able to keep the house that she wants. There is a lot of bickering between the two and we start to wonder just why this very independent h is with the condescending and patronizing fiance.
The h decides to go talk to the Duc herself and he wastes no time trying to charm her and delay any discussion about the land the h supposedly bought. Eventually they wind up getting into an argument and the h is very verbal on the uselessness of the aristocratic idle rich. She vows to take the H on in The International Court of the Hague, since every Italian man she runs into seems to think she is useless and can't run a business. MK makes this clear that is NOT true, the h has amassed a pretty big fortune based on her own skills, but unfortunately she just isn't going to win against a powerful Italian aristocrat.
The h is still fuming over the situation when one the Duc H's trucks runs her off the road, the h considers this is an act of retaliation, (in fact she thinks it is an assassination attempt,) but the h gets into a bad accident with a stone pillar and winds up recuperating at the Duc's Italian Villa. While she is there, roofie kisses and seduction attempts abound and the h comes to realize that maybe her engagement was the result of the h looking for a man to lean on father figure instead of true love, cause now she is in love with the H.
The H surprises the h by revealing he is a big time engineering designer who makes everything from dresses to cars and his designs are frequently used in all sorts of products. We also find out that the H's truck was just trying to take the right of way, (supposedly,) and the h just got in the way so it really was an accident.
The h decides that she has to talk to her fiance and test out her feelings for sure. She thinks she is in love with the H, but she also feels that she needs to consider the situation more carefully cause she felt enough for the other guy to agree to marry him. The H is vehemently against this and he warns her that her fiance is a fortune hunter.
The h returns to the fiance, and he tries to rape her after finding out she isn't a virgin, (she had one prior relationship and never slept with the H either,) but she fights him off and flees his house when his mother interrupts them. The h winds up spending the night in the H's family church, furious that when she called the H to rescue her, his staff claimed he was gone. Since the H had sworn that if the h went to talk to the fiance after the H had thrown her engagement ring into his lake he would cut her out of his life, the h figures the H is keeping his word.
She goes back to England and focuses on her business and having mopey moments. She meets one of the H's friends who wants her to be on a program about wines, and the friend tells her that the H has a houseful of ladies and is coming to England. The h is mad about the ladies, tho the H's friends says they were mostly relatives, but she does leave a message for the H to call her when he gets to the English hotel he is staying at.
The H shows up a few hours later and the big reconciliation happens after the H explains that he really was gone the night the h left him. He got her message but the ex-fiance's sister lied and said the h was still with the fiance and they were planning the wedding. All the ladies he had in his house really were his relatives, he has been having mopey moments of his own while they were parted. The h explains what actually happened with the fiance and the H shows the h the fabulous evening gown he designed for her. The h decides to let a manager run her business and she will move to Italy, marry the H and write a book about wines. The H and h then retire for the big lurve mojo moment for the HEA.
This one is okay, there is some interesting bits about growing grapes for wines. The conflicts over the land and the truck accident are pretty quickly swept under the rug and it turns out not to matter since the H is marrying the h and she gets to share it all anyways. The romance was sweet, if rather rushed, and so this one is an average outing in HPlandia with a believable HEA.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 9, 2013
Book sypnosis:
"Possession is nine-tenths of the law."
In Claudia's case, the old saying couldn't have been more true. The Tuscan farmhouse she'd just bought would perfect home for her soon-to-be husband.
The landlord, it seemed, felt differently. Cesare di Stefano, a man of power in the area, disputed Claudia's ownership. The battle seemed set to be both lengthy and bitter--until, amongst the verbal sparring, sparks of attraction started to fly.
Yet nothing could come of it, Claudia assured herself. Surely it was Vito she loved. Surely....
--
Recommended to all those who like a hot in pursuit hero. And here really Cesare has no time to loose, as the heroine, Claudia, has a fiance, whom she expects to marry very soon. This means that here we do not have to worry about OW manipulating as much as she can.
Here we have a heroine victim of a fraud, when buying a house and land to set up her home, and this is the reason she begins to meet the Hero, who is the rightful owner of the property sold to h.
Until recently, I wasn’t aware of the fact that under the author’s name, Madeleine Ker, we have a male writer (not a female one). So I was reading with much attention to see if there was anything that reflected a different POV. But obviously the Mills & Boon/Harlequin “machine” was there to smooth out any significant differences.
"Possession is nine-tenths of the law."
In Claudia's case, the old saying couldn't have been more true. The Tuscan farmhouse she'd just bought would perfect home for her soon-to-be husband.
The landlord, it seemed, felt differently. Cesare di Stefano, a man of power in the area, disputed Claudia's ownership. The battle seemed set to be both lengthy and bitter--until, amongst the verbal sparring, sparks of attraction started to fly.
Yet nothing could come of it, Claudia assured herself. Surely it was Vito she loved. Surely....
--
Recommended to all those who like a hot in pursuit hero. And here really Cesare has no time to loose, as the heroine, Claudia, has a fiance, whom she expects to marry very soon. This means that here we do not have to worry about OW manipulating as much as she can.
Here we have a heroine victim of a fraud, when buying a house and land to set up her home, and this is the reason she begins to meet the Hero, who is the rightful owner of the property sold to h.
Until recently, I wasn’t aware of the fact that under the author’s name, Madeleine Ker, we have a male writer (not a female one). So I was reading with much attention to see if there was anything that reflected a different POV. But obviously the Mills & Boon/Harlequin “machine” was there to smooth out any significant differences.
April 21, 2021
2/3 of the book was 3 stars, but the last 1/3 of the book was 1 star.
She is engaged to be married to another man. Due to circumstances, she stays in the house of the H. While she is in his house, she is making out with the H. She thus cheats on her fiancé with the H, but okay.
But then the last 1/3 of the book. She suddenly decides she needs to see her fiancé again to see if she is really into the H. The H tells her that if she goes back to her fiancé, he will never forgive her. She leaves anyway.
She lies to her fiancé that she and the H never kissed. She then almost gets raped by her fiancé, so she decides to go back to the H. But the H isn’t there anymore.
So she whines that if he had really loved her, he would have waited for her to come back and bla bla. She really is a h you’d love to slap.
A couple of months later she sees the H and there is a big HEA.
Whatever.
The H deserves better than this.
She is engaged to be married to another man. Due to circumstances, she stays in the house of the H. While she is in his house, she is making out with the H. She thus cheats on her fiancé with the H, but okay.
But then the last 1/3 of the book. She suddenly decides she needs to see her fiancé again to see if she is really into the H. The H tells her that if she goes back to her fiancé, he will never forgive her. She leaves anyway.
She lies to her fiancé that she and the H never kissed. She then almost gets raped by her fiancé, so she decides to go back to the H. But the H isn’t there anymore.
So she whines that if he had really loved her, he would have waited for her to come back and bla bla. She really is a h you’d love to slap.
A couple of months later she sees the H and there is a big HEA.
Whatever.
The H deserves better than this.
May 29, 2026
Loved it , descriptions of Italia devine
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