This was a nice, light, no-angst read that started off great but fell flat toward the end.
Vittorio, a prince of a small principality is making his way through the carnival crowded roads of Venice to a grand ball hosted by his close friend, Marcello. He is angry having been told by his father that the woman waiting to marry him, Countess Sirena --having got blessings of both their fathers who're best friends, a woman he dislikes-- would be attending the ball. Among the jostling crowd, he sees this beautiful blonde who seems to have lost her way. Rosa and her friend, Chiara, -both working as maids at a hotel in Venice- had bought a ticket to the cheapest ball on Carnival night. Chiara was holding Rosa's phone and ticket and all of a sudden they lost each other in the crowd and Rosa couldn't make out where she was when this handsome princely looking man approaches her and offers to help her and eventually she ends up being his partner to the grandest ball in Venice. Vittorio is charmed by the beautiful Rosa and decides use her company to keep Sirena away.
Loved the part where Marcello referred to Sirena as an evil serpent although having not met Sirena as yet Rosa didn't understand it.
‘So, tell me,’ she said, ‘what is this Princess hiding from?’
‘That’s easy,’ he said. ‘An evil serpent. But don’t worry. Vittorio will protect you. There’s not a serpent in the land that’s a match for Vittorio.’
Something passed between the two men’s eyes. A look. An understanding.
‘What am I missing?’ she asked, her eyes darting from one to the other.
‘The fun,’ Marcello said, pulling his mask back on.
Enjoyed the entire ball sequence especially the part where Rosa, to Vittorio's delight, sends Sirena scuttling from the room having recognized she is a bully and having grown up with three older brothers who taught her how to stand up against bullies. What I did find odd was that everyone at the ball came to know that Vittorio had rescued a lost Rosa and brought her to the ball. Why would a prince, especially if he's trying to avoid someone as calculating as Sirena, let his personal business become public? He doesn't tell Rosa he's a prince and she never finds out until after her pregnancy.
From the ball they end up spending the night at his palazzo and toward the early morning Rosa slips out without informing him. Later Vittorio finds a earring of hers and think he should return it but doesn't. Instead, he carries it with him wherever he goes. The following day when Rosa goes back to the palazzo for her earring the housekeeper rudely tells her Vittorio has gone back home and she didn't find any earring whilst cleaning.
Vittorio's father is upset he didn't set a wedding date with Sirena. The two of them had never got along well and after his mother's death, they just drifted apart. His father then tells him he is dying and gives him three months to marry again. Yes, Vittorio, was married before to woman of his father's choice, but whom he fell in love with it. However, his wife was having an extra-marital affair with her pilot when they both died in a crash. He refuses to select a bride of his father's choice again and so ropes in Marcello to help him select a bride. Found it amusing - Marcello's frustration at Vittorio's inability to select a bride even after meeting them and that he didn't feel incline to sleep with them although he found them nice. And, suddenly Vittorio who was holding the earring in his hand remembers he hadn't returned it to Rosa and takes that excuse to see her and rushes out from the room leaving Marcello wondering what's going on.
When he does find Rosa, he gets to know she's pregnant and he's happy all his problems for marriage are solved. Rosa is shocked to know he's a prince and that her unborn baby would be a prince. She tells Vittorio he'd have to go with her to her village to meet her family and take permission from her father to marry her. He agrees and gets a dose of what family love is. The weekend the two spend with her family was fun especially Vittorio's nervousness meeting his to-be-father-in-law when he was never afraid to meet his own grumpy father and him counting the shots the older man drank and made him. drink. Add to it his frustration that Rosa wouldn't sleep with him at her father's house and in fact not until the wedding.
The wedding was nice and consummation of their marriage that got marred when Rosa tells Vittorio she loved him and he gets angry and tells her never to say that to him again because he's incapable of loving. But, Rosa by now knows him well and doesn't believe he's incapable of loving and is sure he'll come around soon.
It's cut to few weeks later where Vittorio is with his father who's happy with his daughter-in-law and wants to see his grandchild and so has decided to go in for surgery. All along Vittorio is thinking about his marriage with Rosa. Although, they've settled well and doing their royal duties together, there's a little strain on their marital bed with Rosa not saying a word during their love-making. Then, he gets to know Rosa was in a freak accident and as he rushes to the hospital in fear he regrets not telling her how much he loves her and relieved to see she's fine and not badly hurt except for her ankle, he confesses his love for her.
The epilogue was sweet. I agree with my good friend Carmen (Ivy-H) that the OW's sudden picnic with Vittorio's father toward the end when there was nothing her in the epilogue made no sense at all.
Overall, a nice, decent read.