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The Cost of Cinderella's Confession
Ruining a wedding has never been so scandalous… Indulge in angst and drama with this enemies-to-lovers romance by USA TODAY bestselling author Julia James!
Her scandalous claim
And the Italian’s revenge!
It takes all Ariana Killane’s courage to stand up at her cousin’s wedding and confess—one night with the groom, Luca Farnese, left her pregnant! She knows the lie will incur the billionaire’s wrath. Still, it’s the only way to help her cousin escape the unwanted marriage…
Luca is utterly outraged! Ariana will face the consequences for ruining his perfect plans. But going toe-to-toe with her is a wild, uncontrollable ride. Because as much as Luca’s head seeks revenge, his body calls for the one place he and Ariana appear to agree…in his bed.
From Harlequin Escape to exotic locations where passion knows no bounds.
Her scandalous claim
And the Italian’s revenge!
It takes all Ariana Killane’s courage to stand up at her cousin’s wedding and confess—one night with the groom, Luca Farnese, left her pregnant! She knows the lie will incur the billionaire’s wrath. Still, it’s the only way to help her cousin escape the unwanted marriage…
Luca is utterly outraged! Ariana will face the consequences for ruining his perfect plans. But going toe-to-toe with her is a wild, uncontrollable ride. Because as much as Luca’s head seeks revenge, his body calls for the one place he and Ariana appear to agree…in his bed.
From Harlequin Escape to exotic locations where passion knows no bounds.
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2022
28 people are currently reading
21 people want to read
About the author
Julia James
724 books164 followersJulia lives in England with her family. Mills and Boon novels were Julia's first "grown up" books she read as a teenager ("Alongside Georgette Heyer and Daphne du Maurier."), and she's been reading them ever since.
Julia adores the English countryside ("And the Celtic countryside!"), in all its seasons, and is fascinated by all things historical, from castles to cottages. She also has a special love for the Mediterranean ("The most perfect landscape after England!") — she considers both are ideal settings for romance stories! In between writing she enjoys walking, gardening, needlework and baking "extremely gooey chocolate cakes" — and trying to stay fit!
Julia adores the English countryside ("And the Celtic countryside!"), in all its seasons, and is fascinated by all things historical, from castles to cottages. She also has a special love for the Mediterranean ("The most perfect landscape after England!") — she considers both are ideal settings for romance stories! In between writing she enjoys walking, gardening, needlework and baking "extremely gooey chocolate cakes" — and trying to stay fit!
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 2, 2024
This was one book in a four- part collection for December 2022 and I wish it had not been included. This is exactly the kind of M&B I thought had died a death in the last century.
Melodramatic, unpleasant and unappealing plot and characters - filled with dishonesty, cruelty and behaviour that no one with an iota of sense could forgive. The heroine, Ariana, stops her cousin’s wedding by announcing she is pregnant by the hero Luca. What he doesn’t know is that the bride Mia doesn’t want to marry him but is too gutless to tell him or her bully of a grandfather. So Ariana sacrifices herself to allow her cousin Mia to escape. OMG - really in 2022? Such an old fashioned, anti-feminist story.
Luca, who actually had a ONS with Ariana and walked out on her to return to marry Mia, treats Ariana for the vast majority of the book with cruelty and contempt.
It takes a car crash, cousin Mia turning up to confess the truth, and a pregnancy loss for Luca to realise the truth - that he loves Ariana. By this time I had lost the will to live. We’re supposed to believe that after all that - they can actually be in love and live happily ever after? no, I couldn’t believe it and I could not believe in the characters. It’s well written but it didn’t engage me - that’s why I’m giving it just 2 stars.
I like to watch the romance develop, to see real human emotion creep into the characters. This story did nothing for me. I am really sorry but this kind of old fashioned story is not my cup of tea.
Melodramatic, unpleasant and unappealing plot and characters - filled with dishonesty, cruelty and behaviour that no one with an iota of sense could forgive. The heroine, Ariana, stops her cousin’s wedding by announcing she is pregnant by the hero Luca. What he doesn’t know is that the bride Mia doesn’t want to marry him but is too gutless to tell him or her bully of a grandfather. So Ariana sacrifices herself to allow her cousin Mia to escape. OMG - really in 2022? Such an old fashioned, anti-feminist story.
Luca, who actually had a ONS with Ariana and walked out on her to return to marry Mia, treats Ariana for the vast majority of the book with cruelty and contempt.
It takes a car crash, cousin Mia turning up to confess the truth, and a pregnancy loss for Luca to realise the truth - that he loves Ariana. By this time I had lost the will to live. We’re supposed to believe that after all that - they can actually be in love and live happily ever after? no, I couldn’t believe it and I could not believe in the characters. It’s well written but it didn’t engage me - that’s why I’m giving it just 2 stars.
I like to watch the romance develop, to see real human emotion creep into the characters. This story did nothing for me. I am really sorry but this kind of old fashioned story is not my cup of tea.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 14, 2023
Just no. The hero is nasty and without reason. He’s also a cheater. He’s prejudiced, double standard a**hole, I hated him most of the book and beyond.
He and the heroine have a ons, he leaves her without an explanation while she thought it could have been the beginning of something.
He is engaged to her cousin, his ideal woman. Go hang yourself hero, thank you very much.
And this thing that her cousin is his ideal woman is repeated through all the book. The heroine basically breaks the marriage in the classic way while he’s marrying her cousin, i so wish she wouldn’t have since lil saint cousin was in love with another man but she was too shy to tell the hero. I soooo wish she would have married him so he would have been so cuckolded and I would have been satisfied.
But no, heroine is a martyr and she tells everyone she’s the hero’s mistress, to help useless cousin.
The hero slutshames her and insults her and tells her he doesn’t want her through all the book because he wanted the pure angelic virginal cousin.
Go and get f***ed, hero.
I didn’t like this book, I would have smashed his teeth after the second time he either insulted me or told me how perfect my cousin was. But this heroine almost causes a car accident instead of smashing only his face, the idiocy of it. We’re in 2023, this kind of bs isn’t believable especially if the writer is older than 16 and has so many books already written.
What the heroine found in this man I wouldn’t know. What the hero had against the heroine I wouldn’t know either.
He wanted a boring, passionless, cold marriage with a woman he not only did not love but also had already cheated on before marriage. Just because his parents were two emotional messes. Too many scenes, too many drama.
Hero, life is long if you’re lucky, how would be 40 years with someone you already found- apparently- too boring to keep your interest before marriage?
And I tell you, passionate doesn’t mean drama, not at all. That is called emotional dysregulation.
He and the heroine have a ons, he leaves her without an explanation while she thought it could have been the beginning of something.
He is engaged to her cousin, his ideal woman. Go hang yourself hero, thank you very much.
And this thing that her cousin is his ideal woman is repeated through all the book. The heroine basically breaks the marriage in the classic way while he’s marrying her cousin, i so wish she wouldn’t have since lil saint cousin was in love with another man but she was too shy to tell the hero. I soooo wish she would have married him so he would have been so cuckolded and I would have been satisfied.
But no, heroine is a martyr and she tells everyone she’s the hero’s mistress, to help useless cousin.
The hero slutshames her and insults her and tells her he doesn’t want her through all the book because he wanted the pure angelic virginal cousin.
Go and get f***ed, hero.
I didn’t like this book, I would have smashed his teeth after the second time he either insulted me or told me how perfect my cousin was. But this heroine almost causes a car accident instead of smashing only his face, the idiocy of it. We’re in 2023, this kind of bs isn’t believable especially if the writer is older than 16 and has so many books already written.
What the heroine found in this man I wouldn’t know. What the hero had against the heroine I wouldn’t know either.
He wanted a boring, passionless, cold marriage with a woman he not only did not love but also had already cheated on before marriage. Just because his parents were two emotional messes. Too many scenes, too many drama.
Hero, life is long if you’re lucky, how would be 40 years with someone you already found- apparently- too boring to keep your interest before marriage?
And I tell you, passionate doesn’t mean drama, not at all. That is called emotional dysregulation.
October 30, 2023
Julia James keeping old school Presents shenanigans alive and well.
I think this is a very polarizing Presents. As you can see from my rating, I enjoyed this quite a bit but I can see why this story won't work for others. The hero is super cold. The heroine doesn't let him get away with his attitude and I have to say that for most of the book these people are kind of toxic and usually Presents creates sickly sweet heroines. This time, Ariana is just as much a force to be reckoned with as Luca. I enjoyed the romance even though I think there could have been more groveling from the Hero. This read a lot like an old-school Harlequin and personally, I hope Ms. James writes more like this.
I think this is a very polarizing Presents. As you can see from my rating, I enjoyed this quite a bit but I can see why this story won't work for others. The hero is super cold. The heroine doesn't let him get away with his attitude and I have to say that for most of the book these people are kind of toxic and usually Presents creates sickly sweet heroines. This time, Ariana is just as much a force to be reckoned with as Luca. I enjoyed the romance even though I think there could have been more groveling from the Hero. This read a lot like an old-school Harlequin and personally, I hope Ms. James writes more like this.
December 21, 2022
Wow, that story had some unexpected twists. I really like Ariana independence. Luca was an SOB, due to all he had experienced with his parents as a kid.
April 10, 2023
Bring on the cray-cray! No one would take either of these people, so thank goodness they found each other!
January 27, 2023
It was terrible, the "hero" came within seconds of marrying heroine's cousin after sleeping with heroine 3 months before. He didn't know he was marrying her cousin because he refused to talk to her after sleeping with her.
I did not like the "hero" at all.
Because he desired heroine he treated her like crap at every opportunity. She saw he didn't want her so she tried leaving but then he asked her to have dinner with him, slept with her and then told her he was marrying someone else after she caught up with him at the elevator after he snuck out in the morning.
He kept telling her how much he didn't want her every time he saw her, told her how horrible she was and how jealous of her cousin she was (she stopped wedding because her cousin didn't want to marry him and was in love with someone else).
I liked heroine, her backstory was sad with all that her family had put her through never wanting her then to have "hero" not want her either.
I don't feel like he redeemed himself at the end showing he really wanted her after majority of the book pining after his dream woman (her cousin) and after making heroine aware of how much he didn't want her.
I was not a fan of heroine continuously grabbing his arm as he was driving causing them to wreck. It made me think he had a point to not wanting to be with someone that had such strong emotions and brought them out in him as well. She could have killed them both or innocent people in another car.
Not at all a fan of the miscarriage that happened (if it hadn't been the silent miscarriage, she probably would have lost it in the accident).
I did not feel they were actually in love by the end of the book (by the last chapter, in the epilogue they seemed very happy). There was never any soft moments of laughter or smiles between them until the very last chapter. They only had desire for each other (that neither wanted) and his bitterness towards heroine (caused by his parents dysfunctional marriage). The only time they semi got along was talking about her interior design business and the financials of it. P.
I did not like the "hero" at all.
Because he desired heroine he treated her like crap at every opportunity. She saw he didn't want her so she tried leaving but then he asked her to have dinner with him, slept with her and then told her he was marrying someone else after she caught up with him at the elevator after he snuck out in the morning.
He kept telling her how much he didn't want her every time he saw her, told her how horrible she was and how jealous of her cousin she was (she stopped wedding because her cousin didn't want to marry him and was in love with someone else).
I liked heroine, her backstory was sad with all that her family had put her through never wanting her then to have "hero" not want her either.
I don't feel like he redeemed himself at the end showing he really wanted her after majority of the book pining after his dream woman (her cousin) and after making heroine aware of how much he didn't want her.
I was not a fan of heroine continuously grabbing his arm as he was driving causing them to wreck. It made me think he had a point to not wanting to be with someone that had such strong emotions and brought them out in him as well. She could have killed them both or innocent people in another car.
Not at all a fan of the miscarriage that happened (if it hadn't been the silent miscarriage, she probably would have lost it in the accident).
I did not feel they were actually in love by the end of the book (by the last chapter, in the epilogue they seemed very happy). There was never any soft moments of laughter or smiles between them until the very last chapter. They only had desire for each other (that neither wanted) and his bitterness towards heroine (caused by his parents dysfunctional marriage). The only time they semi got along was talking about her interior design business and the financials of it. P.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 13, 2024
Many pan book because H is horrible, has a ONS with h just before he goes home to propose to the beautiful doormat he wants. She challenges H, makes a nasty scene, because she thought they had connected and the ONS would turn into more.
The H is cruel, vicious to h but in fairness she treats him badly too and she refuses to explain. The H built a beautiful imaginary romance with the doormat but never knew her nor showed any intention to do so. The h berates him for not knowing, for example, doormat fears water, even as he buys a lakeside villa and plans island honeymoon.
Doormat causes trouble by never saying anything, leaving h to get her out of marrying H.
The h causes great trouble. She is emotionally out of control around the H, even causes a car crash by yanking on his arm, she yells, or she lies on her bed, miserable and nearly catatonic.
I did not like the h much although she had admirable qualities. Shrieking at some strange guy after he rejects you is not classy.
HEA seems unlikely but the whole thing, plot and story, are equally unlikely. If we can accept the characters as they are presented, that is the premise and it then does make sense.
I inferred h was a virgin before ONS but H doesn’t notice and h never mentions it.
The H is cruel, vicious to h but in fairness she treats him badly too and she refuses to explain. The H built a beautiful imaginary romance with the doormat but never knew her nor showed any intention to do so. The h berates him for not knowing, for example, doormat fears water, even as he buys a lakeside villa and plans island honeymoon.
Doormat causes trouble by never saying anything, leaving h to get her out of marrying H.
The h causes great trouble. She is emotionally out of control around the H, even causes a car crash by yanking on his arm, she yells, or she lies on her bed, miserable and nearly catatonic.
I did not like the h much although she had admirable qualities. Shrieking at some strange guy after he rejects you is not classy.
HEA seems unlikely but the whole thing, plot and story, are equally unlikely. If we can accept the characters as they are presented, that is the premise and it then does make sense.
I inferred h was a virgin before ONS but H doesn’t notice and h never mentions it.
August 16, 2025
Honestly just wanted to read this for some angst and it delivered.
I didn't prefer the writing style, and I didn't really like the mmc. I read this 4 days ago and I barely remember anything that happened in the book, because nothing evoked any strong feelings from me. The mmc completely switched up his tune on his feelings for the fmc after an accident and acted like nothing happened. I wanted there to be a stronger grovel. To be frank, I believe that I would've enjoyed this book a lot more had the writing been better, the book a little longer, and the character development a little clearer. The bones for a good angsty story are there. The character archetypes, backstories, etc are there. Writing often makes or breaks a book for me, and it was the latter in this book.
Also, the plot twist at the end was so implausible for me. Obviously when reading fiction, there is a level of suspension of belief you must maintain to really enjoy a story. However, when it comes to contemporary fiction, that bar is much lower compared to other genres, and this crossed that line a bit for me.
I didn't prefer the writing style, and I didn't really like the mmc. I read this 4 days ago and I barely remember anything that happened in the book, because nothing evoked any strong feelings from me. The mmc completely switched up his tune on his feelings for the fmc after an accident and acted like nothing happened. I wanted there to be a stronger grovel. To be frank, I believe that I would've enjoyed this book a lot more had the writing been better, the book a little longer, and the character development a little clearer. The bones for a good angsty story are there. The character archetypes, backstories, etc are there. Writing often makes or breaks a book for me, and it was the latter in this book.
Also, the plot twist at the end was so implausible for me. Obviously when reading fiction, there is a level of suspension of belief you must maintain to really enjoy a story. However, when it comes to contemporary fiction, that bar is much lower compared to other genres, and this crossed that line a bit for me.
October 8, 2023
I liked the start of the book…..it was actually engaging enough for me to skip another book to read it. However that’s where it ended for me. It sure did not feel like they were actually in love. There was reluctant attraction then a lot of animosity. I wasn’t convinced by the end of the book that they were in love and would be happy together. It appeared forced. They didn’t have any soft moments of sweetness, laughter or smiles between them all through. Even their second sex scene appeared to be antagonistic. Also, the prelude to the accident was crazy exaggerated. I’ve been on those Italian roads and I struggle to imagine how anyone could have been so upset that they didn’t realize the risk fighting and pulling on the driver’s sleeves posed to both their lives. Well written but the love story was not believable nor did it leave me with a warm and fuzzy feeling that I expect from reading HP.
December 22, 2022
2.5, probably my most harsh review, but wow. Why would I want them to end up together? The things said and done did not make for a healthy relationship, even the happy ever after didn't feel happy, one because I hated Luca throughout but two because of obvious other reasons. I love an anti villain, but he was through and through a piece of ****. What's with mills and boon throwing in the daddy / mummy issues and not making the men fix up and make up for their behaviour.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 3, 2023
I would have never forgiven him for that ever.
March 25, 2023
1.5 stars
This book wasn’t too bad but it wasn’t the best. Half the times I was like wtf am I reading and other times I couldn’t stop reading it.
This book wasn’t too bad but it wasn’t the best. Half the times I was like wtf am I reading and other times I couldn’t stop reading it.
April 15, 2023
A Unique Tale
This was a different kind of romance with a selfless heroine. It was sweet and it showed true love. Anyone would enjoy this book.
This was a different kind of romance with a selfless heroine. It was sweet and it showed true love. Anyone would enjoy this book.
March 23, 2024
great read full of emotion
Well written and lots of twists in the story to keep you reading to the end will certainly look for more reads like this
Well written and lots of twists in the story to keep you reading to the end will certainly look for more reads like this
June 5, 2025
Not a bad read,but I did not like cheating lie to get her man
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews