keeper

Back Cover:

Greek magnate Elias Antonides has single-handedly regained his family's fortune. So when his father gambles away a vital share he's furious! Elias now has a new business partner...stunning heiress Tallie Savas.

Tallie's eager to prove herself, but she hasn't counted on Elias being so sexy. Elias has underestimated Tallie, and now wonders if he can make their business arrangement personal — as in marriage!   

Spoiler Warning: All my reviews contain spoilers to some degree  

Favourite Scene: (this is a great "protective hero" moment where he leans on the heroine until she tells him... his sister is pregnant)   

  "I'm not the one who should be telling you this.  I shouldn't be involved at all."  She stopped and stared at him, as if she could will him to tell her not to go on.     
  "But you are.  So go on," he said implacably.     
  "Fine.  All right."  She took a deep breath.  "Cristina's pregnant."     
  "WHAT!"  So, all right, it was a bellow.  He couldn't help it.      

Back Cover:

Their love was staged in the public glare

Joanna was unimpressed by the tinsel of movie making and star director Richard Marlow. In fact, she remained unmoved when thrown into his company as tutor-chaperon to her starlet niece, Becky, who was infatuated by Marlow.

This made it hard for Joanna, who saw Marlow—a man other women flung themselves at—as an overgrown egotist, yet one with commanding charm and talent.

As a teacher of delinquent teenagers, Joanna could hold her own in dramatizing outrageous acts, and she was intent on beating Richard Marlow at his own game. But the challenge required her to distinguish acting from sincerity...

Spoiler Warning: All my reviews contain spoilers to some degree  

Favourite Scene: (the heroine is an appalling athlete, and she is cute about it) 

'You're a very graceful loser.'
'I get lots of practise,' said Joanna feelingly    

Another Fav Scene: (he's all set to tease her about her lovers, and gets a nasty shock when she says she's a virgin) 

' ... Do you put all your lovers to the rack like this? I ache all over just thinking about how it would be for us .. .' 'I don't have lovers,' Joanna snapped, shattered by the dreamily sensual curve of his mouth, the sea-green depths of his eyes as they loved her as his body would like to do. 'What, none?' An interrogative eyebrow teased her. 'Never!' 
He choked on his glass of iced water and looked at her in a way that made her want to laugh, or cry, or hit him---or do all three at once. Was he looking for defects?
'Are you serious?' he asked hoarsely. 
 

Back Cover:

Penelope believed in being practical.  She needed a husband, so she decided to investigate suitable candidates - and propose!  Stefano Salvatore was perfect, and their marriage would also combine their business assets.  Surely Stefano would find such logic irresistible?  But this passionate Italian believed in marrying for love, not meeting his brdie for the first time as she walked into his office bearing matching wedding rings!  He thought Penelope was crazy - but adorable.  In fact, he was beginning to take her proposition seriously!  

Spoiler Warning: All my reviews contain spoilers 

Favourite Scene:  (h kisses H's twin accidentally, mistaking him for the H yet AGAIN, H is less than pleased)

She marched over to him, grabbed him by the lapels of his suit jacket and yanked him downward to a reachable level. Before he had time to take charge of their latest embrace, she planted her mouth on his and kissed him for all she was worth. Then she let go and stepped back, not giving any inconvenient chemistry an opportunity to kick in. Not that it did.

She straightened her cockeyed glasses. "There. See? Nothing. Not a twinge of pleasure."

"I'm pleased to hear it," a voice gritted from behind her. "I'd be a little upset if my future bride enjoyed kissing my brother more than she enjoyed kissing me."

Oh, no! Not again.

Back Cover:

No way would Eden agree to his demands

Jason Earle had no right to make demands, much less insist that she go to England to see David Morton, her grandfather. After all, the old man had ignored Eden for years.

True, Jason, his emissary, was breathtakingly handsome and a media magnate, as well. But that didn't give him power over Eden.

Yet she did go. The shock of her grandfather's death marred her arrival and removed him from her life. It also bound her irrevocably to the devastating Jason. 

Favourite Scene: (banter!)

‘Be my guest,’ he drawled. ‘Or whatever else you want to be,’ he added huskily. ‘I’m open to offers.’
‘If I have to pay for my room and board in that way I’d rather go to a hotel!’ she lied.
He was still smiling that infuriating smile. ‘You don’t have to do anything. I was just wondering whether you’d care to share your room.’
‘No, I wouldn’t,’ she told him stiffly.
‘Not used to waking up and finding the man still in bed with you in the morning?’ he taunted.
‘That’s right!’ Eden snapped angrily.

My Review:

Great friends-to-lovers story!  Very light and warm, loving, friendly.  I love that the hero wants a family and has been hoping to find the right woman for five years.  The hero/heroine are friends and he's her boss.  I liked how he couldn't help but smile and be happy when she got the positive pregnancy test result.  The book has a lot of comedy to it, and I really liked that.  It was cute how the hero calls his future sister-in-law "pork chop" and she calls the hero "sugar lump".  I thought it was hilarious that coming from an ultra Catholic family the sister says her new special someone is an atheist and a woman.  The epilogue made me laugh and just GRIN... it's 11 years after their marriage and they do a run down of all the times the heroine got pregnant with each child.  Hilarious.  Really warm read, I loved this couple and they have such a happy life together. 

My Rating: 4.5/5 stars, really really good book.  It's rare that I mark a SD a KEEPER, but I'm going to label this one.  It's a really great light and funny book.  Must read. 

(that means you Margie, LOL!) 

NFM

Back Cover:

Penny is stuck: her ex-boyfriend Solo Maffeiano owns half her family home, yet she needs to pay off a barrage of debts left by her late father. She has no choice but to agree to Solo's offer: he will pay the debts and restore the dilapidated mansion where they will live - if Penny becomes his wife! She will be his wife, bought and paid for - and he wants a wife in every sense of the word. Their attraction is as strong as ever; their passion is a hundred times more powerful ... Penny discovers she's still in love with Solo - but isn't their marriage just a sham?

Spoiler Warning: All my reviews contain spoilers to some degree     

Favourite Scene:

Solo stopped her by grabbing her wrists and pinning them above her head in one strong hand, and throwing a long leg over her slim hips. 'I'm accepting your offer, Penny.' His grey gaze was intent on her furious face. 'So long as I get exclusive rights to your body for as long as I want.'
'My offer... My body!' she gasped.
'Yes.' His eyes didn't leave her face. 'Starting now,' he insisted with silken emphasis.
 

Spoiler Warning: All my reviews contain spoilers    

You absolutely must read this book.  It is a pure KEEPER.  Hilarious. I was dying with laughter as I read it.

Favourite Scene:

‘Pleased to meet you,’ said Clea, her handshake warm and surprisingly firm. ‘Nicky, she’s darling! She’s perfect! You need a wife; you said so this morning. I think we’ve just found her.’
‘Wife?’ said Hallie. Wife? That’d teach her to shake hands with strangers. Nicholas Cooper’s smile was lazy. His mother’s was hopeful. Probably they were both mad.
‘He’s loaded,’ said Clea encouragingly.
‘Well, yes.’ She could see that from the way he dressed. He was also far too amused for his own good. ‘But is he creative?’
‘You should see his tax return.’
‘I don’t know, Clea. I think I prefer my men a little less…’ What? She slid Nicholas Cooper another quick glance. Sexy? Wild? Gorgeous? ‘Dark,’ she came up with finally. ‘I prefer blonds.’
‘Well, he’s not a blond,’ conceded Clea, ‘but look at his feet.’
Everyone looked.
He wore hand-stitched Italian leather lace-ups. Size twelve. Wide. 

Keeper!

Back Cover: 

Can one passionate night mend a marriage?
Luc Sarrazan's marriage to Star had been hasty and brief. They separated almost immediately and Star disappeared, but Luc never filed for divorce.
Eighteen months later, Luc tracks Star down— fearing she's involved in a fraud. When he discovers that Star is the mother of twins, he feels doubly deceived!
Luc demands his price: he will have the fraud charge dropped if Star will spend just one last time in his bed. But he's not prepared for the cost of that fleeting taste of passion— the morning after, he wants more...even to mend their marriage!

Favourite Scene: (I love how they are welded together)

Afterwards, the first thing she was conscious of was the silence. Luc was still holding her, every damp, hard, muscular line of him welded to her smaller, slighter frame. For a moment she luxuriated in that feeling of intimacy and closeness. Then her mind awakened again, and with a sinking heart she recognised her own weakness.
'Star...' Luc husked in an indolent tone of satiation. 'It's never been like that for me.

Back Cover:

Untouched: Six years ago, Jessica made the worst mistake of her life. The prospect of being Carlo Saracini's mistress was just too hot for her to handle, so she opted for the safety of marriage to Simon instead.
Now Jessica is a widow and faced with the unthinkable: she needs Carlo's help or her father will go to jail. Carlo is suggesting a deal that will give him what he's always wanted—Jessica, in his bed for three months! But Jessica can't give in to Carlo's demands; to let him possess her body and soul will be to give him the ultimate revenge...because he will discover that, even after years of marriage, she is still a virgin!
  

Favourite Scene: (I love how he flares in response to learning she's engaged) 

'I can't take my eyes off you. You may have noticed that. Then, you must be accustomed to a great deal of male attention.'
'Not since I got engaged,' she had muttered stiffly, infuriated by the fashion in which he was openly looking her over as if she were an object on a supermarket shelf there for the taking.
He had stilled, golden eyes narrowing and flaring. ‘You belong to another man?'

Back Cover:

Raul Esteban has always wanted Alannah.

She is purity and passion combined! But she rejected him, and now the proud Spanish aristocrat is determined that she will pay for her mistake—with her body!

Raul mistakenly believes Alannah is no longer a naive girl—until one night of passion proves he has taken her virginity! Now Raul will do whatever it takes to keep her at his mercy….