Giancarlo Cardinale has come to England to take control over his brother-in-law's business and put a stop to the affair he understands is going on with a girl at work. He's shipped his sister and Edward Knight off on a last minute cruise to help rebuild their relationship, rocked earlier in the year by the death of their only child, Marco, who was only 2 years younger than Giancarlo himself. Owning a controlling share of the company, he sweeps in a takes over everything, including Edward's assistant, Natalia Deyton, who has been identified to him as the mistress and who he sees flirting and who is clearly hiding something. He was just going to pay her off but is so attracted to her, he wants her for himself and rationalizes seducing her as a sort of vendetta. He rents an apartment from which to work away from the office and swiftly moves her into it as his lover. But then they have a pregnancy scare and Edward and Alegra return unexpectedly early...
I loved this book, and while it is not perfect, it is very well-handled. For instance, whereas in many cases a book like this might resolve some of the tension of the hero thinking the heroine immoral by having him discover she is a virgin, in this book the plot resolves as the hero recognizes the truth of the situation when it is finally told to him and trusts the heroine. He is even able to think back over the situation and understand where--and why!--he went wrong. Further, we are privy enough to his thoughts to know he wants Natalia badly enough, and forever, to consider marrying her while thinking her his b-i-l's former mistress, even knowing it would alienate his family to the extent that he might never see them again. Our heroine is his equal: a self-confident, independant woman loyal enough to keep secrets for Edward, but no doormat; she carefully considers her options before undertaking the affair and is no shrinking violet in bed. We leave the book very confident that our two will live HEA indeed.
