|
Daily Online Read: The Italian MD’s Secret Family by Allison Roberts
by Anonymous on April 28th, 2008, 5:00am
One night of passion can have great consequences...
A bus crash in Italy reunites Belinda Smith (English ER nurse) and Mario Antonelli (Italian ED consultant). They shared a night of passion four years ago but circumstances prevented them meeting again. Mario thought he'd been stood up and Belinda had no way of tracing him. And there was little point in it anyway as he was about to marry for the sake of a child he believed was his. When Belinda and Mario reunite, the attraction between them is just as strong, and Belinda intends to reveal that her twin children are Mario's, but he learns the truth from another source. This cements his distrust of women but creates a dilemma. He must care for his children but can he risk his heart?
In Chapter ONE: Belinda Smith braces herself and her two young twins as their bus careens over an Italian cliff. Has Belinda brought her children to their father’s country only to have it end tragically?
Read and discuss each chapter of The Italian MD's Secret Family
About the author:
Alison currently resides in central Christchurch, just over the road from the
often breathtakingly beautiful Hagley Park. Her writing companion is an Irish wolfhound called Rya who allows only a solid morning’s work before insisting that Alison gets some fresh air and exercise in the park.
Apart from home, family, and writing, Alison’s passion is her involvement with the ambulance service. She has her writing to thank for this addition to her life, having fallen in love with the job while researching a book. The perfect antidote to the solitary hours of writing, she is now avidly continuing her training as an ambulance officer and spends as much time as possible on active duty.
Great 1st chapter!
Peril and mystery.... This has the makings of a wonderful read!!!! Looking forward to tomorrow, Alison!
Hugs,
April
You can do anything if you put your mind to it.... but it won't go far without the rest of your body.
Welcome...
Alison
Like all the H/S members, I'm looking forward to this read. A great start!
wj
eHarlequin.com Community Host
Wow, great start, already
Wow, great start, already sounds like this should be a full length book!
Aloha no Wayne! Is it
Aloha no Wayne! Is it to much to ask that they fix these discussions so we can access them from the story page? I know I'm impatient, but it is a pain to have to go round about to get here
From the blurb and the chapters so far this story looks to be intense with lots of conflict. I already wish it was a full book where Allison could really develop the characters
Oooooooh!
Sounds like the good doctor isn't as over her as he thinks he is/wants to be. His last word gave him away.... :-D
Glad this is a daily! I'm already chomping at the bit for tomorrow!!!!
Hugs,
April
You can do anything if you put your mind to it.... but it won't go far without the rest of your body.
Linkage
Papaya, they seem to have left off the link to the discussion from the story page this time around. I reminded them yesterday and hopefully it will be back up today.
Jayne
Community Manager
"We cannot really love anybody with whom we never laugh"—Agnes Repplier
Oh oh. I think I sawd a
Oh oh. I think I sawd a puddy tat!
"Perhaps what the average member of a group is capable of doesn't limit what a given individual can accomplish." -- Boston Globe, letter to the editor
March's Member of the Month!
not sure what it is about
not sure what it is about this story but i'm having a real hard time getting into it
Mahalo Jayne! Hope the
Mahalo Jayne! Hope the links are fixed in all the online reads! I will go check it out. I've put the all in my favorites so I can find them easier since there were no links! Takes a few more steps than I'd like, but at least I can find them!
Love it!
I agree this would make a great full length story! Now I am impatient -- why did she leave and why didn't she tell him about the twins? She obviously feels somewhat guilty -- hence the trip to Italy.
Glad this is a daily!!!
Discussions...
I was about to email Jayne with the request but I see she has already responded...
Sorry, it took so long for me to see it. I left Barbados this morning and only arrived in Chicago a short while ago....so I'm now reading the messages...
I'm attending the AA Romance Conference "Romance Slam Jam", but I'll be dropping by everyday...
I was told Chicago would be cold...but this is COLD...brrrr...
wj
wj
eHarlequin.com Community Host
Guess that explains why she
Guess that explains why she couldn't find him since she never had a last name! I think that was a bad move on her part pretending she doesn't know who he is though!
Hey Wayne, we're in the 80s here with a nice trade wind to keep us cool but not brrrr
Jayne, there is still no link to this discussion from the chapter! Seems like they are having a lot of technical difficulties with this new site that are still not figured out yet.
I can't get into Chapter
I can't get into Chapter 3. If some can, could you post a link? Thanks.
FF
"Perhaps what the average member of a group is capable of doesn't limit what a given individual can accomplish." -- Boston Globe, letter to the editor
March's Member of the Month!
Here's a link
Here's a link FF
http://www.eharlequin.com/articlepage.html;jsessionid=C1B8DB97124673D38E659ED3AEEB07BC?articleId=1340&chapter=3
I wonder why sometimes the
I wonder why sometimes the chapters are there right at midnight then they disappear a little while later... wierd, you'd think once it was up it would remain up!
I have been out of town
and just read the first three chapters. This looks like it will be a great love story! I can hardly wait until tomorrow!
Jayne, I noticed that the link isn't working yet. Hopefully by tomorrow.
Now we know why she didn't tell him about the twins!
She didn't know his last name! Looking forward to reading all about their past relationship -- and seeing Mario's reaction to the twins!
Ohhh boy, wait until he
Ohhh boy, wait until he finds out those beautiful children are his
!
gotta run and go catch a plane home, may not be back in until Monday, hopefully sooner, I want to read the next chapter already!
Oops! I didn't see the link
Oops! I didn't see the link until this morning. It was a busy day yesterday. Thanks Papaya.
Well, they are both making mistakes, but she should have indicated recognition at least. *sigh* I hate communication problems. In fact, my early reading of romances made me into the frank speaker that I am, because I saw how many romances were nearly derailed through pride and lack of communication.
"Perhaps what the average member of a group is capable of doesn't limit what a given individual can accomplish." -- Boston Globe, letter to the editor
March's Member of the Month!
I think....
he knows deep down those kids are his and "Bella's", so he won't be too surprised to some extent.
I think she should have greeted him in some manner, making their acquaintance known. No one had to know HOW they were acquainted.
Hugs,
April
You can do anything if you put your mind to it.... but it won't go far without the rest of your body.
She should have responded differently since she knows him
She should at least have acknowledged that she knows him.
Will he find out tomorrow that the children are his?
It will be interesting to see how their one night stand took place, how they missed seeing each other after that one night, how the new relationship develops after their one night stand, and the fact that she has his children which he doesn't know about yet.
Confused
i know that the kids are Belinda's, obviously, but did anyone get the feeling reading the most recent chapter that Mario thinks the children are Liz's? I could be way off base here, but that's how I read it. Anyone get the same feeling or did I read it too quickly and misinterpret something? It certainly makes the story more confusing, and interesting, this way! Can't wait until the next chapter...
~Kit
I agree!
Based on what the paramedic said, and Belinda not correcting that, Mario does think that the twins are Liz's.
I think that Mario either had a wife and child or someone aborted his child. He then met Belinda and had the one night stand with her -- in his grief.
He will be thrilled to find out the twins are his. I just hope that he isn't angry with Belinda for not "searching" for him -- even though she didn't have his last name.
I love this story!
UGH!!!!
What a cliffhanger! COME ON MONDAY!!!!!!
Happy Friday and weekend, all!
Hugs,
April
You can do anything if you put your mind to it.... but it won't go far without the rest of your body.
: )
Happy Friday and weekend to you too, April! : )
Monday Mario might find
out he is a father. When the kids see Belinda I am sure they will call her Mom.
Hopefuly one of them is not hurt worse than was thought at the accident scene.
Have a good weekend.
Elaine
Is it Monday yet? LOL!
What a cliffhanger! What will Mario have to say to her? He appears to be really angry with her. Is it because he thinks she dumped him, the way she has treated him, or both?
I'm sure that he will find out very soon that those kids are his, and then the sparks will fly!
Have a GREAT weekend, everyone!
what a strange thing to
what a strange thing to think... that it was inappropriate to acknowledge each other at the scene of teh accident. She could have acknowledged him and continued what she was doing...
I realize she wasn't ready to see him, but Hey, she's in his country...
Noooooooooooooo...
I try to delay starting an online read. I want to turn the page and I can't! I should have delayed the start of this one a lot longer...
Nancy
sheandeen@gmail.com
Me too
I like to delay online reads too. I always end up angry that i cant get the rest of the story and at the same time excited and cant wait for the next installment...
Whereva de winds blows de leaves drop....the story of my life...
Waiting...
Ladies
I read as soon as the story goes up. I love the anticipation of an online story...the wonderful cliffhangers that let me aching for the new day's or week's episode.
wj
eHarlequin.com Community Host
It's almost midnight
Even though these chapters appear everyday, I wish they were just a little longer. We get suckered inn with the tease and have to wait for tomorrows read. But I would still rather have it everydayy rateher than just once a week. This is a great story. If Mario is this angry at just seeing her now wait till he finds out about the twins.
WOW, what a place to leave
WOW, what a place to leave us Allison! I'm enjoying this story and am glad it's a daily. I'm too impatient to wait until the end to read...
Hey Wayne, are you back home from Chicago yet?
Wayne/Jayne (hmmm that rhymes)... Are they ever going to give us a direct link from the chapter to this discussion?
Typical ***** male. Assume
Typical ***** male. Assume the worst and come in with guns blazing.
C-O-M-M-U-N-I-C-A-T-I-O-N !! Has he never heard of the word?
"Perhaps what the average member of a group is capable of doesn't limit what a given individual can accomplish." -- Boston Globe, letter to the editor
March's Member of the Month!
ROFL, FF!
well, Mario's not such a typical ***** male as he seems quite ready to listen to her side ........ "But he knew what it meant to be polite. He would give her the chance to say what she wanted to say. " ....... gotta love a man who knows what he thinks he knows .... glad to see Belinda has some backbone ;)
Alison, if you're out there ..... great start to this story! .... I love how you've packed so much into so few words ... I can feel all that angst! ....
~~ KatherineT ~~ I'm a Harlequin Addict, and I'm proud of it!
~~ Quiet Canadians ~ 2008 Book Challenge Blog
LOL KT
OK, you got me.
"Perhaps what the average member of a group is capable of doesn't limit what a given individual can accomplish." -- Boston Globe, letter to the editor
March's Member of the Month!
It will be interesting
to hear Belinda's side of the story. Did they end up showing up at 2 different cafes without knowing it?
I am also wondering
if they went to two different cafes. I can not imagine not waiting more than 5 minutes to meet someone who you have spent the night with. He will be very upset when he finds out the children are his.
Elaine
I was wrong!
It seems that whatever "bad" happened occurred after their one night stand. I don't believe that she left after only waiting five minutes -- wonder what happened.
Loving this story!
Chicago....
Yeah, I'm back and had a great time especially, since it was my birthday.
I'll see what I can do about the link.
wj
eHarlequin.com Community Host
Well... now we know why she
Well... now we know why she left after only 5 minutes... Ya know, I'm kinda liking Mario and wondering about Belinda! Wonder if Mario knew her last name... although Smith is pretty common. I cannot imagine sleeping with someone and not knowing their last name! Then again I woudn't sleep with someone I knew only for one day either!
Hau'oli la hanau e Wayne
(belatedly).
Jayne said that someone new is now working on the links so he/she probably still has to get up to speed on it. Mahalo for checking on it.
Well, well, well. He's
Well, well, well. He's getting more sympatico.
"Perhaps what the average member of a group is capable of doesn't limit what a given individual can accomplish." -- Boston Globe, letter to the editor
March's Member of the Month!
WOW !!!!!!!!!
I must have missed that part about breaking up with the pregnant girlfriend. You have really got me confused now.
Well, we know they both still have strong feelings .....
I was right .... lots of angst :D .... I love angst :D
Alison tied up Belinda's story quite nicely ... we know why she couldn't wait ... why she even doubted she should be there at all to meet him ... and we're told that her mother's condition was extremely grave so any loving daughter wouldn't have waited for a one time lover who had other commitments ... but did she try to find him once she found out she was preggers? ... surely she knew enough about him even without his last name ?
great twist .... hehehe, yes indeed .. Mario just walked into a brick wall!
~~ KatherineT ~~ I'm a Harlequin Addict, and I'm proud of it!
~~ Quiet Canadians ~ 2008 Book Challenge Blog
Not two different cafes after all
At least we know now what happened that prevented them from meeting. I'm also beginning to really like Mario. Did Belinda pull back from his kiss out of guilt because of their children that he doesn't yet know about? I can imagine how guilty she must be feeling about now.
Glad you had a Happy Birthday, Wayne! Here's wishing you a belated one!
Welcome back!
She is probalby pulling back
because she does not know if he ever married the other woman and does not want to get involved with a married man. She is also probably feeling guilty about the children.
It should be interesting when Mario finds out about the kids. He has had one woman try to force him to marry claiming the child is his and had another woman have his children.
Elaine
Not sure about Mario right now!
He knew that he had a pregnant girlfriend and yet he slept with Belinda -- doesn't say too much about him. I hope there is more to that part of it. Even if he wasn't sure that the baby way his. If there was a chance that it was - and it seemed likely, then he shouldn't have gotten involved with someone else so quickly. If that baby was his then the twins and that baby would be half-siblings -- just months apart in age -- yucky!
There's an old book by Emma Darcy where the H leaves the h pregnant (they didn't know at the time) and goes off to marry an ill childhood friend. Has a daughter and after the wife dies goes to find the h (who had his son in the meantime). The kids are less than six months apart. I'd love to see him explain that to them when they are older.
The kids are less than six
The kids are less than six months apart. I'd love to see him explain that to them when they are older.
Well, daughter, I married your mother because I had history with her and she was ill. But before I did, I was involved with this woman and she had a baby. Meet your brother.
"Perhaps what the average member of a group is capable of doesn't limit what a given individual can accomplish." -- Boston Globe, letter to the editor
March's Member of the Month!
Way to go Belinda
I'm glad she didn't just jump in his arms like an idiot. In these stories sometimes it seems that they succumb without barely any willpower.
Thanks...
Thanks for the birthday greetings...
wj
eHarlequin.com Community Host