Blackmailed into the Italian's Bed by Miranda Lee (HP 2661)

Back Cover:

Jordan has struggled to forget Gino Bortelli, the arrogant, sexy Italian with whom she had an affair ten years before. Things had ended abruptly, but Jordan still craved Gino's touch. No man yet had made her feel as Gino had... Now he's back! Older, richer and sexier, Gino still has the power to make Jordan melt. He knows something Jordan would prefer be kept secret and he's prepared to use it -- to have her, bed her, any way he wants her. And, to Jordan's shame, she can't say no...  

Favourite Scene: (I love that he won't marry anyone else)

She couldn’t have been more wrong. He’d never be able to put tonight—or her—out of his mind. And guilt was going to be his constant companion from now on.
As for Claudia…Gino could see that he would have to break off their relationship. She was a very nice girl, but she wanted to get married.
After this, marriage was permanently off Gino’s agenda. If he couldn’t marry Jordan, then he wouldn’t marry anyone.
  

My Review:

They lived together ten years ago, until his father got ill and had the hero make a dying promise: that the hero would do his family duty and only ever marry an Italian.  I liked the couple.  I liked that there was no hypocrisy: they'd both had other affairs during the ten years they were apart.  There wasn't any angst over that, which is a positive.  I usually don't like long separations, but the years apart didn't make them bitter or angsty towards each other, and they grew up and were more ready to settle down maturely in the present. 

I didn't really like how they heroine kept using the phrase "do it to me", it was pretty unromantic a phrase.  The sex scenes were a little kinky for an HP. 

The conflict is that the hero promised his dying father he'd only ever marry an Italian woman.  The H/h go to pretty far lengths to tie themselves together in every way but marriage, which is confusing to me, the promise seems so pointless.  They plan to change her last name to his legally, to buy wedding/engagement rings for them both, and to have kids... in the end they get the heroine Italian citizenship and then marry.  If he didn't intend to honour the full spirit of his promise to his father, then there was no point in them going to such far (and lame) lengths.  The spirit of the "marry an Italian" was what was important, not his blind technical obedience to it.   

My Rating: 3/5 stars, it was a good and unique story, but the promise to his father was twisted.