Romance Books Reviews & Treats

Interior-designer heroine has instant attraction to arrogant Sicilian Hero who makes it clear he only wants a temporary sexual affair. Heroine agrees with their arrangement, against her better judgment & her normal nature b/c of her powerful attraction to Hero. Even when she finds out he was engaged to another woman when they 1st become intimate, she continues their affair. Both continue to seesaw between struggling with & giving into their passion for each other until it comes to a critical point.

I don't like to read books where the main characters are involved in infidelity. Kendrick wrote this book so well that I actually liked it! Hero was an arrogant, judgmental, & insulting jerk at the start, which made me think I would hate this book especially when it was revealed that he had a fiancee when he had sex with heroine. But I could see his inner struggles re: his feelings for heroine that, towards 2nd half of book, I was warming up to him. I liked that heroine was strong & independent & went into the affair with her eyes wide open. She gave no excuses. She had hopes for a better r/s with Hero but was realistic enough to not put much stock in them b/c Hero made it clear that their r/s was temporary. Overall, the 2/3 of the book led me to believe that their r/s was not going to last, esp since Hero was portrayed well as noncommital to heroine. But scenes from the last third of the book pushed the r/s past their usual. I think Hero needed that push for his well-controlled & -hidden feelings for heroine to surface. Dialogue was good. Sexual chemistry & love scenes were passionate.

Recommended.