Tuesday, August 10, 2010

SOPHIE’S SEDUCTION (UK) - (USA) SOPHIE AND THE SCORCHING SICILIAN (The Balfour Legacy) – Kim Lawrence

Author: Kim Lawrence
Line: Mills and Boon Modern/Harlequin Presents
Release month: UK Sept 2010: North America:
Nov 2010
The S-Factor:
Sexy

Back Blurb:

When blue blood turns bad...Illegitimacy scandal rocks Balfour legacy. Last night there was only one place to see and be seen at - the Balfour Charity Ball. But despite the glitz and the glamour, all was not as it seemed. Behind the scenes, Olivia Balfour and her scandalous twin Bella were locked in a battle over a shocking discovery - their late mother, socialite Alexandra Balfour, had conceived their sister Zoe during an illicit affair! The beautiful Balfour twins were witnessed in the midst of a cat-fight...Were they ever going to tell their little sister, girl-about-town Zoe, the devastating revelation...?

There is no Balfour blood running through Zoe Balfour's veins! The Balfour name might be synonymous with glamour and style. But this is the second illegitimate family member to be outed in as many months. It seems this dynasty is rotten to its core. Now Balfour is just a by-word for disgrace and scandal! Such behaviour at this commemorative ball can only lead us to conclude that the Balfour twins are following in their mother's distinctly uncertain footsteps. Is it too late to stop the rot? We challenge Oscar Balfour, the proud patriarch of this crumbling family: wake up and smell the scandal!

Review:
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Sophie Balfour was the middle child of the family, the quiet, shy one, and she lived on the estate in the carriage house with her mother where she had studied a interior design course from her home. And how after the Balfour Charity Ball and the scandal involving her sister Zoe, her father is determined that all of his girls will go out on the own and learn something about hard work. He has a past friend who owns a shop and so he sends Sophie there to work. Sophie works very hard and is put always in the background and because of her determination to succeed they take advantage of her and pile on tons of work. And then with they get the call from the handsome Italian Billionaire Marco Speranza that he wants to restore is family villa in Sicily, the owner plus her co-workers are unavailable to go so in the end, they must send Sophie. She arrives in Italy, with no luggage, wearing a sack dress to hide her generous curves and falls asleep in Marco’s office while waiting for him to return to his office. He’s not interested, and is surprised to see such a “plain Jane” sitting there. However, Sophie is fierce with her presentation and in the end he agrees, but she must oversee the job not her boss. There is something about her that intrigues Marco.

Marco had once been married and had married for love. He had expected someday to have a family but once the ring was on his wife’s finger, she told him she had other ideas. And then time after time she humiliated him and he finally divorced her and moved out of his family villa. Now he had returned and was going to hire an interior design firm in England to bid the job. At the last minute the owner had to send Sophie Balfour as she was the only one able to give the proposal because the others were unavailable.

Their initial meeting was very interesting. He wanted to call a halt but Sophie was determined to succeed not only for her boss but to show her father she could. There was something intriguing about the girl and her determination and eventually she wore him down and agreed to take her out to his villa the next day. For Marco, this Englishwoman seemed half alive and yet the was passion just below the surface. As a Balfour she had a life most people would dream of and yet she wasn’t living it. He was also troubled because this plain woman with no fashion sense intrigued him, plus the fact that she hid her curves.

Marco felt anger at the Balfour family who had allowed Sophie to become invisible just because she was the quiet one. Behind her smiles and quiet manner, she was stubborn as anyone he’d met and she was also quietly ruthless when it came to getting her own way. He felt this was why the project came in under budget and was finished ahead of time. She had a body that drove him wild and she responded to him like to one else. She was sweet, stubborn and most of all loyal. One thing was for sure during the evening of his ball Sophie had organized, there was no comparison between his ex-wife and Sophie. She was pure and said what was in her heart. She brought his home back to life and when he finally realized it there was no turning back. They both had a marvelous perfect and happy ending.

Hero Hotness Factor♥♥♥♥
Heroine Lovability Factor
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Weepy Factor
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Reviewed by: Marilyn

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