THE ITALIAN'S RUTHLESS BABY BARGAIN - Margaret Mayo

Author: Margaret Mayo
Line: Harlequin Presents Extra / Mills and Boon Modern
Release month: North America/AU: March 2010 UK: Feb 2010
The S-Factor: Sexy

Back Blurb:

Pregnant with the boss’s baby!

Nanny Penny Keeling knows working for the strong-but-silent Santo De Luca will be a challenge, but she’s determined to do it for his little girl’s sake. And she’s equally determined not to fall for her dangerously attractive boss – she’s been burnt before…

Penny is pretty, charming and utterly beddable – and under the fiery Italian sun Santo seduces her…

It was only meant to be an affair. Now Penny has announced she’s pregnant...

Review: ♥♥♥♥

Santo De Luca was one charming, handsome and very rich man and he had a small daughter who needed a nanny. Santo didn’t even know he had a daughter, until he was notified that his ex-wife had died. She was deceitful and knew when divorcing him that she was pregnant but she never told Santo. He missed out on so much and wasn’t quiet sure of how to raise a five year old.

Penny Keeling came highly recommended as a nanny and when she was offered a salary beyond belief she took the position. As she wasn’t dating nor in a relationship living and working at the De Luca mansion suited her just fine. However, what Penny didn’t count on was how handsome and sexy her boss was and how attracted she was to him. She didn’t like the feeling because her past boyfriend who she thought she would end up marrying her, cheated on her, broke her heart so she certainly was interested in having an affair.

Immediately they were both attracted to each other, their feelings and emotions on high alert. He definitely was interested and she was determined not to get involved. Penny adored his little girl Chloe and was constantly berating Santo for working long hours, not being home when she went to bed or in the morning. And then Chloe tells her nanny “the secret” that she didn’t know she had a daddy until her mommy died.

Well from then on, they banter back and forth, they act on their passion and then at every turn, Penny tells him no more. It’s always there, the passion for both of them, circling them, taunting them. So when it’s Chloe’s school holiday, he takes them to Italy and they stay at his family’s mansion. The family that Santos doesn’t talk about. And they become more involved and there’s more drama because Santo’s decides to take them all to Rome so that Chloe can meet her grandfather. And then the bomb drops, Penny’s pregnant!

Will there ever be a chance for this couple? Could they all find happiness and become a family? The last few chapters were difficult to read because I felt so sorry for this sexy Italian because of his reasons for leaving Rome in the first place, for him not trusting, for his lost childhood, for his time lost and the missing five years of his daughter’s life. But in the end, Penny, Chloe and Santo got their happy ending and Santo made peace with his family.

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Reviewed by: Marilyn

Mayo’s website

The Twelve-Month Marriage Deal

THE TWELVE-MONTH MARRIAGE DEAL -

Margaret Mayo

Author: Margaret Mayo

Line: Modern

Release Month: December 2009

The S Factor: Sensual

Back blurb:

Forced bride…

Called home unexpectedly, Elena not only finds her sister has fled her own wedding, but that she must take her place as the bride if the family business is to be saved from ruin! Willing on her wedding night!

Arrogant billionaire Vidal Marquez is shocked – the ugly duckling has become a swan! Elena is furious about the marriage, so he makes a deal: twelve months in his bed as his wife, and then she can simply walk away…

But Vidal’s bed is not a place any woman chooses to leave!

Review: ♥♥♥♥

Elena takes her sister's place as Vidal's bride, but makes it quite clear she is not happy. Vidal is pleased at the transformation he sees when he meets Elena again. They had been childhood friends, but he had not been expecting Elena to have grown up quite so beautifully.

He underestimates Elena and the price she has paid personally to become his wife and therefore save her father's bank. Elena has her very own business in America, which is thriving. The fact that she was willing to leave this business to help her family immediately establishes Elena as a modern heroine who has forged her own way in the world--therefore ensuring the reader's admiration and respect.

Vidal is every inch the passionate, sometimes stubborn, but always morally upstanding alpha hero that is a must in a 'Modern' read.

Watching them fall in love with each other was a delight, each giving in equal measure but not quite able to admit to themselves that their marriage of convenience was quickly turning into the real thing.

Elena took delight in disobeying Vidal's orders, making him realise that ordering his wife around was not the way to behave. He was able to accept the reason he did this was because, ultimately, he wanted to keep her safe.

Margaret Mayo has succeeded in bringing two characters together who challenge each other from the first page, ensuring this story is a one sitting read. I literally couldn't wait to turn the pages to see how they were going to react to the situations they found themselves in.

The ending was beautifully done, with each character realising their marriage was full of sparks--but for all the right reasons.

Hero Hotness Factor: ♥♥♥♥♥

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Awww Factor: ♥♥♥♥♥

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Reviewed by: Joanne

THE SANTORINI MARRIAGE BARGAIN

Author: Margaret Mayo

Line: Modern

Release month: July 2009

The S Factor: Sensual

From the Greek's secretary ...

When fresh-faced Rhianne Pickering agrees to work for masterful Greek Zarek Diakos she knows it's a mistake -no man has ever made her heart quicken and her body quiver like this! But with her life in tatters she needs a job.

To his convenient wife!

Zarek thinks Rhianne makes the perfect secretary. But on a business trip to thebeautiful island of Santorini he decides her skills are undervalued. He's in need of a bride: under the warm Mediterranean sun he'll show Rhianne it's a position she can't refuse!

Review: ♥♥♥♥

I was delighted when asked to review Margaret Mayo's 75th book for Harlequin Mills & Boon. What a truly wonderful achievement.

By the first chapter I had fallen madly in love with the hero, Zarek who was both courteous and chivalrous whilst remaining an utterly gorgeous alpha male. Rhianne had experienced a terrible personal setback but Zarek helped her to take control of her life back - first by employing her and secondly by helping her to regain her confidence.

Although Rhianne had experienced a heartbreaking incident prior to the book beginning, she was in no way sorry for herself or overly emotional. Rather, she took the chances life and Zarek offered her with both hands.

The book begins in london but we are soon whisked away to the island of Santorini to meet Zarek's family. Although Zarek's father was seriously ill, I was impressed with the way this delicate subject was handled - just the right amount of sentimentality without becoming maudlin.

Zarek finds out he needs to be married in order to inherit his father's estate when he passes. Rhianne is the perfect candidate, yet she does not easily give in to Zarek's wishes. This story shows a strong hero with a heroine that matches him every step of the way despite her vulnerability. It is beautifully written by a prolific author who is a true inspiration to aspiring authors and a delight to her many readers.

Hero Hotness Factor: ♥♥♥♥♥

Heroine Lovability Factor: ♥♥♥♥♥

Awww Factor: ♥♥♥♥♥

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Humour Factor: ♥

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