Mar 25, 2024:

Well, one thing I will say is that the consent in this story did not age well. There are multiple instances throughout when Stasia says no and Rico ignores it. Additionally, at one point she protests that she didn’t want the sex they just had and he mockingly says something to the effect of ‘your body reveals that you did.’ Which, um, arousal nonconcordance is a real thing and what a person SAYS, not the involuntary response of their body, is what is relevant to consent. Her hesitations, and especially her nos, should have been honored, not brushed aside.



The one thing that keeps this story from being a case of romanticizing sexual assault is that Stasia never feels violated and every one of the sex scenes is from her POV so we the readers can see in the moment that she does want sex with Rico and is really pushing him away to try to prevent further heartbreak. Buuuut it’s kind of dicey and I don’t love that it’s a plot point.




Jan 8, 2020:



One of my favorite things about this romance novel is that the conflict is actually believable. As opposed to your more standard the-love-interest-is-kind-of-a-dick-and-the-heroine-changes-him-with-her-love format, this is a couple who split up before the narrative started because they were failing to communicate properly and as such lacked in trust and the ability to express their love for each other in a way that made sense to the other person. (If you know anything about love languages, basically they have different love languages: he shows love with gifts and physical touch, she shows love with time and words. So they both come to believe that the other doesn't love them, because they're just missing how the other is showing it.)




So basically the couple actually has to learn to communicate and work out their issues together as opposed to just having a lot of sex and then immediately living happily ever after. I like that.

I was thinking about rating the book three stars then I remember about the first-class jerk (Hero). Despite a lot of things, I liked the heroine. If the sister hadn't gotten into the accident, then they might never have had the chance to reconcile. Hence I am sticking with two stars. However, the last gesture of the hero was good.

This review was posted at Tsuki’s Book Blog on August 29, 2013.

On the edge of my Lucy Monroe binge I went looking at the library for other favorite HP authors. In this case I stumbled on the library's collection of Sarah Morgan (much smaller) and I snatched this one up. This was a pleasant book divergent from desert sheikhs and instead featured an Italian billionaire and a failing marriage (my fave).

When Rico's sister took a fall from a horse, she calls out his estranged wife's name in her unconscious state. Rico calls his almost ex-wife back to Italy nearly kicking and screaming. When Chiara awakens and doesn't remember the past 18 months, Rico blackmails Stasia into being his wife again to help Chiara remain healthy and happy. As they play their roles they begin to fall in love all over again. Naturally there was a reason behind their almost divorce and that night still stands between them.

I love nearly failed marriages turned back into love stories. In this case I was pleased to watch the repair of their marriage when they started TALKING. Imagine that! A billionaire tycoon actually took an hour and TALKED to his wife. He could not understand why she cheated on him with a nearly teenage boy or why she ran out on their marriage if she was innocent. She, on the other hand, couldn't believe he thought she cheated AND he didn't bother to come after her.

While I loved the romance and the falling in love part, the Chiara part drove me crazy. Chiara hit her head AND had a personality change. Stasia made it pretty clear Chiara was a mess with her from the beginning but when Chiara thought it was 18 months earlier she was suddenly accepting and nearly perfect with Stasia. That just struck me as strange. Also when she got her memory back she still didn't tell Rico about the night Stasia and his marriage fell apart and her role in the whole thing. I understand teenagers can be stupid but seriously?! That seemed ridiculous.

The other problem with this one was Rico's family's dependence on him. His entire family barely did anything unless Rico gave permission and approved. Stasia called him out on the fact she had never been like that but that was what he expected. At the same time she conceded she should have understood why he felt that way. I'm sorry but he became head of household when he was fifteen and while I get cultural differences, it was insane. His mother, sister, grandmother ceded all control to him at fifteen and still ceded all control years later. They had zero personality and zero spine. How...disturbing.

While I had my issues with this book, it was enjoyable. It isn't a book I would recommend for new HP readers. It's a book I would recommend to people who love nearly failed marriage romances OR Sarah Morgan fans. It was a fun read although some aspects were a bit disturbing. Hopefully the next Sarah Morgan book I read will be a bit more like "Once a Ferrara Wife" so I can finally put one higher than that one in comparison.

3 Stars
Published by Harlequin
April 2006
187 Pages
Provided by--the Library

This was pretty tame.

I liked it. I just wasn't in love with either. Both characters were ok but no real chemistry.

3.5

Baru kali ini saya tidak menyukai novel karya Sarah Morgan. Ide ceritanya sebenarnya bagus, tentang kesetiaan dan komunikasi dalam pernikahan. Tapi karakter hero-nya nyebelin banget, bar-bar, dan super egois. Rico bisa dengan mudah menggunakan seks untuk menaklukkan istrinya, tanpa benar-benar memahami keinginan istrinya. Masa lalu serba kekurangan mungkin membuat Rico berpikir istrinya puas dengan harta dan hubungan badan. Rico tidak merasa perlu mendengarkan kesepian yang dialami Stasia. Stasia sendiri juga merasa lebih baik tidak usah berbicara pada Rico, dan menunggu Rico berubah.

Sebel sama Rico. Sebel banget karena sesuai sama judul, Stasia berasa simpenan aja kalo di rumah. Asli gedeg abis denger jawaban dia ke Stasia cuma begitu. Jahat, seksis, sinting! Walaupun cuma salah paham, tapi tetep aja kata-katanya nggak pantes diucapin. Kadang buat ukuran bussinessman sukses, Rico ini agak bodoh juga buat mahami wanita (yang bahkan istrinya, lho).

Satu bintang tambahan buat endingnya, walaupun agak nggak rela bisa balikan. Lagi2 karena seks, ugh. Kalau alasannya di luar seks pun kayaknya bisa nih diperpanjang. Also, tulisan Bunda SM as always layak buat dipertahankan. Sksksksksk aku bebal kayaknya ya, tetap baca aja karya2 SM walaupun cowok2nya pasti kaya, berkuasa, keras kepala, seksis, nggak pekaan, wkwkwk di lain sisi tetap demen ending2 macam bikinan Bunda SM ini, hiks.

From page one you know this is going to be an intense book. It opens with a teenaged girl fighting for her life in the hospital.

Rico's sister is in a coma but wakes long enough to ask for one person - Stasia, his soon to be ex-wife. This request throws the Rico and Stasia back together again. There is deep animosity between them because Rico saw Stasia in his bed with another guy. But all is not as it seems.

Rico and Stasia may dislike each other but the sexual chemistry between them is hot! They communicate best physically and they spent a good portion of the book "communicating".

I loved Stasia. She was so wronged but she held in to her dignity in-spite and secrets in spite of Rico's vitriol. Rico is a Neanderthal who believes that his wife should be home waiting for him in bed.

I absolutely enjoyed this book, my only complaint was the end was rather abrupt. I needed an epilogue to tie up a few loose ends. Otherwise, a good, angsty read.

This is a "fight fuck fight" book.

The protags are in a relationship on the verge of divorce. The hero believes his wife was unfaithful (not true - but he has good reason for thinking it is). The heroine believes her husband is an unrepentant workaholic (true) who only wanted her for sex (not true). She's also pretty darn pissed at him for even thinking she would cheat on him.

The "fight fuck fight" cycle bothered me because it just seemed like they were hammering the same things over and over again (double entendre totally intended) without anything changing until the very end. But when they did change at the end? Well, I totally grinned. I just would have liked a more gradual progression.