Wow! This was a wonderful read!!!

Maryann had me cheering for her within a few pages. For the era, she’s fighting for the chance to be free. Interestingly, she doesn’t desire a career as many historical romance heroines in recent years seem to do. All she wants is a large family within a marital relationship filled with love and that will allow her to be a partner, rather than an object of ownership. She was quite feisty and I loved how she enthralled Nicolas from the beginning due to her quirky ways.


Nicolas was one of the most alpha heroes I’ve read in awhile, and that’s comparing him to contemporary romances as well. Put him in a mafia romance and holy heck, he’d set the standard for a new type of hero. He had a steadfastness to him that had me lingering on every action he took and words he spoke in regards to Maryann. As the relationship between them grew his protectiveness of her grew exponentially. Nicolas had me swooning, and I don’t swoon easily.


While this has a great rhythm and pace to the story, the relationship slowly evolves giving these characters a chance to truly get to know one another and thereby fall in love in a believable manner. The initial steam is light but it continues to grow as the story develops. When the slow burn finally comes to its ultimate conclusion, the ending result was an inferno of passion.


This has several plot lines running through it with plenty of drama and a bit of angst. I was engaged from the first page as this author pulled me into the story and had me experiencing the highs and lows with Maryann and Nicolas. I laughed, gasped, cursed, and cried throughout the book before I closed it with a huge smile, delighted in an epilogue that gave me everything I needed.