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The Corsican Gambit
It's the nineties, for heaven's sake.
Intelligent women simply do not find themselves won in a card game in Monte Carlo. But Maximillian Donelli makes his own rules , and tonight Francesca Drury is his. Her loyalty to her brother offers no alternative-she has to go through with this crazy charade.
But kidnapping! Who does Max Donelli think he is ? Her brother's archrival, that's who. And now Max's potent sexuality promises to weaken Francesca's defenses-and threatens to make her a traitor....
Intelligent women simply do not find themselves won in a card game in Monte Carlo. But Maximillian Donelli makes his own rules , and tonight Francesca Drury is his. Her loyalty to her brother offers no alternative-she has to go through with this crazy charade.
But kidnapping! Who does Max Donelli think he is ? Her brother's archrival, that's who. And now Max's potent sexuality promises to weaken Francesca's defenses-and threatens to make her a traitor....
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 25, 1994
19 people are currently reading
61 people want to read
About the author
Sandra Marton
674 books540 followersI've been a writer, one way or another, all my life. Before I could read, I made up poems and my mom wrote them down for me. In elementary school, my teachers almost always let me write poems or stories instead of requiring me to do art projects. Always, I dreamed of becoming a published writer...and that dream came true! I write novels about sexy, powerful men and independent-minded women, and what happens when they find each other and fall in love. My books are sexy and romantic, and they've very often full of romantic suspense. I write the kinds of books I love to read, and I hope that makes my readers happy.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
April 3, 2018
Re The Corsican Gambit - Sandra Marton goes for the classic kidnap for revenge trope on this one.
Srsly, if all kidnappers were as interesting as this Billionaire Corsican H, women would would be lining up for miles to be abducted. Unfortunately SM kinda drags it down again with an incredibly dumb bunny h that is just too busy petting unicorns and admiring their pretty rainbow manes to notice that her stepbrother is a sub-sewer swilling slime crawling nematode pustule.
(I mean a certain amount of naivete is necessary for this trope, but the h was the limit and kinda tested my tolerance.)
So the book starts with our sweet little h being dragooned into going to Monte Carlo with her stepbrother. The h has a job in an art gallery and has also inherited half the shares of her late stepfather's company- her sewer slurping stepbrother has the other half. He is forever dragging her out to socialize with his jet set buds who make a game of one-upping each other.
He claims he needs the h to help him with business connections and because the h feels a little guilty for profiting off the company she doesn't work for, she lets him. In reality, her stepbrother is only a success because he stole some innovations from the H and in his quest for boardroom power, he is trying to pimp the h out.
The stepbrother continually sets her up in dubious situations, but the h is too stupid to see it. So far she has managed to avoid anything serious, but we can see it is just a matter of time before something really ugly happens. Then the stepbrother tries to set her up with some creepy Marquis old guy and the h escapes into the garden.
She and the H meet in the moonlight and a huge roofie kissing moment happens. The h's stepbrother is very irate at having his pimp attempt foiled and the next night he pushes the h at the old guy even harder. However the H is there again and it is clear he thinks the h is a tarty tartlet harlot Jezebel. Then he realizes the h is his mortal enemie's stepsister. Challenges to poker are issued and the h's stepbrother loses his head and starts betting like a hot head idiot and won't leave the casino.
The H is on a hot winning streak and the more he wins, the more the step brother loses. After accusations of theft and sabotage, it comes down to a poker game. The H pushes the bets higher and higher and finally the sewer slurper stepblobule bets the h against the H's full house. He loses, the h has a temper tantrum and then goes off with the H when he claims he just wants to take her to dinner and dancing and her stepbrother walks off.
Dinner however, includes driving along the Corniche Roads of the French Riviera and when the H threatens forced seduction, the h declares that if he is going the rape route he is no better than what he claims her stepbrother is. The H apologizes and offers to take her back, but the h is attracted and plus she feels she has to honor her stepbrother's debt for some reason.
So after a few glasses of champagne at an awesome terrace bar, the H manages to get the h aboard his yacht by pretending it is a restaurant and carrying her up the gangplank and serving her dinner- to be fair he offers her the chance to leave again, but the h says she will stay. Then the H gives the h more wine, asks her if she would have come with him of her own free will and when she admits she would have, he kidnaps the passed out h as we sail off to Corsica and sends a faked h telegraph to the h's stepblobule that she is having a fling and has run off.
The h freaks out when she wakes up and finally starts realizing she is in a bad situation. She is stuck with people who have no interest in helping her and refuse to speak in anything but French or Italian, neither of which the h knows much of. She also figures out that the H is planning to use her against her stepbrother in some way, but she can't figure out how and eventually, she just has to go where the H takes her and try to figure out way to escape.
He takes her to his grand Corsican Castle and the h is constantly watched. Both the H and h learn a little more about each other as the days pass. The H explains about how her step brother stole his computer programs and how his poor family immigrated to America, where the H got his NYC start and then moved his mum back to Corsica when his dad died. The h is falling more in love with the H every minute and the H was smitten the first time he saw her, the h can't see it, but it is pretty obvious.
The inevitable lurve club moment arrives when the h is moping around cause she is bored and the H takes her horse back riding. We get a glorious passion moment with unicorn grooming licenses being revoked in the herbal scented Corsican Maquis -which is a bunch of herbs and plants that grow as scrub on Corisca - (things like lavender and rosemary and eucalyptus and thyme and the scents make the air smell really great.) The h is glorying in her big day and night of love and acknowledges that she believes the H now about her step-brother.
The next day the h wakes up alone and the H has left the estate. She still can't go around without a guard and she realizes that the H was totally playing her. So she tarts herself up and when the H finally gets back, she is waiting in his bedroom with champagne and the unmade bed and tells the H that she hates to be a hit it and quit kinda girl - but she is, cause he was a one and done and she is tired of playing the naive nitwit, now that she got what she wanted and they both had a little fling.
The H ships her back to NYC and the h gets her own little flat, but her step-brother is furious with her because the H made her miss the shareholder's meeting. Because she wasn't there to vote her shares, her step brother was kicked out as chairman and the H got his own man in on the stregnth of the shares he owned. So the company is doing great, but the stepbrother is vowing revenge for his public humiliation and the h agrees there should be some.
The stepbrother then drags the h to another big society party, this time he wants the h to sleep with another skeevy old board member and casually drop some misinformation about the H to get him ousted from the company. The H is there with another beautiful woman and the h is hurt, she is also furious over yet ANOTHER pimp out attempt.
The stepbrother loses it completely and admits that he stole the H's idears when he seduced a female employee of the H's. He has always hated his stepsister and felt that she shouldn't have gotten any part of his father's company and that she should be willing to prostitute herself for something she did not deserve.
The H overhears all this and declares that the h loves him and then declares that the stepbrother will sell him his shares of the family firm and depart to the mists of HPlandia. (Tho I don't think pimp blobule evil stepbrother got an elderly widowed pet billionairesses.) The h admits she loves the H and he admits he loves her back and has since he met her and the two decide to marry and love it up in Corsica for the big pink sparkly HEA.
This one was definitely the tropy of the tropiest, but it was well done for the most part - except for the extreme idiocy of the h. However the H went a long way towards making up for her inadequacies and overall this a great HP outing.
Srsly, if all kidnappers were as interesting as this Billionaire Corsican H, women would would be lining up for miles to be abducted. Unfortunately SM kinda drags it down again with an incredibly dumb bunny h that is just too busy petting unicorns and admiring their pretty rainbow manes to notice that her stepbrother is a sub-sewer swilling slime crawling nematode pustule.
(I mean a certain amount of naivete is necessary for this trope, but the h was the limit and kinda tested my tolerance.)
So the book starts with our sweet little h being dragooned into going to Monte Carlo with her stepbrother. The h has a job in an art gallery and has also inherited half the shares of her late stepfather's company- her sewer slurping stepbrother has the other half. He is forever dragging her out to socialize with his jet set buds who make a game of one-upping each other.
He claims he needs the h to help him with business connections and because the h feels a little guilty for profiting off the company she doesn't work for, she lets him. In reality, her stepbrother is only a success because he stole some innovations from the H and in his quest for boardroom power, he is trying to pimp the h out.
The stepbrother continually sets her up in dubious situations, but the h is too stupid to see it. So far she has managed to avoid anything serious, but we can see it is just a matter of time before something really ugly happens. Then the stepbrother tries to set her up with some creepy Marquis old guy and the h escapes into the garden.
She and the H meet in the moonlight and a huge roofie kissing moment happens. The h's stepbrother is very irate at having his pimp attempt foiled and the next night he pushes the h at the old guy even harder. However the H is there again and it is clear he thinks the h is a tarty tartlet harlot Jezebel. Then he realizes the h is his mortal enemie's stepsister. Challenges to poker are issued and the h's stepbrother loses his head and starts betting like a hot head idiot and won't leave the casino.
The H is on a hot winning streak and the more he wins, the more the step brother loses. After accusations of theft and sabotage, it comes down to a poker game. The H pushes the bets higher and higher and finally the sewer slurper stepblobule bets the h against the H's full house. He loses, the h has a temper tantrum and then goes off with the H when he claims he just wants to take her to dinner and dancing and her stepbrother walks off.
Dinner however, includes driving along the Corniche Roads of the French Riviera and when the H threatens forced seduction, the h declares that if he is going the rape route he is no better than what he claims her stepbrother is. The H apologizes and offers to take her back, but the h is attracted and plus she feels she has to honor her stepbrother's debt for some reason.
So after a few glasses of champagne at an awesome terrace bar, the H manages to get the h aboard his yacht by pretending it is a restaurant and carrying her up the gangplank and serving her dinner- to be fair he offers her the chance to leave again, but the h says she will stay. Then the H gives the h more wine, asks her if she would have come with him of her own free will and when she admits she would have, he kidnaps the passed out h as we sail off to Corsica and sends a faked h telegraph to the h's stepblobule that she is having a fling and has run off.
The h freaks out when she wakes up and finally starts realizing she is in a bad situation. She is stuck with people who have no interest in helping her and refuse to speak in anything but French or Italian, neither of which the h knows much of. She also figures out that the H is planning to use her against her stepbrother in some way, but she can't figure out how and eventually, she just has to go where the H takes her and try to figure out way to escape.
He takes her to his grand Corsican Castle and the h is constantly watched. Both the H and h learn a little more about each other as the days pass. The H explains about how her step brother stole his computer programs and how his poor family immigrated to America, where the H got his NYC start and then moved his mum back to Corsica when his dad died. The h is falling more in love with the H every minute and the H was smitten the first time he saw her, the h can't see it, but it is pretty obvious.
The inevitable lurve club moment arrives when the h is moping around cause she is bored and the H takes her horse back riding. We get a glorious passion moment with unicorn grooming licenses being revoked in the herbal scented Corsican Maquis -which is a bunch of herbs and plants that grow as scrub on Corisca - (things like lavender and rosemary and eucalyptus and thyme and the scents make the air smell really great.) The h is glorying in her big day and night of love and acknowledges that she believes the H now about her step-brother.
The next day the h wakes up alone and the H has left the estate. She still can't go around without a guard and she realizes that the H was totally playing her. So she tarts herself up and when the H finally gets back, she is waiting in his bedroom with champagne and the unmade bed and tells the H that she hates to be a hit it and quit kinda girl - but she is, cause he was a one and done and she is tired of playing the naive nitwit, now that she got what she wanted and they both had a little fling.
The H ships her back to NYC and the h gets her own little flat, but her step-brother is furious with her because the H made her miss the shareholder's meeting. Because she wasn't there to vote her shares, her step brother was kicked out as chairman and the H got his own man in on the stregnth of the shares he owned. So the company is doing great, but the stepbrother is vowing revenge for his public humiliation and the h agrees there should be some.
The stepbrother then drags the h to another big society party, this time he wants the h to sleep with another skeevy old board member and casually drop some misinformation about the H to get him ousted from the company. The H is there with another beautiful woman and the h is hurt, she is also furious over yet ANOTHER pimp out attempt.
The stepbrother loses it completely and admits that he stole the H's idears when he seduced a female employee of the H's. He has always hated his stepsister and felt that she shouldn't have gotten any part of his father's company and that she should be willing to prostitute herself for something she did not deserve.
The H overhears all this and declares that the h loves him and then declares that the stepbrother will sell him his shares of the family firm and depart to the mists of HPlandia. (Tho I don't think pimp blobule evil stepbrother got an elderly widowed pet billionairesses.) The h admits she loves the H and he admits he loves her back and has since he met her and the two decide to marry and love it up in Corsica for the big pink sparkly HEA.
This one was definitely the tropy of the tropiest, but it was well done for the most part - except for the extreme idiocy of the h. However the H went a long way towards making up for her inadequacies and overall this a great HP outing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 2, 2018
3.5 stars rounded up. Heroine is "won" in a poker game by the hero. Heroine's stepbrother stole clients and plans from the hero's business, so hero sees this win as a way to begin to right the wrongs the stepbrother had done to him. Hero kidnaps heroine to his castle in Corsica. They inevitably fall for each other. There's a memorable scene where the heroine loses her virginity outdoors amid fragrant plants and the wild maquis.
Alas, the H/h still don't trust each other and the hero's revenge is in motion while the heroine realizes she's been used. She pretends it was all a game to salvage her pride and hero sends her packing.
Six months later, the heroine *still* hasn't figured out that her stepbrother is the villain of the story until the last few pages. When he finally revealed his true colors to the heroine I wanted more of a comeuppance. That knocked off a half a star.
I liked the unusual setting. The kidnapping and heroine's fear was well done. She resisted him longer than our current crop of HP heroines. Hero was clearly smitten. Heroine was pretty much clueless for the entire story.
See Boogenhagen's excellent review with more spoilers.
Alas, the H/h still don't trust each other and the hero's revenge is in motion while the heroine realizes she's been used. She pretends it was all a game to salvage her pride and hero sends her packing.
Six months later, the heroine *still* hasn't figured out that her stepbrother is the villain of the story until the last few pages. When he finally revealed his true colors to the heroine I wanted more of a comeuppance. That knocked off a half a star.
I liked the unusual setting. The kidnapping and heroine's fear was well done. She resisted him longer than our current crop of HP heroines. Hero was clearly smitten. Heroine was pretty much clueless for the entire story.
See Boogenhagen's excellent review with more spoilers.
January 22, 2014
Fair Francesca falls for the ultimate Italian billionaire!
This is the first Harlequin Presents I ever read and it still defines the genre for me. In all the most intoxicating ways! There's the luxury and opulence of an exotic setting like Monaco. There's a heroine with sensitivity and taste seduced by a dark, handsome billionaire. There's champagne, and yachts, and a rugged castle in a mysterious Mediterranean setting. The texture of the writing is lush, the pace is slow, leisurely, almost hypnotic. And of course the sex scenes are scorching hot!
If this is the kind of book you like, this is the best there is.
This is the first Harlequin Presents I ever read and it still defines the genre for me. In all the most intoxicating ways! There's the luxury and opulence of an exotic setting like Monaco. There's a heroine with sensitivity and taste seduced by a dark, handsome billionaire. There's champagne, and yachts, and a rugged castle in a mysterious Mediterranean setting. The texture of the writing is lush, the pace is slow, leisurely, almost hypnotic. And of course the sex scenes are scorching hot!
If this is the kind of book you like, this is the best there is.
June 14, 2020
Would give it 4 stars if the H did not slap the heroine and called her names and then the h was quite forgiving and she thought his abuse was warranted since she 'lied' to him. I just could not push that aside. Just because he was mad does not mean he could slap someone. Calling names was one thing, but being violent was another. Then the ending seemed rushed. He didn't apologize and just said he loved her then everything was sunshine and rainbow. At least before I read those parts, I enjoyed this book quote a lot.
No marriage, just a short proposal at the ending, no baby(ies) here too.
No marriage, just a short proposal at the ending, no baby(ies) here too.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 16, 2020
A Corsican billionaire wins an evening with a beautiful American woman.. They're supposed to have dinner on his yacht, but the yacht heads out to sea and Francesca Drury finds herself the captive of powerful, sexy Maximillian Donelli. Does Max want revenge...or does he want Francesca? Hot days and hotter nights will give the answer.
December 18, 2016
Good book
I like this author and have for years. Th I s is a good book but at times I didn't like the hero or the heroine and I didn't like the brother from the very first. What a nasty person.
I like this author and have for years. Th I s is a good book but at times I didn't like the hero or the heroine and I didn't like the brother from the very first. What a nasty person.
July 17, 2016
Yes it's predictable .. yes this plot has been used too many times before but that didn't stop this book from being enjoyable. I really liked the characters .. Max pissed me off sometimes but then again this is exactly what happens whenever I run into a Harlequin hero but as usual he managed to win me over eventually , Francesca was a little weak .. I didn't like how she allowed her stepbrother to use her but thankfully she grew a backbone by the end of the book and finally did something about him. What I enjoyed the most was the relationship between Max and Francesca .. the arguing .. the tension .. the chemistry and most importantly them falling in love with each other. I really liked this book.
April 22, 2016
Yes this is a romance book that is not an obtainable fantasy, but it keeps ya hoppin and I liked reading it.
September 3, 2018
One of the stories you would love to read in a lazy relaxing holiday. Very intense, well-written, witty and its characters are adorable.
January 22, 2021
Μια πολύ όμορφη ιστορία αγάπης που χάλασε τις αρχικές μου εντυπώσεις από τον πρόχειρο και βιαστικό επίλογο.
August 22, 2012
Romantic and predictable.. Basically everything you expect from one of these kinds of books.
May 5, 2021
Padionat read
A page turner lots of fire. I loved it and stayed up late to finish reading it but I would have loved a more detailed reminding made him work a little harder before forgiving him. After all he did kidnap her.
A page turner lots of fire. I loved it and stayed up late to finish reading it but I would have loved a more detailed reminding made him work a little harder before forgiving him. After all he did kidnap her.
September 29, 2019
At the start of the book, I hated the brother so much, I almost stopped reading.
November 23, 2024
I love Sandra Marton but the writing in this one is very boring and chaotic ...
May 18, 2016
4 1/2 stars!, October 25, 2008
My thoughts: This book brings back good memories! I read this more than 10 years ago but I had to sell all my books when I moved to the US =( Thank goodness I found this book again. The back cover above sorta tells the whole story so I dont need to repeat it. Needless, I love the hero. He's oh so commanding and in the first pages you can kinda see that he is so attracted to the heroine, haha! Kidnap me please! The hero and heroine both have sparks and you can definitely see the chemistry. The heroine is a little blind and a bit of a pushover - when it comes to her evil brother that is. I re-read this book in one shot. As usual I wish there was an epilogue =P
My thoughts: This book brings back good memories! I read this more than 10 years ago but I had to sell all my books when I moved to the US =( Thank goodness I found this book again. The back cover above sorta tells the whole story so I dont need to repeat it. Needless, I love the hero. He's oh so commanding and in the first pages you can kinda see that he is so attracted to the heroine, haha! Kidnap me please! The hero and heroine both have sparks and you can definitely see the chemistry. The heroine is a little blind and a bit of a pushover - when it comes to her evil brother that is. I re-read this book in one shot. As usual I wish there was an epilogue =P
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July 2, 2018It's the nineties, for heaven's sake.
Intelligent women simply do not find themselves won in a card game in Monte Carlo. But Maximillian Donelli makes his own rules , and tonight Francesca Drury is his. Her loyalty to her brother offers no alternative-she has to go through with this crazy charade.
But kidnapping! Who does Max Donelli think he is ? Her brother's archrival, that's who. And now Max's potent sexuality promises to weaken Francesca's defenses-and threatens to make her a traitor...
Intelligent women simply do not find themselves won in a card game in Monte Carlo. But Maximillian Donelli makes his own rules , and tonight Francesca Drury is his. Her loyalty to her brother offers no alternative-she has to go through with this crazy charade.
But kidnapping! Who does Max Donelli think he is ? Her brother's archrival, that's who. And now Max's potent sexuality promises to weaken Francesca's defenses-and threatens to make her a traitor...
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews