What do you think?
Rate this book
Doce Tentação
Seu novo chefe italiano é um pão! E também um brownie, um cheesecake, um cappuccino...
Recém-demitida, sem resumo e com um imenso buraco no coração, Francesca Marsden precisava de três coisas imediatamente: um cappuccino, um croissant e um emprego novo. E o Giovanni's era o lugar ideal para começar a resolver sua vida! Giovanni Mazetti, o lindo dono da cafeteria, estava sendo intimado a atender duas exigências de sua família: trabalhar menos e apresentar uma noiva à sua Nonna. E Fran seria a solução perfeita para seus problemas! Agora, além de gerenciar a rede de cafeterias Giovanni's e ter de apresentada como a futura esposa de Gio, Fran tem de suportar a árdua tarefa de ser beijada e abraçada por um italiano sensual, musculoso, lindo... e cada vez mais apaixonado por ela!
Recém-demitida, sem resumo e com um imenso buraco no coração, Francesca Marsden precisava de três coisas imediatamente: um cappuccino, um croissant e um emprego novo. E o Giovanni's era o lugar ideal para começar a resolver sua vida! Giovanni Mazetti, o lindo dono da cafeteria, estava sendo intimado a atender duas exigências de sua família: trabalhar menos e apresentar uma noiva à sua Nonna. E Fran seria a solução perfeita para seus problemas! Agora, além de gerenciar a rede de cafeterias Giovanni's e ter de apresentada como a futura esposa de Gio, Fran tem de suportar a árdua tarefa de ser beijada e abraçada por um italiano sensual, musculoso, lindo... e cada vez mais apaixonado por ela!
185 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 1, 2007
7 people are currently reading
173 people want to read
About the author
Kate Hardy
812 books264 followersKate Hardy is the award-winning author of more than 100 books for Harlequin Mills & Boon and the Georgina Drake cozy crime series for Storm. Her novel 'Breakfast at Giovanni's' won the RNA Romance Prize in 2008, 'Bound by a Baby' won the RNA RoNA Rose in 2014 and ‘A Will, A Wish, A Wedding’ won the RNA Liberta Books Shorter Fiction award in 2021. She's been shortlisted six more times for the award, as well as for two Romantic Times awards.
She lives in Norwich in the east of England with her husband, two grown-up children, springer spaniels Archie and Dexter, and too many books to count. She's a bit of a nerd who loves cinema, live music, the theatre, ballet, history and cooking, and adores anything Italian. She loves doing research, particularly if it's hands-on and means experimenting with cooking. Reviewers say that her books are full of warmth, heart and charm - and also that you'll learn something new and interesting from them!
Kate also writes bestselling local history books under the name of Pamela Brooks.
She lives in Norwich in the east of England with her husband, two grown-up children, springer spaniels Archie and Dexter, and too many books to count. She's a bit of a nerd who loves cinema, live music, the theatre, ballet, history and cooking, and adores anything Italian. She loves doing research, particularly if it's hands-on and means experimenting with cooking. Reviewers say that her books are full of warmth, heart and charm - and also that you'll learn something new and interesting from them!
Kate also writes bestselling local history books under the name of Pamela Brooks.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
June 16, 2012
I loved this book it was so romantic. I adored Gio and understood Fran very well. She was such a sweet girl but always doubted herself. I also liked how close Gio's family was to him and how he loved everyone. This book had no villians which in my opinion is great because you don't read many books now days without having to read about many conflicts. There were some problems but they were problems that Gio and Fran had with themselves and it took them some time to finally sort it out. I loved their chemistry and the romance was so strong. I got my HEA in the end so it made me love this book even more! :) What I didn't like about this book was that it was so short I wished the author could have wrote it a little longer. :p
June 26, 2023
Sweet story although I dislike when both are afraid to say ILY. No way a reserved quit lady would instantly fold into a boisterous, tactile family that fast.
February 21, 2012
Kitap çok güzel başladı.Sıcak bir havası vardı.İtalyanlar hakkında pek bir şey bilmem, kitap beni hem meraklandırdı hemde aile yapısı hakkında fikir edinmemi sağladı. Gio çok samimi ve cömert bir insan gibi görünüyor. Fran'nın daha problemli olduğunu düşünüyorum eğer karakterleri karşılaştırmam gerekirse.
Yazarın dili hoşuma gitti, kitabın komik olduğunu söyleyemem ama sevimli, sıcak bir hava içinde yazılmış. Bu Gio'nun annanesini gerçekten merak ediyorum.Kahve öğretme derslerinin çok işlevli olduğunu düşünmeye başladım.Hem kıza yakın olmak hemde asıl işe odaklanmak, e birde yalnız kalmak olabilir tabiki :)Kızı kucağına alması ilgi çekiciydi ve uyurgezerlik olayı biraz ani ve zorlama geldi.Son bir adıma ihtiyacım var ne olsun ne olsun der gibi. Hoşlanmadım.Anın etkisi ile gelişen bir şeyler belki daha hoş olabilirdi.
Kitapta karakterler arası iletişim eksikliği olduğu bir hakikat, ama sıcak aile tablosu gerçekten içimi ısıttı:)
Güzel kitapto.Franın en sonunda ailesinin onu sevdiğini anlaması güzeldi:)
Yazarın dili hoşuma gitti, kitabın komik olduğunu söyleyemem ama sevimli, sıcak bir hava içinde yazılmış. Bu Gio'nun annanesini gerçekten merak ediyorum.Kahve öğretme derslerinin çok işlevli olduğunu düşünmeye başladım.Hem kıza yakın olmak hemde asıl işe odaklanmak, e birde yalnız kalmak olabilir tabiki :)Kızı kucağına alması ilgi çekiciydi ve uyurgezerlik olayı biraz ani ve zorlama geldi.Son bir adıma ihtiyacım var ne olsun ne olsun der gibi. Hoşlanmadım.Anın etkisi ile gelişen bir şeyler belki daha hoş olabilirdi.
Kitapta karakterler arası iletişim eksikliği olduğu bir hakikat, ama sıcak aile tablosu gerçekten içimi ısıttı:)
Güzel kitapto.Franın en sonunda ailesinin onu sevdiğini anlaması güzeldi:)
March 6, 2015
This was good! No invoking of the word mistress where it didn't belong and it's mostly just about two adults realizing they wanted to be together despite the complication that the hero offered her a job basically out of nowhere because he had a good feeling about her. Pushy family stuff but since the heroine wanted that, that was totally cool. And fake dating.
I'm pretty sure I heard Kate Hardy mentioned on one of the back episodes of the SBTB/DA podcast, one from when Sarah went to Australia, so that is why I picked this up from Scribd and I am glad I did.
I'm pretty sure I heard Kate Hardy mentioned on one of the back episodes of the SBTB/DA podcast, one from when Sarah went to Australia, so that is why I picked this up from Scribd and I am glad I did.
January 13, 2013
I loved this book Gio and Fran were character I instantly liked. I love the fact that they know they are in love with the other but are afraid the other will not reciprocate. I love Gio's family it is loud and loving even to the extent of being over bearing. Fran was adopted and that his made he feel inadequate to her family. The story ended well even though I wanted an epilogue.
June 3, 2017
Giovanni runs a chain of coffee shops and happens to be closing one night when he spots Fran looking sad. She's just been let go from her job as an office manager. Turns out, Giovanni sees an opportunity to hire someone to take care of his business while he tries to figure out what more he wants to do with it and to examine other life options. So he hires her, but his family seems to think that they're romantically involved. So when his grandmother comes to visit, thinking he's settling down, Giovanni asks Fran to pretend to be his girlfriend to make her happy. She agrees, but before long they realize nobody is pretending...until it's time to end it and then there are doubts.
This is Harlequin lite. There is virtually no angst (except for the last little part of the story). Giovanni is not your typical hero - he's not a millionaire, he can't buy anything under the sun or whisk the heroine off to exotic locales, he's not tortured or cynical about women, he's not a manwhore and he's honestly a really nice, decent guy. So this felt wildly unusual compared to the rest of the genre. A good kind of unusual I think. Needless to say, I liked Giovanni. I liked Fran too. But they were rather a bit staid in the first 40% of the book. It read like a journal of daily activity with some mentions of attraction and yearning, but kind of on the boring side. Around the 40% point though, the UST starts to build and this becomes a much better story. At that point the chemistry turns on between them and I enjoyed reading about them. I didn't completely understand Fran's decision to . If you like low angst, romantic stories with really likeable, relatable characters, this one is for you.
This is Harlequin lite. There is virtually no angst (except for the last little part of the story). Giovanni is not your typical hero - he's not a millionaire, he can't buy anything under the sun or whisk the heroine off to exotic locales, he's not tortured or cynical about women, he's not a manwhore and he's honestly a really nice, decent guy. So this felt wildly unusual compared to the rest of the genre. A good kind of unusual I think. Needless to say, I liked Giovanni. I liked Fran too. But they were rather a bit staid in the first 40% of the book. It read like a journal of daily activity with some mentions of attraction and yearning, but kind of on the boring side. Around the 40% point though, the UST starts to build and this becomes a much better story. At that point the chemistry turns on between them and I enjoyed reading about them. I didn't completely understand Fran's decision to . If you like low angst, romantic stories with really likeable, relatable characters, this one is for you.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 30, 2020
I have this book in a bundle but want to review it here. Fran has just been fired from her job. While have a cup of coffee she starts a conversation with Gio. He offers her a job. His is from a very large Italian family and very in your face. Their romance is a sweet and enduring one. His family businesses are varied but they are not shown as millionaires. Just working class. She has self doubt due to being adopted so does not think she is lovable. He is a workaholic and must learn to slow down or miss his chance at a true love.
February 20, 2022
I was in one third of the book when i thought : ok, i love it. And found out i just finished another romance by the same author (mistress on trial) and also loved it. I think what i love most of this book is the absent of the usual harpy weepy heroine and ruthless hero. And i love the telling of the story. Its bern awhile since i read a true romance from cover to cover.
January 1, 2019
A nice, uncomplicated story. Good enough to end 2018 and begin 2019 with.
August 15, 2025
Es geht immer um Abendbrot und nur einmal kurz um Frühstück 🤔
November 15, 2008
This is the first Kate Hardy book I’ve ever read and I’m so glad I did! It’s a little like Prince Charming meets Sleeping Beauty. Gio is one handsome, sexy and talented Italian. He believes in commitment and family and is a man who made sacrifices for that family. At one time he dreamed of being a musician. However when his father became ill, he rose to the cause and took over the family coffee business giving up his dream.
Fran, is the oldest in her family and was adopted when her parents thought they couldn’t have any children which was inaccurate as they eventually had twins boys and a girl. Fran always felt awkward, a sense of not belonging as her siblings excelled at everything they attempted; where Fran definitely was not an academic as the rest of her family.
Fran frequents the Mazetti coffee shop and one particular day stops in feeling a little off as she’s just been told her job is being eliminated. She feels comfortable talking with Gio and in the end, Gio offers Fran a job as his office manager as he needs someone to organize his business because he wants to expand.
What both Fran and Gio don’t count as their working relationship and friendship progress is their attraction for each other. Gio’s family adore him and want him happy so when they learn of Fran they believe her to be more than his office manager. This situation works well for Gio as his Nonna is soon to visit so he asks Fran to pose as his girlfriend for the entire family. What they both don’t count on is how their relationship develops from friendship to lovers. What Fran doesn’t count on is for the very first time, she actually feels she belongs
This is one sweet and tender love story……an awakening of sorts for both Gio and Fran and one you definitely will not want to miss thanks to Kate Hardy’s storytelling ability!
Book Description:
Having just been fired, Francesca has three immediate requirements: a coffee, an extremely calorific pastry and a new job. Stopping off at her favorite café, Giovanni's, she manages to pick up all three!
Working for darkly handsome Giovanni Mazetti is fantastic—except Fran discovers the job comes with a tantalizing caveat: pretending to be his adoring girlfriend! Soon their kisses start happening in private as well as in public, and although Fran knows it's all a game to Giovanni, she can't help wishing his feelings were for real….
Fran, is the oldest in her family and was adopted when her parents thought they couldn’t have any children which was inaccurate as they eventually had twins boys and a girl. Fran always felt awkward, a sense of not belonging as her siblings excelled at everything they attempted; where Fran definitely was not an academic as the rest of her family.
Fran frequents the Mazetti coffee shop and one particular day stops in feeling a little off as she’s just been told her job is being eliminated. She feels comfortable talking with Gio and in the end, Gio offers Fran a job as his office manager as he needs someone to organize his business because he wants to expand.
What both Fran and Gio don’t count as their working relationship and friendship progress is their attraction for each other. Gio’s family adore him and want him happy so when they learn of Fran they believe her to be more than his office manager. This situation works well for Gio as his Nonna is soon to visit so he asks Fran to pose as his girlfriend for the entire family. What they both don’t count on is how their relationship develops from friendship to lovers. What Fran doesn’t count on is for the very first time, she actually feels she belongs
This is one sweet and tender love story……an awakening of sorts for both Gio and Fran and one you definitely will not want to miss thanks to Kate Hardy’s storytelling ability!
Book Description:
Having just been fired, Francesca has three immediate requirements: a coffee, an extremely calorific pastry and a new job. Stopping off at her favorite café, Giovanni's, she manages to pick up all three!
Working for darkly handsome Giovanni Mazetti is fantastic—except Fran discovers the job comes with a tantalizing caveat: pretending to be his adoring girlfriend! Soon their kisses start happening in private as well as in public, and although Fran knows it's all a game to Giovanni, she can't help wishing his feelings were for real….
Read
July 17, 2018Further adventures in confusion at how in the world Kate Hardy's books are categorized. And at least this is a Harlequin Presents Extra and not a straight-up Harlequin Presents! But until the characters slept with each other (which was fairly late in the book), I thought this could have been from the Harlequin Romance line, it was that sweet & light and veered far from dramatically emotional tension. Also, the title is super ridiculous for this book; the British title of Breakfast at Giovanni's at least matches the story's upbeat, flirtier tone.
My main problem with this book was that far too much of the relationship arc relied on not being honest with how they felt, that the sudden reversal/fix of this at the end didn't strike me as trustworthy/believable. I mean, granted, a beautiful rendition of "This Nearly Was Mine" is probably the closest thing to magic that exists in the real world, seriously, so mad props for that, but I didn't buy that suddenly these two would be communicating 100% with each other.
The family stuff, especially Gio's, was also just Not-For-Me. The fantasy of being accepted and immediately loved by a giant, close-knit, always-in-each-other's-business loving family doesn't appeal to me, and I'm skeptical of its rosy portrayal in romance novels, and I worry for the person marrying into that. I found the treatment of Fran's family strange, too. Okay, so she suffered low self-esteem comparing herself to them and she's not close to them, but in the final pages, we find out that they all love her so much and they're Stepford-ly wholesome and now she knows they've all loved her all along and all it took was her boyfriend forcing her to take him to visit them? Ummmmmm. Nah. No, thanks.
I did enjoy the characters and their banter, and I think Hardy does such a good job with grounding the seduction-y and sexy scenes very specifically in who the characters are.
My main problem with this book was that far too much of the relationship arc relied on not being honest with how they felt, that the sudden reversal/fix of this at the end didn't strike me as trustworthy/believable. I mean, granted, a beautiful rendition of "This Nearly Was Mine" is probably the closest thing to magic that exists in the real world, seriously, so mad props for that, but I didn't buy that suddenly these two would be communicating 100% with each other.
The family stuff, especially Gio's, was also just Not-For-Me. The fantasy of being accepted and immediately loved by a giant, close-knit, always-in-each-other's-business loving family doesn't appeal to me, and I'm skeptical of its rosy portrayal in romance novels, and I worry for the person marrying into that. I found the treatment of Fran's family strange, too. Okay, so she suffered low self-esteem comparing herself to them and she's not close to them, but in the final pages, we find out that they all love her so much and they're Stepford-ly wholesome and now she knows they've all loved her all along and all it took was her boyfriend forcing her to take him to visit them? Ummmmmm. Nah. No, thanks.
I did enjoy the characters and their banter, and I think Hardy does such a good job with grounding the seduction-y and sexy scenes very specifically in who the characters are.
November 30, 2008
This is a gorgeous story - and Kate Hardy's 25th publication for Mills & Boon! This in itself is a milestone to be proud of and Kate couldn't have celebrated better than with sexy Giovanni - he is HOT!
Francesca is a warm, loveable heroine, and just what Giovanni needs. His large Italian family fall in love with Fran from the moment they meet her, and Fran reciprocates the feelings.
Kate Hardy delivers everything her faithful readers have come to expect - a well researched story, a very sexy hero who is deserving of the lovely heroine, and secondary characters who don't take over the story yet are integral to the plot.
This is a story that touches the reader on all levels - it's humorous, romantic, and emotional. A delicious read on all counts.
Francesca is a warm, loveable heroine, and just what Giovanni needs. His large Italian family fall in love with Fran from the moment they meet her, and Fran reciprocates the feelings.
Kate Hardy delivers everything her faithful readers have come to expect - a well researched story, a very sexy hero who is deserving of the lovely heroine, and secondary characters who don't take over the story yet are integral to the plot.
This is a story that touches the reader on all levels - it's humorous, romantic, and emotional. A delicious read on all counts.
March 27, 2011
This book was a pleasant surprise. I absolutely loved it. The title, however, is very misleading, although I'm not quite sure the author had anything to do with it. I bet it was Harlequin. I definitely like the previous release name Breakfast at Giovanni's. It was released by Waldenbooks in the UK by that name. It really was a great story. It had great characters and great family dynamics and even a wee bit of conflict, but overall a great read and I see myself definitely coming back to it. Kudos to the author!
January 19, 2012
though i really forgot when i read this the story really did stick and its the first paperback book i read that actually made me want to search for other authors books. *sigh* Cant seem to really like other titles though the story's real fun and momental. the feelings just so chaste to even explore love to recommend it too. hope ya all enjoy.!
December 30, 2011
An absolutely gorgeous book - great characters and some of the best dialogue I've seen on printed paper. Really enjoyed the story of Gio and Fran and the normal surroundings of the story - no billionaires here and so refreshing to see it. Recommended.
June 15, 2009
Gotta get ready for that trip to Italy!
June 11, 2014
Very engaging
April 21, 2013
4.5 for me!!! I liked the characters...and an interesting story.
February 22, 2015
HPx 2 Ap08
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews