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Proof of Their Sin
A beautiful mistake
Pregnant. Lauren Bradley's heart stops—there's only one man who can be the father and it's not her late husband, the man everyone thinks is a celebrated war hero….
Ravaged with guilt at sleeping with his best friend's wife, Paolo Donatelli closed his heart to Lauren forever. But in nine months' time, the proof of their incredible night together will be there for the world to see.
Marriage is Paolo's answer to avoiding more scandal, but it's Lauren's worst fear—she still bears the scars from the first time she said "I do." Can she trust Paolo enough to reveal the truth?
Pregnant. Lauren Bradley's heart stops—there's only one man who can be the father and it's not her late husband, the man everyone thinks is a celebrated war hero….
Ravaged with guilt at sleeping with his best friend's wife, Paolo Donatelli closed his heart to Lauren forever. But in nine months' time, the proof of their incredible night together will be there for the world to see.
Marriage is Paolo's answer to avoiding more scandal, but it's Lauren's worst fear—she still bears the scars from the first time she said "I do." Can she trust Paolo enough to reveal the truth?
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
102 people are currently reading
570 people want to read
About the author
Dani Collins
693 books1,185 followersUSA Today Bestselling author Dani Collins thrives on giving readers emotional, compelling, heart-soaring romance with laughter and heat, just like real life.
Mostly she writes contemporary romance, but she has also writes Historical Western, erotic romance, and romcom.
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Mostly she writes contemporary romance, but she has also writes Historical Western, erotic romance, and romcom.
Want to be notified of Dani's latest release along with getting sneak peeks, price drops, behind the scene's gossip and other special offers? Join Dani's VIP list. Join Now!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
February 4, 2016
I am on the fence about this book because I didn't like the way the hero treats the heroine for most of the book. He's very mean to her and judgmental and dismissive of her. Mostly because he didn't want to be attracted and drawn to her. He hates her for making him feel vulnerable and that she is the one woman he really ever loved that way. He's self-righteous in that he hasn't lived a very moral life, but wants to give the pretense about it without putting in the effort. It's all about how he appears to the world. While I understand his angst in what happened with his ex, when was that ever Lauren's fault? But he seems to want to make her the scapegoat in the situation. He comes off as a largely selfish hero. On the other hand, I did like Lauren quite a bit. I really wish she wasn't in love with Paulo. I wish she could have fallen for a good guy who loved her and respected her equally. It's almost kind of a scenario where the decent girl gets caught between two rakes and ends up falling for one who isn't really that much more moral than the other. At the end of the day, Paulo and Ryan are both sexual predators, using women as part of their competition and for sexual-gratification, with very little sense of personal honor. I really have a hard time with those kinds of heroes, and Paulo doesn't make me feel any better about it. I think one thing that Paolo is complicit in is hard to forgive. He knew that Lauren's husband was unfaithful to her, and he never called him on it, even if he wouldn't admit it to Lauren. Even their moral failing at Lauren's wedding was arguably more his cause than hers, and his expectation at that time was ridiculous.
The more I think about this, the more I can't say I really liked this book as much as I would have liked to. It has lots of intensity and sort of the ongoing, enduring love theme, but I can't really believe in that love from Paolo's perspective. His resolution at the end was a bit too little too late for my taste.
I feel this book deserves more than 3 stars, but not 4. So I'll go with 3.5 stars. For me, a hero who doesn't seem worthy of the heroine is more or less a deal breaker for me.
The more I think about this, the more I can't say I really liked this book as much as I would have liked to. It has lots of intensity and sort of the ongoing, enduring love theme, but I can't really believe in that love from Paolo's perspective. His resolution at the end was a bit too little too late for my taste.
I feel this book deserves more than 3 stars, but not 4. So I'll go with 3.5 stars. For me, a hero who doesn't seem worthy of the heroine is more or less a deal breaker for me.
March 30, 2018
Intense story of a couple who met at the wrong time and then finally gave into their passion the night they found out the heroine's husband and hero's bff died. Since the husband was dead and hero was divorced, I don't see that as cheating, but both characters are wracked by guilt.
The means tremendous angst, which is good. The hero is cruel to the heroine and blames her, which is good, too. The heroine is innocent of the motives the hero assigns to her - also good. They are bound together by a baby on the way.
But the story bogs down when both the H/h are given pages of thinky-thoughts. Thinky-thoughts of anger and self-loathing. *sigh* Too much negativity.
There is a cute epilogue with the heroine in an ambulance having just delivered her child. The hero had to deliver the baby and now they're on their way to the hospital so mother and child can be checked out. Hero also needed oxygen. LOL
The means tremendous angst, which is good. The hero is cruel to the heroine and blames her, which is good, too. The heroine is innocent of the motives the hero assigns to her - also good. They are bound together by a baby on the way.
But the story bogs down when both the H/h are given pages of thinky-thoughts. Thinky-thoughts of anger and self-loathing. *sigh* Too much negativity.
There is a cute epilogue with the heroine in an ambulance having just delivered her child. The hero had to deliver the baby and now they're on their way to the hospital so mother and child can be checked out. Hero also needed oxygen. LOL
March 30, 2018
3.5 Stars! this was a cute love story and the epilogue was hilarious! Hero is friends with heroine's husband. When he dies hero comforts the heroine one thing leads to another and they spend a night together. Heroine finds out she is pregnant but when she confronts Paolo he is not at all thrilled about her pregnancy. I didn't really connect to the characters but I definitely enjoyed the angsty parts and the hero's insecurity and jealousy. Still, books with cheating are not my thing.
August 4, 2016
I am feeling INCREDIBLY generous hence two stars rather then a more deserved one.
The h is the widow of the All-American hero. Too bad he was also the All American cheating ratfink as well. On the evening the h finds out hubbie is dead, the H's best friend, a tall glass of alpha-romero Italian hunkiness, swoops in to take her away. They share a little more than a Calgon bath.
So, here she is at his mega fundraiser three months later where she's had a transcendent hair makeover to tell him he's going to be a proud papa. SIDE NOTE: That's what I love about Harlequins. Nothing like being widowed to a trouser snake, bedded and impregnated by said dead husband's best friend to inspire a makeover. Priorities ladies.
This whole plot reminds me of one of my favorite lines from the movie Return to Me...
The H, who was royally duped years ago by another evil gold-digger, has trust issues and doesn't believe it's his baby. He tosses out some seriously cruel crap. Skimming occurred about now so I can't remember if he runs after her or what, but rather than stabbing him with a cocktail fork and ditching him and her Debbie Downer family, the tiny h lets him strong arm her into a visit to his family in Italy.
Backstory drama is the H and her husband had been childhood best friends. They met the h together and there is more than the implication that hubby decided to chase and marry the heroine just to keep her away from the H. Great friend. The day of their wedding, the H plants one on the h and asks her to run away with him even though she just married HIS best friend. Nice group of characters, huh? He of course, hates her for this grand passion they share blah, blah, blah, and throws it in her face, oh, about every five minutes until she finally points out that he was in the bed with her and she didn't get pregnant by herself. He wallows in an epic pity party, and doesn't know whether it's worse that people will know he got her pregnant by leaving with her so publicly or people might think she is pregnant by her husband via IVF and frozen sperm. For an alpha hero he is rather wimpy, overly driven and overly concerned with his family's and the public's concerns.
They end up in Italy together where eventually he strong arms her into a MOC. Just what she needs as she just got out of a marriage where she lived in the shadow of Captain America and his evil P.
Somehow, someway they end up with a HEA. The problem is that along with HEA, a personality transplant must have happened as the couple goes from surly and accusatory to giddy and light-hearted.
The h is the widow of the All-American hero. Too bad he was also the All American cheating ratfink as well. On the evening the h finds out hubbie is dead, the H's best friend, a tall glass of alpha-romero Italian hunkiness, swoops in to take her away. They share a little more than a Calgon bath.
So, here she is at his mega fundraiser three months later where she's had a transcendent hair makeover to tell him he's going to be a proud papa. SIDE NOTE: That's what I love about Harlequins. Nothing like being widowed to a trouser snake, bedded and impregnated by said dead husband's best friend to inspire a makeover. Priorities ladies.
This whole plot reminds me of one of my favorite lines from the movie Return to Me...
Grace has Bob's dead wife's heart!
The H, who was royally duped years ago by another evil gold-digger, has trust issues and doesn't believe it's his baby. He tosses out some seriously cruel crap. Skimming occurred about now so I can't remember if he runs after her or what, but rather than stabbing him with a cocktail fork and ditching him and her Debbie Downer family, the tiny h lets him strong arm her into a visit to his family in Italy.
Backstory drama is the H and her husband had been childhood best friends. They met the h together and there is more than the implication that hubby decided to chase and marry the heroine just to keep her away from the H. Great friend. The day of their wedding, the H plants one on the h and asks her to run away with him even though she just married HIS best friend. Nice group of characters, huh? He of course, hates her for this grand passion they share blah, blah, blah, and throws it in her face, oh, about every five minutes until she finally points out that he was in the bed with her and she didn't get pregnant by herself. He wallows in an epic pity party, and doesn't know whether it's worse that people will know he got her pregnant by leaving with her so publicly or people might think she is pregnant by her husband via IVF and frozen sperm. For an alpha hero he is rather wimpy, overly driven and overly concerned with his family's and the public's concerns.
They end up in Italy together where eventually he strong arms her into a MOC. Just what she needs as she just got out of a marriage where she lived in the shadow of Captain America and his evil P.
Somehow, someway they end up with a HEA. The problem is that along with HEA, a personality transplant must have happened as the couple goes from surly and accusatory to giddy and light-hearted.
June 12, 2013
Rating 3.5 stars
The book got off to a rough start, the hero came across as stuffy and heroine was all over the place and then the book found its groove. Heroine was married to hero's kind of best friend, but they had been undercurrents of attraction between them from the start, the heroine having been raised in a sheltered way married the hero's friend, while the hero at that time was married because of a paternity thing. However the hero's marriage blew up because his wife was a liar and cheat and on her wedding day he kissed her.
Now, the heroine didn't have the greatest marriage, she took care of her sick grandmother while her husband travelled the globe as an army man. Then she found out he was cheating on her, when she tried to ask the hero when she started suspecting, he made her feel like dirt, because he felt guilty for wanting her.
Her husband dies, marriage was over before that, she gets preggers by the hero, who is all about image because of his family and their bank. He acts all stupid not accepting the paternity but the book gets better, the heroine refuses to be a martyr anymore and the hero becomes more likeable.
The book got off to a rough start, the hero came across as stuffy and heroine was all over the place and then the book found its groove. Heroine was married to hero's kind of best friend, but they had been undercurrents of attraction between them from the start, the heroine having been raised in a sheltered way married the hero's friend, while the hero at that time was married because of a paternity thing. However the hero's marriage blew up because his wife was a liar and cheat and on her wedding day he kissed her.
Now, the heroine didn't have the greatest marriage, she took care of her sick grandmother while her husband travelled the globe as an army man. Then she found out he was cheating on her, when she tried to ask the hero when she started suspecting, he made her feel like dirt, because he felt guilty for wanting her.
Her husband dies, marriage was over before that, she gets preggers by the hero, who is all about image because of his family and their bank. He acts all stupid not accepting the paternity but the book gets better, the heroine refuses to be a martyr anymore and the hero becomes more likeable.
July 26, 2013
Fairly decent story. Well written and moved along well.
March 12, 2017
Me gustó y no tanto.
La protagonista parecía fuerte al principio, pero se quedó en la nada: al final todo lo que hacía no tenía consistencia. El héroe, en cambio, me pareció más sólido y torturado, pero a la vez duro, él hizo que la novela sea llevadera.
El argumento no es de los mejores para desarrollar una historia: acostarse con la mujer del mejor amigo y hacerle un hijo. Demasiado que funcionó como para darle dos estrellas.
La protagonista parecía fuerte al principio, pero se quedó en la nada: al final todo lo que hacía no tenía consistencia. El héroe, en cambio, me pareció más sólido y torturado, pero a la vez duro, él hizo que la novela sea llevadera.
El argumento no es de los mejores para desarrollar una historia: acostarse con la mujer del mejor amigo y hacerle un hijo. Demasiado que funcionó como para darle dos estrellas.
June 6, 2013
Thought the heroine was stupid. Gets pregnant by a guy she didn't know and is outraged he doesn't believe it's his. I did not like the heroine. The story was hard to read. It wasn't compelling maybe because the heroine annoyed me so.
May 28, 2018
After i finished the book i was feeling kinda... nothing?!?!...On paper it has all the right ingredients but i dont know... something is missing i just cant put my finger on it...
June 16, 2013
Being a military wife is tough for any woman, the not knowing if your husband will come home, the long days and nights spent alone. It can after a time take the toll on a woman not strong enough to handle it all.
But what if you are strong enough to handle it only you don't want to, all simply for the reason that it is simply no use?
In the new Dani Collins read this is one of many reasons why Lauren is relieved when the news of her husband going missing during a mission comes knocking, she is yes saddened and concerned but not in the way a loving wife would be.
It was marriage to a man that cheated on her every chance he got, he lied to her about being able to have children, he kept her on the side simply as a trophy for his best friend Paolo to see, after all he won her.
She seeks comfort in the arms of I-want-you-in-my-bed-but-only-as-my-wife Paolo, the one man she has always loved and wanted, but she chose the safer option of marring the perfect imaged man instead, one that does not let her burn out of control. When morning comes the news of her husband's death lets them go their separate ways, their night of unbridled passion over but never forgotten.
But when she comes striding back into his life with news she is expecting his baby, out the door goes the kind and considerate friend and lover and in walks the cold hearted bastard from hell. And Lauren feels trapped all over again, only this time it with a man she loves with all her heart and she has no option but to go along with is rules and be the dutiful wife yet once again, after all she survived one loveless marriage and for the sake of her baby she will do so again, if she does not lose her strength to fight first.
The character of Lauren was well written, I liked that she lets go for once and takes what she wants, even if it gets her pregnant and not knowing what to exactly do, she still showed courage to grab the chance to be with the man she has always secretly yearned for.
I was not nuts about her being so shy all the time, I wanted to grab her, shake her up and yell at her to snap out of it. However as the read progressed I understood that it all had to do with her failed marriage and her husband keeping her as this perfect dutiful wife that would not so much as cut her hair when told not to. She had been controlled every minute of every day even when her husband was absent. I loved when the author let her blossom into a more confident woman ready to face the world head on no matter the consequences, as soon as the truths started to be revealed.
The character of Paolo was a real mean bastard, yes ladies no other word for it. Him questioning if the baby is really his, made me so mad I could strangle him! He treats Lauren with such distaste and disgusting words that it made my heart ache. But again only when the author revealed his past did it bring the puzzle together for me as reader and I could understand his faults. Only I would have liked the author to dig a little deeper into the past, as it was I only got the basic information that he had been cheated and that was the end of it.
I loved that Paolo feels so bad about breaking his promise to his best friend, however I was not crazy about him feeling so extremely torn up about it, as with the secrets he knew about his perfect hero friend, I as reader felt that he could actually push the guilt aside completely as the best friend treated the very kind hearted Lauren nearly as badly as he treats her when learning she is expecting.
The backdrop settings were all very romantic and blended in very nicely with this read. The dialogue was sexy and passionate, loved the words of conflict between the main and secondary characters. It kept me on the edge of my seat wanting to see how this will play out for a couple so definitely meant to be.
I adored the ending of this read, it was not one that I have read before in a Mills and Boon Modern read, and left me laughing out loud.
I am taking away a message of always doing the right thing just because it is expected of you, will leave you empty, and feeling bereft of the happiness you are entitled to.
I recommend this read for fans of romance with secrets that when revealed will chance the lives of people who have been kept apart for years. Passionate, sensual and worth the time to read.
4.5 star review
"He finally has her in his arms, but will she stay?"
March 28, 2019
A twenty-five-year-old widow Lauren Bradley, three months pregnant, is at the Donatelli Charity Ball. Paolo Donatelli is the father and hence has the right to know. Paolo - who was Ryan Bradley's best friend. He comes across as someone who's very critical of backgrounds. Accompanying in the party is Isabella Nutini, whom he plans to make his second wife, his first being a 'mixed-breed American', who duped him with someone else's child.
He's contemptuous of Lauren, while she is full of guilt about the activities they engaged on the night before her husband's death was announced in the morning papers. They marry for the baby, and then his work takes precedence, and she again becomes depressed, and the resentment grows.
The book is written in such an interesting way, from the first page itself, I can't seem to find words to define it. Without even being alive, I could just imagine what an interesting character Mamie (Lauren's Grandma) would have been.
Now that's something you don't get to read. The male MCs have emotions but, it's usually revealed much later on. Here, it's in the beginning only. Though together with his airs about the proper family name, it gets a little irritating.
Dani Collin's writing always makes me swoon. Especially here where she makes the heroine give an impassioned speech on not being a doormat (though she does appear to be timid) and the hero looks like a fool in front of the heroine, instead of the be all and end all Harlequin heroes usually are.
The funniest thing was when like a bolt of lightning, realisation struck Paolo that the baby was his. It has a hilarious ending too, I mean an epilogue. Bwahahahahahaha...
P.S. They got the heroine's hair on the cover right! And I don't know why that makes me so happy. Haha!
He's contemptuous of Lauren, while she is full of guilt about the activities they engaged on the night before her husband's death was announced in the morning papers. They marry for the baby, and then his work takes precedence, and she again becomes depressed, and the resentment grows.
The book is written in such an interesting way, from the first page itself, I can't seem to find words to define it. Without even being alive, I could just imagine what an interesting character Mamie (Lauren's Grandma) would have been.
He was a man of very deep emotions and controlling them was a daily struggle.
Now that's something you don't get to read. The male MCs have emotions but, it's usually revealed much later on. Here, it's in the beginning only. Though together with his airs about the proper family name, it gets a little irritating.
The way she had pressed her face into his hand like a cat seeking more petting was still unsettling him.
Dani Collin's writing always makes me swoon. Especially here where she makes the heroine give an impassioned speech on not being a doormat (though she does appear to be timid) and the hero looks like a fool in front of the heroine, instead of the be all and end all Harlequin heroes usually are.
The funniest thing was when like a bolt of lightning, realisation struck Paolo that the baby was his. It has a hilarious ending too, I mean an epilogue. Bwahahahahahaha...
P.S. They got the heroine's hair on the cover right! And I don't know why that makes me so happy. Haha!
July 1, 2013
There are several issues in this book that resulted in me giving the book 2 stars. First, the character of Paolo had absolutely no redeeming qualities in my opinion. I thought he was a jerk and I really could not see him in any other light. Also, I didn't like the format of the storyline. I think the story would have been better if it had been told from the beginning of their meeting or maybe from the night they got together. By starting it off when she is telling him she is pregnant can be tough because the reader has to fall in love with the couple based on their backstory...which was confusing and unclear.
I did like the character of Lauren and her growth throughout the novel. Other than that, the story had a lot of potential, but I think the author should spent more time on the history of the characters.
I did like the character of Lauren and her growth throughout the novel. Other than that, the story had a lot of potential, but I think the author should spent more time on the history of the characters.
August 11, 2013
2.5 stars
DC tackled a very sensitive trope : the forbidden love, the irrepressible attraction between Laura and her husband's best friend, Paolo, without crossing the line of betrayal. But when Ryan died, they comfort each other the only way they know. And this one-night stand has a remaining consequence : an unplanned pregnancy. Laura has a lot of growing-up to do throughout the book. On the other hand, Paolo treats Laura badly but beneath his meanness you can feel his conflict emotions. What I really liked is the epilogue!
DC tackled a very sensitive trope : the forbidden love, the irrepressible attraction between Laura and her husband's best friend, Paolo, without crossing the line of betrayal. But when Ryan died, they comfort each other the only way they know. And this one-night stand has a remaining consequence : an unplanned pregnancy. Laura has a lot of growing-up to do throughout the book. On the other hand, Paolo treats Laura badly but beneath his meanness you can feel his conflict emotions. What I really liked is the epilogue!
September 12, 2013
a definite absolutely awesome read !! such strong intense emotions n so much angst. paolo is one of those very very formidable male n the sex was too too amazing !! loved it! they had very good chemistry these 2. a house on fire. i especially liked dat part when paolo realised the baby is indeed his bcoz they had fucked so many times (without condom bcoz they thought she was sterile) n instead of thinking how it cud be his baby, he shud have asked himself how it cud not be his. his logic is big lol:p a definite 4.5 star 4 me
December 27, 2014
Espero con ansias el siguiente
November 22, 2020
This story had powerful, all consuming passion, emotions, and chemistry. I’ve passed by this book for months when I looking for a good romance. I’m so glad I bought it, and gave it a chance. I’m afraid my review will do this book a disservice. The book was Awesome. I wished I knew how to write a review that would tell just how much I loved this book! I normally do not like any books with cheating. The way this book was worded tore at my heart. It didn’t make the actions right, but in the end it was a beautiful love story. It was like everything worked out in the end the way it was supposed to.
Lauren met Ryan, and Paolo at the same time. Because of circumstances she ended up married to Ryan. He was the safer choice at the time. In her heart she knew she had married the wrong guy. She had asked for a divorce, When she found out he was unfaithful but before the papers were signed Ryan ended up dyeing in battle. He was a soldier. The world now looked at him as a Hero. She felt guilty. She was also mad, and frustrated. So many emotions, but she had no one to scream at. It’s not like she could yell at a dead guy… After she found out her husband died, she spent one night with Paolo that would change their lives forever! She got her chance to be with the guy her heart ached for. Paolo, and Lauren’s journey was not an easy one. I could feel the heart ache, passion, and love weaved within the pages. I did like the way they talked, and opened up to one another. They did suffer from stupid pride that hurt the relationship at first. When they let their pride go, and opened up to one another, it was like a wild fire burning out of control. That is the only way I can describe the passion the two had for one another. I also loved the humor at the beginning of the book!
My only complaint for this book would be the epilogue. I’m glad it had one don’t get me wrong. But I did find the epilogue a bit confusing. It didn’t go into detail why Paolo was on oxygen in the back of an ambulance after Lauren delivered the baby.
Sample from chapter 2
“Since when are gowns deadly?” Her smile invited him to join her in laughing at absurdity. Part of him wanted to let it happen. When she forgot to be shy, she was quite animated and fun. And sensual. Her eyes grew languorous as she gazed up at him. Her color was flowing back in a warm glow. “Shoes are regular serial killers, but dresses are harmless,” She teased.
Another sample from chapter 2
He’d convinced himself that whatever attraction he’d felt toward Lauren had been a bachelor’s last hurrah. Then he’s glimpsed her arriving at the church and the magnetism had been even stronger then he’d remembered. Unbalanced by it, he’d blurted out a hasty are you sure lecture to Ryan that had gone nowhere.
Sample from chapter 8
Something tore open inside him. No misgivings behind it. Just joy tempered with pent up prayers for his child’s health and wellbeing. Tenderness for the woman in his arms, growing his child. “I didn’t want to believe you. I didn’t want to be let down again,” he choked out, beyond moved, dizzy. “I wouldn’t do that to you .” She drew back to set a warm hand on his jaw, her touch sincere, her beauty beyond physical. It radiated from her inner being. The desire he always felt for her took a sharp turn into a swifter current of deeper waters. Kissing her wasn’t a desire, it was a necessity. Gathering her into perfect alignment to his own body, he lowered his head to take her mouth with all the emotions flaring uncontrollably inside him.
Lauren met Ryan, and Paolo at the same time. Because of circumstances she ended up married to Ryan. He was the safer choice at the time. In her heart she knew she had married the wrong guy. She had asked for a divorce, When she found out he was unfaithful but before the papers were signed Ryan ended up dyeing in battle. He was a soldier. The world now looked at him as a Hero. She felt guilty. She was also mad, and frustrated. So many emotions, but she had no one to scream at. It’s not like she could yell at a dead guy… After she found out her husband died, she spent one night with Paolo that would change their lives forever! She got her chance to be with the guy her heart ached for. Paolo, and Lauren’s journey was not an easy one. I could feel the heart ache, passion, and love weaved within the pages. I did like the way they talked, and opened up to one another. They did suffer from stupid pride that hurt the relationship at first. When they let their pride go, and opened up to one another, it was like a wild fire burning out of control. That is the only way I can describe the passion the two had for one another. I also loved the humor at the beginning of the book!
My only complaint for this book would be the epilogue. I’m glad it had one don’t get me wrong. But I did find the epilogue a bit confusing. It didn’t go into detail why Paolo was on oxygen in the back of an ambulance after Lauren delivered the baby.
Sample from chapter 2
“Since when are gowns deadly?” Her smile invited him to join her in laughing at absurdity. Part of him wanted to let it happen. When she forgot to be shy, she was quite animated and fun. And sensual. Her eyes grew languorous as she gazed up at him. Her color was flowing back in a warm glow. “Shoes are regular serial killers, but dresses are harmless,” She teased.
Another sample from chapter 2
He’d convinced himself that whatever attraction he’d felt toward Lauren had been a bachelor’s last hurrah. Then he’s glimpsed her arriving at the church and the magnetism had been even stronger then he’d remembered. Unbalanced by it, he’d blurted out a hasty are you sure lecture to Ryan that had gone nowhere.
Sample from chapter 8
Something tore open inside him. No misgivings behind it. Just joy tempered with pent up prayers for his child’s health and wellbeing. Tenderness for the woman in his arms, growing his child. “I didn’t want to believe you. I didn’t want to be let down again,” he choked out, beyond moved, dizzy. “I wouldn’t do that to you .” She drew back to set a warm hand on his jaw, her touch sincere, her beauty beyond physical. It radiated from her inner being. The desire he always felt for her took a sharp turn into a swifter current of deeper waters. Kissing her wasn’t a desire, it was a necessity. Gathering her into perfect alignment to his own body, he lowered his head to take her mouth with all the emotions flaring uncontrollably inside him.
July 28, 2015
3.5 Tormented Stars
“I’ve always been jealous.”
Author Dani Collins told a story of anguish and despair when she wrote Proof of Their Sin. The books tells of Lauren Bradley, widow to military hero Captain Ryan Bradley and her relationship with Ryan’s best friend, Paolo Donatelli.
Paolo and Lauren met five years earlier. He was engaged and she was an innocent visiting her cousin in New York City. He introduced her to his best friend Ryan, who proceeded to charm her. At their next meeting, Paolo was recently divorced after an awful marriage and he was the best man at Ryan and Lauren’s wedding, where he thoroughly and inappropriately kissed the bride.
Throughout the years their relationship became hostile with each believing that the other disliked them. Until the night that Ryan went missing during a mission. Lauren called on Paolo for help and through him learned that her husband died during an unsuccessful mission. While grieving, they reached out to each other for comfort and a few months later, learned of the results of their imprudence.
This was a sad, intense story about meeting the right person at the wrong time and allowing guilt to almost destroy the love that was there from the start. This couple’s journey was a truly painful one, with their self-reproach and shame, they caused each other unnecessary pain.
Paolo is angry through most of the book. He is like a bear with a sore paw. All of his grunting, growling and blustering is to hide the pain he felt at losing the one woman who fascinated him to Ryan. Had he met Lauren before he met his ex-wife, he would never have let her go. But once they got together, he felt like he had to live with Ryan’s ghost and Ryan’s wrong deeds and it’s tearing him apart.
Lauren learned early on to be agreeable and while she broke out of that pattern for a little while after Ryan’s death. However she found herself falling back into the same pattern with Paolo. It took a lot of bravery to approach him and let him know that she was pregnant, and even more strength to stand up to him when he treated her so inconsiderately.
If you like a bit of angst with your romance, this is definitely a book for you. I enjoyed it, even when I wanted to reach in and pop Paolo upside his head. Of course there was a lovely HEA, but the journey there was agonizing.
“I’ve always been jealous.”
Author Dani Collins told a story of anguish and despair when she wrote Proof of Their Sin. The books tells of Lauren Bradley, widow to military hero Captain Ryan Bradley and her relationship with Ryan’s best friend, Paolo Donatelli.
Paolo and Lauren met five years earlier. He was engaged and she was an innocent visiting her cousin in New York City. He introduced her to his best friend Ryan, who proceeded to charm her. At their next meeting, Paolo was recently divorced after an awful marriage and he was the best man at Ryan and Lauren’s wedding, where he thoroughly and inappropriately kissed the bride.
Throughout the years their relationship became hostile with each believing that the other disliked them. Until the night that Ryan went missing during a mission. Lauren called on Paolo for help and through him learned that her husband died during an unsuccessful mission. While grieving, they reached out to each other for comfort and a few months later, learned of the results of their imprudence.
This was a sad, intense story about meeting the right person at the wrong time and allowing guilt to almost destroy the love that was there from the start. This couple’s journey was a truly painful one, with their self-reproach and shame, they caused each other unnecessary pain.
Paolo is angry through most of the book. He is like a bear with a sore paw. All of his grunting, growling and blustering is to hide the pain he felt at losing the one woman who fascinated him to Ryan. Had he met Lauren before he met his ex-wife, he would never have let her go. But once they got together, he felt like he had to live with Ryan’s ghost and Ryan’s wrong deeds and it’s tearing him apart.
Lauren learned early on to be agreeable and while she broke out of that pattern for a little while after Ryan’s death. However she found herself falling back into the same pattern with Paolo. It took a lot of bravery to approach him and let him know that she was pregnant, and even more strength to stand up to him when he treated her so inconsiderately.
If you like a bit of angst with your romance, this is definitely a book for you. I enjoyed it, even when I wanted to reach in and pop Paolo upside his head. Of course there was a lovely HEA, but the journey there was agonizing.
July 21, 2013
Heroine who makes a conscious effort throughout the story to stop being a doormat and a vulnerable hero with some asshole moments who acknowledges and feels bad about being an asshole. Add some adorable flirty dialogue as a relief from the angst, like:
This Presents just worked for me.
I won't go into the plot, except to say that it's mostly typical HP fare. What makes this one great is that hero and heroine are so recognizably human in their reactions to the drama they're mired in, and that so many HP staples are turned on their heads. Lauren is aware that her timidity and willingness to be walked over are a problem, and we get to see her changing step by step, with a few backslides along the way. Her dead husband was, conveniently, a cheating jackass, but--and this is truly miraculous for this type of story--she was sexually satisfied with him despite being otherwise unhappy. She even says once that with her husband away so much she sometimes wished she were the type to cheat. A heroine with a libido independent of true love's aphrodisiac properties? How in the world did this get published?
Paolo is never allowed to be a jerk without an explanation, and his behavior never crosses the line into unforgivable. The man want Lauren and is seriously terrified of getting hurt. And he's a rich banker who actually has to work hard, and doesn't have the freedom to just live as he pleases without consequences.
This story is what I hope for every time I open an HP--soapy, over-the-top plot with characters that talk and act like real people.
"Since when are gowns deadly?" [...] "Shoes are regular serial killers, but dresses are harmless," she teased.
He couldn't help the twitch of humor at the corner of his mouth. "I've seen dresses short enough to take a man down. Whiplash is a common occurrence."
Her smile grew. "I nearly died of embarrassment in a bathing suit once. True story."
This Presents just worked for me.
I won't go into the plot, except to say that it's mostly typical HP fare. What makes this one great is that hero and heroine are so recognizably human in their reactions to the drama they're mired in, and that so many HP staples are turned on their heads. Lauren is aware that her timidity and willingness to be walked over are a problem, and we get to see her changing step by step, with a few backslides along the way. Her dead husband was, conveniently, a cheating jackass, but--and this is truly miraculous for this type of story--she was sexually satisfied with him despite being otherwise unhappy. She even says once that with her husband away so much she sometimes wished she were the type to cheat. A heroine with a libido independent of true love's aphrodisiac properties? How in the world did this get published?
Paolo is never allowed to be a jerk without an explanation, and his behavior never crosses the line into unforgivable. The man want Lauren and is seriously terrified of getting hurt. And he's a rich banker who actually has to work hard, and doesn't have the freedom to just live as he pleases without consequences.
This story is what I hope for every time I open an HP--soapy, over-the-top plot with characters that talk and act like real people.
June 20, 2014
I was a bit nervous about this book cos of the whole "sin" thing. But it was okay because heroine had asked for a divorce and husband had died before Lauren got together with Paolo. It was cutting it fine of course which is the story behind the title.
It was nice to read a heroine who wasn't "feisty" and high powered in a profession. These days it's rare. But despite doormat tendencies brought out by her step-family and her army mad husband, she does make conscious efforts to get over that. Not always easy when your world has been rocked by an unexpected pregnancy.
Paolo was a nice hero, trying to get over his wild youth and ending up a bit of a stuffed shirt. Aggravated by his trying to resist the attraction he felt for Lauren at their first meeting and the guilts.
I really enjoyed this story though occasionally I wanted to sit them down with a Nescafe (because communication). Loved how the end showed both of them had grown to be the joyful and passionate people they were meant to be before things went wrong.
It was nice to read a heroine who wasn't "feisty" and high powered in a profession. These days it's rare. But despite doormat tendencies brought out by her step-family and her army mad husband, she does make conscious efforts to get over that. Not always easy when your world has been rocked by an unexpected pregnancy.
Paolo was a nice hero, trying to get over his wild youth and ending up a bit of a stuffed shirt. Aggravated by his trying to resist the attraction he felt for Lauren at their first meeting and the guilts.
I really enjoyed this story though occasionally I wanted to sit them down with a Nescafe (because communication). Loved how the end showed both of them had grown to be the joyful and passionate people they were meant to be before things went wrong.
August 27, 2017
I can't believe I waited so long to read this book! Go figure ,there was resistance in the event there was chance of adultery in the real sense. However , that was not the case. H and h loved each other before she married the Rival best friend. When he died , there were no barriers for the couple to stay apart and hence their Dynamite night, which ended on a sour note. They fought their respective feelings and soon found each other. I appreciated the H when he waited until they marry before getting physical with the h . His restraint proved he wanted respectability, trust and love. Love it! Loved Vittorio story too !
March 6, 2017
This is a re-read for me. Big fan of Dani Collins books! This one, probably 3.75, better than 3.5 but not a 4. I really liked the characters in this book. I loved Paolo's explosive temper (so Italian...). A great thing is that DC keeps her characters alive in her other books; for Lauren and Paolo, A Debt Paid in Passion and Bought by her Italian Boss. The "fun" keeps coming as Lauren appears to turn in to a regular baby making machine.
June 3, 2013
Omg, this book was pretty great but the ending was hilarious! I've never read a harlequin that funny at the end. I couldn't help but giggle and feel good.
March 23, 2014
This book was what I crave out of a Harlequin Presents with a perfect blend of passion, romance, emotional highs and lows, and just enough angst to kick it up a notch and adding to the stakes of this emotional journey between both of the characters that I enjoy so much. It what draws me in and sucks me in. Just something about these types of stories get to me and make me feel so much while I'm reading it. And that's what I want from these books. To feel. That's the whole point of escaping in this fantasy world and going on this emotional journey with them. It's my pay off. It's what I want out of romantic fiction. All that angst and pain and high emotions going on that it makes you want to cry because you feel so much for the characters and are rooting for them in the end and want to have their love heals all. It's makes for good fiction not so much for reality especially when the hero acts out of cruelly at first towards the heroine when she really doesn't deserve it, but all is forgiven because he feels so deeply and hurts so deeply he doesn't know how to respond until he just lashes out at our heroine, but then her grovels and makes it up to the heroine. So there would be a range of emotions going on until I am on the roller coaster right along with them. And that's what this story does.
I felt for both Lauren and Paolo in this story, and experienced all the emotions they were going through during this time like sadness, anger, hurt, depression, and joy, which was what I liked about this story. I felt it in my heart while reading and didn't feel like it was just told to me that Lauren was hurt when Paolo was cruel to her after he found out she was pregnant with his child. I felt her hurt and her pain when he would lash out at her time and time again until it made my heart ache for her, as did my heart ache for him as well at certain points in the book, and that's what really enmeshing me into the story was the emotional journey along with a searing attraction and passion that they feel for one another during the coarse of the book. Lots of hot chemistry going on there. And I experienced all this with them as if I was in their place and going through it myself.
There was a lot of emotional baggage going on here, which I won't lie I love to see in romances, with much history going on between the two of them to make the story even more angst filled and intense. I love that.
The story began with Lauren coming to Paolo's family ball to tell him that she was pregnant with his child. The problem Paolo was her late husband's best friend, and she slept with Paolo before it was announced that her husband was dead. During that passionate night the comforted each other, but it was more than that having both being intensely attracted to each other for five years, but never giving in because spouses were in the way. So there was just the built up sexual tension between them that it just exploded and they had to act on their passion, getting what they both wanted for so long. However, Lauren and Paolo, even though they knew they cared and wanted each other deeply for one another and found peace in each other's arms that night, never knew that the other had feelings for the other and just thought the other was using that night to numb their pain or just using them for a crutch. Meaning Lauren thought to Paolo their night together was only sex complied with pity for her while Paolo thought that she was just using him as a replacement to her husband so the morning after was really awkward with them barely saying a word to one another once they got dressed and left each other behind with many secrets in their wake. And it pained both of them for the three months they were apart that was so passionate and full of emotions, but not understanding what those emotions were for one another.
Plus the whole issue that her late husband basically cheated on her and left her alone most of the marriage so he could indulge in his flings plus he was in the military so he left her alone a lot and just waiting for him to come home. She didn't really love him just thought she would never get an offer of marriage again so she took it with him. And their marriage wasn't peachy besides the whole infidelity thing with him not telling her he had a vasectomy while he blamed her for the reason for them not having children to Paolo and his mother. And he was just a jerk altogether, and she just had a very lonely marriage with him. Plus he married her for two reason. One because she refused to sleep with him until a ring was on her finger. And two and probably the biggest reason was to rub it in Paolo face and show him that he won her because he knew Paolo wanted Lauren but couldn't have her because he was married so he used that against him plus her late husband was just very competitive and jealous of Paolo and just wanted to get at him.
And it was killing Paolo to see Lauren with her late husband because he felt very intensely towards her and wanted her for himself. He was jealous, which then caused him to lash out and Lauren and be very cruel to her during her marriage, which just hurt her and made her feel even lower than dirt because she felt intensely for him. So it was this merry go around/roller coaster ride for five years. Plus another reason it killed Paolo was that he was the one that saw Lauren first and wanted her on the spot, but couldn't have her because he was engaged to a woman who was supposedly carrying his child so he was angry about that especially when the woman lied about who the father of her child was. So it made him even angrier. He took it out on Lauren. He even kissed her and asked her to run away with him right after she married his friend, needing her and wanting her. He was just in so much pain at that time because his father died, his marriage was over, and the child was taken away so he was hurting badly and got drunk because of it and then kissed her. And when she didn't, he just became even crueler and played it off as just being a drunk ass at the wedding. But his coldness towards her didn't end there and he kept his distance, which really hurt and wounded her because she felt intensely for him as well even though she knew she shouldn't. Then to add to hurt and betrayal, Paolo kind of had an inkling that her late husband was cheating on her, though no proof, but he didn't say anything to her even when she came asked him if she thought that he was and he made her feel like crap that she even asked that of her great military hero husband and just felt like dirt. Plus he didn't do it in the kindness way so when she found out that he thought her late husband was cheating she was livid and hurt and felt betrayed and believed that Paolo must have really hated her to keep that from her.
So lots of history going on between them with hurt, pain, and angst being some of their core issues when they came together again at the ball. He was cruel and cold towards her like always while she just kept getting her heart bruised as she told him about the baby, but he didn't believe it was his. So now she had to slink back to lick her wounds, but he wouldn't allow her and kept her by his side until he learned the truth about the paternity of the baby, and they just went on a roller coaster ride from there with truth and secrets being revealed.
For a majority of the book, Lauren believed that Paolo hated her and thought her as nothing and just didn't want her at all, and he kept lashing out because of that. She believed he wanted to cause her pain, which was true in a sense but he was lashing out over having what he couldn't have and just feeling like she was a gold digger after his money. He didn't think much of her that she slept with him right after her late husband death and felt it was her fault because she instigated the whole thing, which made him question her motives. And also at one point he thought he was the substitute for her husband and didn't like that, and wanted to believe that she wanted him for him, and she did, but he didn't realize that.
So plenty of misunderstandings and drama going on. Plus added to outside pressure, which wasn't huge, but would be a factor with Paolo fearing that his reputation would be ruined just like he was with his first wife who utterly humiliated him and drag his name in the mud. So he wanted to avoid scandal at all cost, and made her pay the price. Was he unfair to her? Yes, very much so and he was very cruel to her when she didn't deserve it especially after all the pain and hurt she went through the last five years where she felt practically like nothing or would never be enough for anyone or anyone would ever love her. But behind all the lashing out on his side, was hurt man that didn't want to admit how important Lauren was to his life and his sanity. Because he wanted her for so long. And once he realized that she didn't believe he truly wanted, he set to prove it to her, though only in the physical sense, he kept his emotional walls up as did she, though she admitted more quickly that she was falling for him, well at least to the reader.
Just lots of emotions going on to make this an intense and deep emotional love story that I enjoyed. It was just constant and never stopped with both of them feeling shame and guilt and just utter turmoil over the past and their feelings for one another that it just got me swept up in their story and deeply invested in them as a couple. I rooted for them despite the fact that he was at times a jerk, though that didn't both me since I knew how much he was hurting where she was concerned, feeling he could never have her while feeling guilt for having her shortly after his best friend died.
Now I thought when I read the back of the book and found out that they slept together so quickly after the friend's death that I wouldn't like this story or be turned off by the fact or by both of them until the backstory came into play then it wasn't such a gross out factor. For one because I could see that they belonged together and circumstances just came between them. Two they had some deep raw emotions going on that had nothing to do with just the physical side of the relationship. In other wards that night they didn't just have sex and accidently conceived a baby, no it was more of the pent up tension that they finally gave into and were allowed to experience their forbidden feelings for one another. Three, I learned more about the backstory that made it more tolerable, that they were both attracted to each and wanted each other from day one plus her whole marriage wasn't all sun and roses with her late husband cheating on her and basically only marrying her to get at Paolo so it wasn't like a real marriage. Plus she asked her husband for a divorce before he died knowing it was truly over between them and knowing she needed to stop it for her only self-worth that was practically in the garbage because her self-esteem was based on her husband who never came home or was there when she needed him. So that definitely made me feel better learning all the circumstances surrounding it then when I first read the back blurb. So that was good, and I could get behind the romance of Paolo and Lauren.
And the passion between the two of them was sizzling like I said. They were practically an explosion after all the denied attraction that they had for one another. But like I said before it was more than just the physical, but very much emotional to which just made their love story even stronger and more passionate in my view because they had more at stake and were taking risks with their hearts even though they both tried not to. But those love scenes were pretty hot. I wished Dani Collins showed more of the night they actually conceived, though it was there just summarized that was pieced together throughout, I would have like to seen the full scene from beginning to end because I know it must have been hot and passionate. Just from the summary alone it sounded hot and passionate and just wanted to see it and feel it and experience it with them, but that wasn't the case and it was enough to fill in the gaps, which was the important part. But the whole book was just filled with this sexual tension that I couldn't wait until I saw them give in to their attraction for one another, and let me tell you it didn't disappoint. It was great. Both hot and emotional and just an explosion that showed what it was like for them to be apart and not together all that time even though they tried to forget yet couldn't. So when they came together again it was an explosion filled with lots of emotion. The one scene that wasn't a full love scene, but was no less hot was just filled with raw emotion because she feared that he was using sex to get his way and get her to marry him by using her body reaction against her because she was in deep with him. And just all that intense just compounded with the physical act itself, and I just felt bad that she felt that he didn't want her and was just using what ever means necessary to get her to agree to his terms. In that moment I hurt for Lauren because I could tell all she wanted was his love, affection, and caring and she didn't feel like that what he was giving her. It was just to get her to agree. So that scene gutted me a bit. But I was happy when they got their wedding night, and that was sizzling to the hundredth degree that it practically singed the pages. Steamy. Steamy. Got love Present who are like that. Because again it wasn't just the physical but the emotional combined with all this pent up energy and tension that they had for one another that they practically exploded when they finally came together in pleasurable bliss. It made me sweat bit. Just all the love scenes were intense and very written and just well done, and I could feel what they were feeling in that moment as they went through the emotions during the time. My heart and pulse raced right along with them.
As stated above I really did like and feel for both character who experienced a lot of pain and guilt and grief during the coarse of the book, and just all the circumstances that they faced. It wasn't an easy ride for them. While Lauren responded more internally to the pain, Paolo experienced it external causing him to lash out and hurt Lauren in the process because he was hurting and he wanted to hurt her in return. And like I said there were lots of misunderstandings going on between the two of them that it made them hard to see was standing right in front of them.
Lauren just had so much going on in her head and dealing with the facts of marriage plus her attraction and feelings for Paolo, and was hurt when he rejected her words that the baby she was carrying was in fact his. And it didn't help that Paolo kept bashing her over the head and saying unkind things to her like portraying her husband as some kind of hero when he really wasn't, and basically degrading her in the process. Plus just stuff he said to her, hurt her emotionally because she was a very sensitive woman who was easily hurt. She felt no love from her family with her stepsiblings basically torturing her. And the one person who did love her was dead and gone. Plus it didn't help that she was made to feel like nothing by her family who told her constantly she was wrong and shouldn't do this and that and was basically controlling her and not making her feel love or special. So when she met Paolo and he came up to their table, she never thought that he wouldn't be interested in her because she was nothing. So she had some self-esteem issues going on and her circumstances didn't help to boost it up any. Plus with Paolo seemingly picking on her, she just felt like she couldn't win. So when she does call Paolo after her husband's death, it was because she needed him and wanted him and knew that he was the one she wanted to turn to. So when they gave into their attraction yeah it felt good but she felt guilty because she thought Paolo didn't really want her. So she had to go through a lot, and those she realized she couldn't be a doormat forever, she still craved love and affection from people especially Paolo and feared she would never get it. And when Paolo and her got married and he returned to his coldness and aloofness making her questioning everything again. And I just felt so bad for her and wanted so badly for her to have a happy ending with Paolo like she wanted with him and her baby and just be completely in love.
I really loved Paolo as well despite the fact he was a jerk. He really was, but he wasn't being a jerk to be jerk, he was just hurt and didn't want to let his guard down where Lauren would breach his walls and touch his heart. So I understand why he acted that way even though I don't condone what he did, but I understand him. I rooted for him as well and wanted him to be happy with Lauren who he was so obviously in love with and wanted to be with for the rest of his life. He was just scared to reach out and take it even though it was clear that was what they both wanted. Plus he more than made it up to Lauren at the end when he let's all his emotions go and showed her what he truly felt for her. It was a release of emotions and it was a relief because they both had what they both wanted. But also he revealed how hurt he was when she didn't come with him after and how she married the wrong man and how much it did kill him to see her with his best friend throughout the years. He even felt like she flaunting in his face, which she wasn't, and just gave her all the reason of why he acted how he acted. And I could see the vulnerability in him in that moment and it was very beautiful moment where they finally came together to live happily ever after. It was just a great moment between them.
I really enjoyed him as a character and wanted him to have that happiness, and like I said he more than made up for it both at the end and during different moments in the book that it killed him to hurt her and knowing he wanted to protect her and keep her safe. He hated seeing her hurt and vulnerability, and just shows what kind of man he was. One that cared. He cared for his family and loved them and once he admitted he loved her, her really loved her with his whole heart and possibly even more, feeling that intensely for her. And I like seeing that out of hero and actually feeling it where I believe that's how he feels and that he doesn't feel any less. I love heroes that feel intensely for their women, but it's believable because sometimes its not and feels forced. This one did no way feel forced by any stretch of the imagination.
And they just worked as a couple, fitting so well together and I was glad that they got their happily ever after. I enjoyed them very much as a couple.
Overall I enjoyed this emotional intense and angst filled story where I felt so much. Loved the tension between the two and the whole back and forth love hate thing going on, which I didn't discuss above. I love love hate relationship in romance. Always have, and always will. It just adds to edge and intensity of that by throwing that aspect in and combine it with the their intense passion for one another that makes the story scorching. I just liked the whole banter that goes on in love hate relationships, which was shown in this book during a scene where they get amorous and is almost a battle of wills where one has to give in. It happened to be Lauren, but also Lauren misunderstood the reason he does it because she felt he's doing to bend her will to get her to do what he wanted not because he wanted her. And just the tension from that sense was wow, I practically felt like I was in the room with them.
Great job by Collins with plenty of feels to go around. Great complex characters. Lots of intensity to go around. Can't wait to read more from Collins in the future.
I felt for both Lauren and Paolo in this story, and experienced all the emotions they were going through during this time like sadness, anger, hurt, depression, and joy, which was what I liked about this story. I felt it in my heart while reading and didn't feel like it was just told to me that Lauren was hurt when Paolo was cruel to her after he found out she was pregnant with his child. I felt her hurt and her pain when he would lash out at her time and time again until it made my heart ache for her, as did my heart ache for him as well at certain points in the book, and that's what really enmeshing me into the story was the emotional journey along with a searing attraction and passion that they feel for one another during the coarse of the book. Lots of hot chemistry going on there. And I experienced all this with them as if I was in their place and going through it myself.
There was a lot of emotional baggage going on here, which I won't lie I love to see in romances, with much history going on between the two of them to make the story even more angst filled and intense. I love that.
The story began with Lauren coming to Paolo's family ball to tell him that she was pregnant with his child. The problem Paolo was her late husband's best friend, and she slept with Paolo before it was announced that her husband was dead. During that passionate night the comforted each other, but it was more than that having both being intensely attracted to each other for five years, but never giving in because spouses were in the way. So there was just the built up sexual tension between them that it just exploded and they had to act on their passion, getting what they both wanted for so long. However, Lauren and Paolo, even though they knew they cared and wanted each other deeply for one another and found peace in each other's arms that night, never knew that the other had feelings for the other and just thought the other was using that night to numb their pain or just using them for a crutch. Meaning Lauren thought to Paolo their night together was only sex complied with pity for her while Paolo thought that she was just using him as a replacement to her husband so the morning after was really awkward with them barely saying a word to one another once they got dressed and left each other behind with many secrets in their wake. And it pained both of them for the three months they were apart that was so passionate and full of emotions, but not understanding what those emotions were for one another.
Plus the whole issue that her late husband basically cheated on her and left her alone most of the marriage so he could indulge in his flings plus he was in the military so he left her alone a lot and just waiting for him to come home. She didn't really love him just thought she would never get an offer of marriage again so she took it with him. And their marriage wasn't peachy besides the whole infidelity thing with him not telling her he had a vasectomy while he blamed her for the reason for them not having children to Paolo and his mother. And he was just a jerk altogether, and she just had a very lonely marriage with him. Plus he married her for two reason. One because she refused to sleep with him until a ring was on her finger. And two and probably the biggest reason was to rub it in Paolo face and show him that he won her because he knew Paolo wanted Lauren but couldn't have her because he was married so he used that against him plus her late husband was just very competitive and jealous of Paolo and just wanted to get at him.
And it was killing Paolo to see Lauren with her late husband because he felt very intensely towards her and wanted her for himself. He was jealous, which then caused him to lash out and Lauren and be very cruel to her during her marriage, which just hurt her and made her feel even lower than dirt because she felt intensely for him. So it was this merry go around/roller coaster ride for five years. Plus another reason it killed Paolo was that he was the one that saw Lauren first and wanted her on the spot, but couldn't have her because he was engaged to a woman who was supposedly carrying his child so he was angry about that especially when the woman lied about who the father of her child was. So it made him even angrier. He took it out on Lauren. He even kissed her and asked her to run away with him right after she married his friend, needing her and wanting her. He was just in so much pain at that time because his father died, his marriage was over, and the child was taken away so he was hurting badly and got drunk because of it and then kissed her. And when she didn't, he just became even crueler and played it off as just being a drunk ass at the wedding. But his coldness towards her didn't end there and he kept his distance, which really hurt and wounded her because she felt intensely for him as well even though she knew she shouldn't. Then to add to hurt and betrayal, Paolo kind of had an inkling that her late husband was cheating on her, though no proof, but he didn't say anything to her even when she came asked him if she thought that he was and he made her feel like crap that she even asked that of her great military hero husband and just felt like dirt. Plus he didn't do it in the kindness way so when she found out that he thought her late husband was cheating she was livid and hurt and felt betrayed and believed that Paolo must have really hated her to keep that from her.
So lots of history going on between them with hurt, pain, and angst being some of their core issues when they came together again at the ball. He was cruel and cold towards her like always while she just kept getting her heart bruised as she told him about the baby, but he didn't believe it was his. So now she had to slink back to lick her wounds, but he wouldn't allow her and kept her by his side until he learned the truth about the paternity of the baby, and they just went on a roller coaster ride from there with truth and secrets being revealed.
For a majority of the book, Lauren believed that Paolo hated her and thought her as nothing and just didn't want her at all, and he kept lashing out because of that. She believed he wanted to cause her pain, which was true in a sense but he was lashing out over having what he couldn't have and just feeling like she was a gold digger after his money. He didn't think much of her that she slept with him right after her late husband death and felt it was her fault because she instigated the whole thing, which made him question her motives. And also at one point he thought he was the substitute for her husband and didn't like that, and wanted to believe that she wanted him for him, and she did, but he didn't realize that.
So plenty of misunderstandings and drama going on. Plus added to outside pressure, which wasn't huge, but would be a factor with Paolo fearing that his reputation would be ruined just like he was with his first wife who utterly humiliated him and drag his name in the mud. So he wanted to avoid scandal at all cost, and made her pay the price. Was he unfair to her? Yes, very much so and he was very cruel to her when she didn't deserve it especially after all the pain and hurt she went through the last five years where she felt practically like nothing or would never be enough for anyone or anyone would ever love her. But behind all the lashing out on his side, was hurt man that didn't want to admit how important Lauren was to his life and his sanity. Because he wanted her for so long. And once he realized that she didn't believe he truly wanted, he set to prove it to her, though only in the physical sense, he kept his emotional walls up as did she, though she admitted more quickly that she was falling for him, well at least to the reader.
Just lots of emotions going on to make this an intense and deep emotional love story that I enjoyed. It was just constant and never stopped with both of them feeling shame and guilt and just utter turmoil over the past and their feelings for one another that it just got me swept up in their story and deeply invested in them as a couple. I rooted for them despite the fact that he was at times a jerk, though that didn't both me since I knew how much he was hurting where she was concerned, feeling he could never have her while feeling guilt for having her shortly after his best friend died.
Now I thought when I read the back of the book and found out that they slept together so quickly after the friend's death that I wouldn't like this story or be turned off by the fact or by both of them until the backstory came into play then it wasn't such a gross out factor. For one because I could see that they belonged together and circumstances just came between them. Two they had some deep raw emotions going on that had nothing to do with just the physical side of the relationship. In other wards that night they didn't just have sex and accidently conceived a baby, no it was more of the pent up tension that they finally gave into and were allowed to experience their forbidden feelings for one another. Three, I learned more about the backstory that made it more tolerable, that they were both attracted to each and wanted each other from day one plus her whole marriage wasn't all sun and roses with her late husband cheating on her and basically only marrying her to get at Paolo so it wasn't like a real marriage. Plus she asked her husband for a divorce before he died knowing it was truly over between them and knowing she needed to stop it for her only self-worth that was practically in the garbage because her self-esteem was based on her husband who never came home or was there when she needed him. So that definitely made me feel better learning all the circumstances surrounding it then when I first read the back blurb. So that was good, and I could get behind the romance of Paolo and Lauren.
And the passion between the two of them was sizzling like I said. They were practically an explosion after all the denied attraction that they had for one another. But like I said before it was more than just the physical, but very much emotional to which just made their love story even stronger and more passionate in my view because they had more at stake and were taking risks with their hearts even though they both tried not to. But those love scenes were pretty hot. I wished Dani Collins showed more of the night they actually conceived, though it was there just summarized that was pieced together throughout, I would have like to seen the full scene from beginning to end because I know it must have been hot and passionate. Just from the summary alone it sounded hot and passionate and just wanted to see it and feel it and experience it with them, but that wasn't the case and it was enough to fill in the gaps, which was the important part. But the whole book was just filled with this sexual tension that I couldn't wait until I saw them give in to their attraction for one another, and let me tell you it didn't disappoint. It was great. Both hot and emotional and just an explosion that showed what it was like for them to be apart and not together all that time even though they tried to forget yet couldn't. So when they came together again it was an explosion filled with lots of emotion. The one scene that wasn't a full love scene, but was no less hot was just filled with raw emotion because she feared that he was using sex to get his way and get her to marry him by using her body reaction against her because she was in deep with him. And just all that intense just compounded with the physical act itself, and I just felt bad that she felt that he didn't want her and was just using what ever means necessary to get her to agree to his terms. In that moment I hurt for Lauren because I could tell all she wanted was his love, affection, and caring and she didn't feel like that what he was giving her. It was just to get her to agree. So that scene gutted me a bit. But I was happy when they got their wedding night, and that was sizzling to the hundredth degree that it practically singed the pages. Steamy. Steamy. Got love Present who are like that. Because again it wasn't just the physical but the emotional combined with all this pent up energy and tension that they had for one another that they practically exploded when they finally came together in pleasurable bliss. It made me sweat bit. Just all the love scenes were intense and very written and just well done, and I could feel what they were feeling in that moment as they went through the emotions during the time. My heart and pulse raced right along with them.
As stated above I really did like and feel for both character who experienced a lot of pain and guilt and grief during the coarse of the book, and just all the circumstances that they faced. It wasn't an easy ride for them. While Lauren responded more internally to the pain, Paolo experienced it external causing him to lash out and hurt Lauren in the process because he was hurting and he wanted to hurt her in return. And like I said there were lots of misunderstandings going on between the two of them that it made them hard to see was standing right in front of them.
Lauren just had so much going on in her head and dealing with the facts of marriage plus her attraction and feelings for Paolo, and was hurt when he rejected her words that the baby she was carrying was in fact his. And it didn't help that Paolo kept bashing her over the head and saying unkind things to her like portraying her husband as some kind of hero when he really wasn't, and basically degrading her in the process. Plus just stuff he said to her, hurt her emotionally because she was a very sensitive woman who was easily hurt. She felt no love from her family with her stepsiblings basically torturing her. And the one person who did love her was dead and gone. Plus it didn't help that she was made to feel like nothing by her family who told her constantly she was wrong and shouldn't do this and that and was basically controlling her and not making her feel love or special. So when she met Paolo and he came up to their table, she never thought that he wouldn't be interested in her because she was nothing. So she had some self-esteem issues going on and her circumstances didn't help to boost it up any. Plus with Paolo seemingly picking on her, she just felt like she couldn't win. So when she does call Paolo after her husband's death, it was because she needed him and wanted him and knew that he was the one she wanted to turn to. So when they gave into their attraction yeah it felt good but she felt guilty because she thought Paolo didn't really want her. So she had to go through a lot, and those she realized she couldn't be a doormat forever, she still craved love and affection from people especially Paolo and feared she would never get it. And when Paolo and her got married and he returned to his coldness and aloofness making her questioning everything again. And I just felt so bad for her and wanted so badly for her to have a happy ending with Paolo like she wanted with him and her baby and just be completely in love.
I really loved Paolo as well despite the fact he was a jerk. He really was, but he wasn't being a jerk to be jerk, he was just hurt and didn't want to let his guard down where Lauren would breach his walls and touch his heart. So I understand why he acted that way even though I don't condone what he did, but I understand him. I rooted for him as well and wanted him to be happy with Lauren who he was so obviously in love with and wanted to be with for the rest of his life. He was just scared to reach out and take it even though it was clear that was what they both wanted. Plus he more than made it up to Lauren at the end when he let's all his emotions go and showed her what he truly felt for her. It was a release of emotions and it was a relief because they both had what they both wanted. But also he revealed how hurt he was when she didn't come with him after and how she married the wrong man and how much it did kill him to see her with his best friend throughout the years. He even felt like she flaunting in his face, which she wasn't, and just gave her all the reason of why he acted how he acted. And I could see the vulnerability in him in that moment and it was very beautiful moment where they finally came together to live happily ever after. It was just a great moment between them.
I really enjoyed him as a character and wanted him to have that happiness, and like I said he more than made up for it both at the end and during different moments in the book that it killed him to hurt her and knowing he wanted to protect her and keep her safe. He hated seeing her hurt and vulnerability, and just shows what kind of man he was. One that cared. He cared for his family and loved them and once he admitted he loved her, her really loved her with his whole heart and possibly even more, feeling that intensely for her. And I like seeing that out of hero and actually feeling it where I believe that's how he feels and that he doesn't feel any less. I love heroes that feel intensely for their women, but it's believable because sometimes its not and feels forced. This one did no way feel forced by any stretch of the imagination.
And they just worked as a couple, fitting so well together and I was glad that they got their happily ever after. I enjoyed them very much as a couple.
Overall I enjoyed this emotional intense and angst filled story where I felt so much. Loved the tension between the two and the whole back and forth love hate thing going on, which I didn't discuss above. I love love hate relationship in romance. Always have, and always will. It just adds to edge and intensity of that by throwing that aspect in and combine it with the their intense passion for one another that makes the story scorching. I just liked the whole banter that goes on in love hate relationships, which was shown in this book during a scene where they get amorous and is almost a battle of wills where one has to give in. It happened to be Lauren, but also Lauren misunderstood the reason he does it because she felt he's doing to bend her will to get her to do what he wanted not because he wanted her. And just the tension from that sense was wow, I practically felt like I was in the room with them.
Great job by Collins with plenty of feels to go around. Great complex characters. Lots of intensity to go around. Can't wait to read more from Collins in the future.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 19, 2013
The writing was very good. It was an easy and enjoyable read. I thought the character of Lauren was extremely well written and developed. I gave it 3 stars because, while I enjoy stories of missed opportunities and happenstance, it seemed that there were just too many coincidences in their early relationship. It was slightly too contrived that Paolo was the first one to meet her and (immediately?) fall in love, but because he had a fiance he couldn't do anything about it. I liked Paolo's character best when he wasn't being portrayed as the typical, volatile, Italian male.
Will definitely be keeping Dani Collin's as one of the Harlequin authors I look for.
Will definitely be keeping Dani Collin's as one of the Harlequin authors I look for.
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December 29, 2014"Top Pick! Brava to Collins' commanding Presents debut, a prime example of the series with a bold, descriptive narrative that will keep pages turning. Her couple will extract every emotion from readers as they stumble through their obstacle course to romance, but they've got lovemaking down to a science." RT Book Reviews, rated 4 1/2 stars
Miniseries: One Night With Consequences
Category: Passion
Miniseries: One Night With Consequences
Category: Passion
December 17, 2019
I was waiting for this novel since I saw the summary by chance on goodreads, and it was worth waiting. What an amazing story, and from a new author too.
I love both character, loved the twist on the old story of the best friend wife, loved the importance of family that this novel conveyed.
It was an amazing read and I'm keeping my eyes open for anything from this brilliant new author.
I love both character, loved the twist on the old story of the best friend wife, loved the importance of family that this novel conveyed.
It was an amazing read and I'm keeping my eyes open for anything from this brilliant new author.
August 12, 2013
BAHAHA, I'll be honest the last few paragraphs bumped this up to a 3 star for me. I love a writer who tweaks my funny bone. Other than that, LOTS of miscommunication but it kind of works cuz it's all about viewing someone's actions through one's own preconceptions. Decent story, very end brought it up to good.
November 6, 2019
Beyaz diziden okuduğum ikinci kitap yine bir Dani Collins kitabı oldu ve okuduğum ilk kitabın aksine bu kitabı hiç beğenmedim.
Lauren, Ryan ve Paolo ile aynı zamanlarda tanışıyor. Paolo'dan çok hoşlansa da Ryan ile evleniyor ve bundan beş yıl sonra Ryan savaş kahramanı olarak ölüyor. Ryan'ın ölüm haberini Lauren'a veren Paolo o gece Lauren'la birlikte oluyor ve Lauren Paolo'dan hamile kalıyor.
Okuduğum en kör hero ve heroin olabilir Lauren ve Paolo. İkisi de birbirlerinden hoşlanıyorlar ve bunu birbirlerinden saklamaya çalışıyorlar ama bunu yaparken de sürekli birbirlerini ayartmaya çalışmakla suçluyorlar karşılarındaki kişiyi. Bunların hepsine tamam diyelim hadi, bir gecede bir anda sorunları çözülmüş gibi evlenmeye karar veriyorlar ve evlendikten sonra da aynı şeyi yapmaya devam ediyorlar.
Ayrıca bir sürü rahatsız edici askıda kalmış olay vardı kitapta. Lauren'ın Ryan'ın bir savaş kahramanı olmadığını, ülkeye hizmet etmediğini söylüyor ama kendisinden habersiz vazektomi yaptırmasından başka bir gerekçe vermiyor. Ki bir insanın çocuk sahibi olmak istememesinin bu konuyla ne alakası olduğundan emin değilim.
İkinci olarak Ryan'ın dul eşinin Ryan'ın en yakın arkadaşı ile evlenmesinin ortalığı karıştıracağı söyleniyor defalarca kitapta ama buna dair hiçbir şey yazmamış yazar. Kısacası bu kitabı hiç beğenmedim. Yazarın elimde üç kitabı daha var. Özellikle Killian ve Melodie ile ilgili kitabı -Vows of Revenge- oldukça merak ediyorum. Umarım onları okurken de aynı hayal kırıklığını yaşamam.
Lauren, Ryan ve Paolo ile aynı zamanlarda tanışıyor. Paolo'dan çok hoşlansa da Ryan ile evleniyor ve bundan beş yıl sonra Ryan savaş kahramanı olarak ölüyor. Ryan'ın ölüm haberini Lauren'a veren Paolo o gece Lauren'la birlikte oluyor ve Lauren Paolo'dan hamile kalıyor.
Okuduğum en kör hero ve heroin olabilir Lauren ve Paolo. İkisi de birbirlerinden hoşlanıyorlar ve bunu birbirlerinden saklamaya çalışıyorlar ama bunu yaparken de sürekli birbirlerini ayartmaya çalışmakla suçluyorlar karşılarındaki kişiyi. Bunların hepsine tamam diyelim hadi, bir gecede bir anda sorunları çözülmüş gibi evlenmeye karar veriyorlar ve evlendikten sonra da aynı şeyi yapmaya devam ediyorlar.
Ayrıca bir sürü rahatsız edici askıda kalmış olay vardı kitapta. Lauren'ın Ryan'ın bir savaş kahramanı olmadığını, ülkeye hizmet etmediğini söylüyor ama kendisinden habersiz vazektomi yaptırmasından başka bir gerekçe vermiyor. Ki bir insanın çocuk sahibi olmak istememesinin bu konuyla ne alakası olduğundan emin değilim.
İkinci olarak Ryan'ın dul eşinin Ryan'ın en yakın arkadaşı ile evlenmesinin ortalığı karıştıracağı söyleniyor defalarca kitapta ama buna dair hiçbir şey yazmamış yazar. Kısacası bu kitabı hiç beğenmedim. Yazarın elimde üç kitabı daha var. Özellikle Killian ve Melodie ile ilgili kitabı -Vows of Revenge- oldukça merak ediyorum. Umarım onları okurken de aynı hayal kırıklığını yaşamam.
March 24, 2021
The book was very angsty. Hero has been in love with heroine since he saw her for the first time, but he was engaged and she married his best friend. After her husband dies they meet and spend the night together, and she's pregnant. In the beginning he tries to hide her and her pregnancy from the world, since he's a very important banker and can't afford any scandal, but then he proposes marriage. Heroine is not a doormat, she's an intelligent and independent woman, hero finds out that her husband, his best friend, cheated on her, and probably married her only because he realised hero was in love with her and since he had always been jealous of hero, he married her to prove that she chose him. The hero, during their marriage, was never kind to heroine because his feelings for her were too strong, so he tried to stave her off. He was cruel to her because she was the only one who made him feel, but eventually he risks to lose her and has to recognise his feelings for her. I liked this story very much. I could really feel that she was the one for him and that he felt guilty for being in love with his best friend's wife. The hero is sometimes cruel and mean to heroine, but this is a defence mechanism, to avoid recognising the depth of his feelings for her. I love it!
October 21, 2023
رواية (ثمن الخطيئة)
بعد ٣ أشهر ظهرت لورين أمام باولو في حفل خيري لأمراض القلب. لم يتخيل أن تقع عينه على أرملة صديقه البطل القومي مرة أخرى.
كان آخر لقاء بينهما حسي ومخجل، فبينما وصلهما للتو خبر وفاة زوجها، أخذها فورا إلى منزله وقضوا الليلة سوية!
هربا من عذاب الضمير واحساسه بالغدر والخيانة لصديقه تجنب رؤيتها والتواصل معها مرة أخرى، فلماذا تظهر أمامه من جديد؟
لورين كان موقفها يختلف، فهي تعرف ما لا يعرفه باولو عن صديقه، بالإضافة أنها تعرف ما ينكره باولو عن صديقه كذلك حتى لا يشوه صداقتهما والصورة المنعكسة عن المتوفي للعامة.
لكنها حامل! بعد سنوات من المعاناة والمحاولات الفاشلة من الحمل، أصبحت حامل من ليلة واحدة مع باولو!
ضميرها حثها على إخبار باولو عن الطفل، لكن ما يريد أن يفعله بذلك الخبر لا يهمها، هي مستعدة لرعاية الطفل وتربيته وحدها.. لكنها ابدا لن تنسبه لزوجها الراحل فهو لا يستحق.
بعد ٣ أشهر ظهرت لورين أمام باولو في حفل خيري لأمراض القلب. لم يتخيل أن تقع عينه على أرملة صديقه البطل القومي مرة أخرى.
كان آخر لقاء بينهما حسي ومخجل، فبينما وصلهما للتو خبر وفاة زوجها، أخذها فورا إلى منزله وقضوا الليلة سوية!
هربا من عذاب الضمير واحساسه بالغدر والخيانة لصديقه تجنب رؤيتها والتواصل معها مرة أخرى، فلماذا تظهر أمامه من جديد؟
لورين كان موقفها يختلف، فهي تعرف ما لا يعرفه باولو عن صديقه، بالإضافة أنها تعرف ما ينكره باولو عن صديقه كذلك حتى لا يشوه صداقتهما والصورة المنعكسة عن المتوفي للعامة.
لكنها حامل! بعد سنوات من المعاناة والمحاولات الفاشلة من الحمل، أصبحت حامل من ليلة واحدة مع باولو!
ضميرها حثها على إخبار باولو عن الطفل، لكن ما يريد أن يفعله بذلك الخبر لا يهمها، هي مستعدة لرعاية الطفل وتربيته وحدها.. لكنها ابدا لن تنسبه لزوجها الراحل فهو لا يستحق.
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