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A Diamond for His Defiant Cinderella
The billionaire needs her married! But he never planned for her to wear his diamond…in this scorching forbidden romance by Lorraine Hall.
Find her a husband,
Or wed her himself?
Ultrarich Spaniard Javier Alatorre’s life is exactly how he wants it—before he’s named guardian of infuriatingly attractive Matilda Willoughby. If she doesn’t say “I do” before she turns twenty-five, he will have to step in as her husband…
Matilda loathes Javier’s plan to marry her off. He can drag her to galas and introduce her to a dozen millionaires, but she won’t accept their diamonds! As she clashes with Javier at every turn, her burning hatred soon turns into scorching need. And Matilda is unprepared for how thin the line between love and hate really is!
From Harlequin Escape to exotic locations where passion knows no bounds.
Find her a husband,
Or wed her himself?
Ultrarich Spaniard Javier Alatorre’s life is exactly how he wants it—before he’s named guardian of infuriatingly attractive Matilda Willoughby. If she doesn’t say “I do” before she turns twenty-five, he will have to step in as her husband…
Matilda loathes Javier’s plan to marry her off. He can drag her to galas and introduce her to a dozen millionaires, but she won’t accept their diamonds! As she clashes with Javier at every turn, her burning hatred soon turns into scorching need. And Matilda is unprepared for how thin the line between love and hate really is!
From Harlequin Escape to exotic locations where passion knows no bounds.
208 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published March 26, 2024
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26 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 25, 2024
She was poison. She was life. She was his downfall and when his mouth was on hers, he could not find himself. There was only want. There was only her.
The cheesy HP title machine really failed this little story—the heroine is rich, which makes her nothing like a Cinderella, & their romantic/sexual dynamic is very angry Old Skool, much like Winspear or Lamb. Accordingly, this should be titled in the vintage manner—I would humbly suggest THE GREEDY FLAME (as he addresses her in a key scene), but at minimum it should be *something* related to fire and/or gardening, the two most frequent motifs. It’s also a dark, moody love story that deals with grief, generational trauma, & domestic abuse within a framework of equally Old Skool guardian/ward lust & garnished with angsty moments of step-sibling guilt.
…Yeah, I really liked this one. 😈 Emotional, dark, edgy (at least by HP standards), this is the sort of moody-gothicky tone I love in these books. It was both sultry & sweet—just the right balance of escapist absurdity, tasteful sexiness, sincere heart, & overwrought soap. 🫠 Because this is a neo-HP we’re given Javier’s POV—something Winspear + Lamb rarely did—but his issues weren’t overly spoonfed. There’s even a very minor OM subplot, which only adds to the vintage aura.
This is my second Lorraine Hall HP, & I really like her style—I haven’t cottoned so quickly to a Harley voice since first trying Millie Adams. This is also the second guardian/ward HP I’ve read this year (the first by the aforementioned Millie Adams), & I really hope this signals a revival of a classic Harlequin template. Fingers crossed. 😬 Overall HP has become way too reliant on royalty & pregnancy stories, which are my least favorite of their general frameworks…but I digress.
Going by sheer number of ratings & reviews, this particular book is unjustly overlooked. But if your tastes are anything like mine, give this author—& this lamely-titled Harley—a chance. 5 stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The cheesy HP title machine really failed this little story—the heroine is rich, which makes her nothing like a Cinderella, & their romantic/sexual dynamic is very angry Old Skool, much like Winspear or Lamb. Accordingly, this should be titled in the vintage manner—I would humbly suggest THE GREEDY FLAME (as he addresses her in a key scene), but at minimum it should be *something* related to fire and/or gardening, the two most frequent motifs. It’s also a dark, moody love story that deals with grief, generational trauma, & domestic abuse within a framework of equally Old Skool guardian/ward lust & garnished with angsty moments of step-sibling guilt.
…Yeah, I really liked this one. 😈 Emotional, dark, edgy (at least by HP standards), this is the sort of moody-gothicky tone I love in these books. It was both sultry & sweet—just the right balance of escapist absurdity, tasteful sexiness, sincere heart, & overwrought soap. 🫠 Because this is a neo-HP we’re given Javier’s POV—something Winspear + Lamb rarely did—but his issues weren’t overly spoonfed. There’s even a very minor OM subplot, which only adds to the vintage aura.
This is my second Lorraine Hall HP, & I really like her style—I haven’t cottoned so quickly to a Harley voice since first trying Millie Adams. This is also the second guardian/ward HP I’ve read this year (the first by the aforementioned Millie Adams), & I really hope this signals a revival of a classic Harlequin template. Fingers crossed. 😬 Overall HP has become way too reliant on royalty & pregnancy stories, which are my least favorite of their general frameworks…but I digress.
Going by sheer number of ratings & reviews, this particular book is unjustly overlooked. But if your tastes are anything like mine, give this author—& this lamely-titled Harley—a chance. 5 stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
April 4, 2024
3,5 stars!
April 21, 2025
Definitely a cut above the usual Presents title. The hero suffered physical abuse as a child and is terrified he will abuse the heroine. She's determined to keep her career and not be dictated to like a child. Both of them have known each other since childhood and the hero's mother loves the heroine like a daughter. The Spanish setting is especially lovely. Highly recommended!
March 21, 2024
Entertaining and enjoyable mostly with very readable voice and enjoyable characters.
Loved the heroine but there’s one turning point where she’s unheroic with weak motivation and it’s such an important moment with lots riding on it. The scene that followed was edgy but at the expense of Mattie losing some heroine points.
Lots of dialogue and page time with secondary characters which ought to dilute the relationship focus but is entertaining and played into the conflict instead, but got a bit too much at the end which diluted their ending for me.
Loved the heroine but there’s one turning point where she’s unheroic with weak motivation and it’s such an important moment with lots riding on it. The scene that followed was edgy but at the expense of Mattie losing some heroine points.
Lots of dialogue and page time with secondary characters which ought to dilute the relationship focus but is entertaining and played into the conflict instead, but got a bit too much at the end which diluted their ending for me.
June 7, 2024
3,5 stars
Tropes : step siblings romance, manwhore x virgin
Ending : HEA (h was pregnant)
Triggers : ☠️ of a parent, mention of child abuse, mention of domestic abuse
Spice : 🌶️🌶️/5
Angst : 🔥🔥🔥/5
OM/OW drama : OM & OW (OM was h’s potential husbands, OW was a woman that H usually slept with)
Celibate while separated: no (H slept around)
Intimacy details: virgin h, vanilla sex
Standalone/Series : standalone
Hero : Javier Alatorre (30s)
Heroine: Matilda Willoughby (24?)
It was okay, nothing special happening here. H had a rough childhood. His dad was abusive and after he and his mom managed to escape the dad, she remarried to the h’s dad.
H believed the marriage was not romantic and more about friendship/platonic relationship. He was scared of relationship himself because he was afraid that he would be like his dad. He believed he got darkness in him and on some instances he got a flaming rage that spook him a lot.
He refused to marry and procreate because he didn’t want to continue his dad’s lineage to another generation and want it to end with him.
After some push and pull they finally slept together and long story short the h fell in love with him. Some ow om drama but nothing crazy.
In the end of the book he claimed he was in love with her for quite some time but didn’t realize it. I didn’t really believe that because he still slept around.
The ending was okay, the h was pregnant.
Tropes : step siblings romance, manwhore x virgin
Ending : HEA (h was pregnant)
Triggers : ☠️ of a parent, mention of child abuse, mention of domestic abuse
Spice : 🌶️🌶️/5
Angst : 🔥🔥🔥/5
OM/OW drama : OM & OW (OM was h’s potential husbands, OW was a woman that H usually slept with)
Celibate while separated: no (H slept around)
Intimacy details: virgin h, vanilla sex
Standalone/Series : standalone
Hero : Javier Alatorre (30s)
Heroine: Matilda Willoughby (24?)
It was okay, nothing special happening here. H had a rough childhood. His dad was abusive and after he and his mom managed to escape the dad, she remarried to the h’s dad.
H believed the marriage was not romantic and more about friendship/platonic relationship. He was scared of relationship himself because he was afraid that he would be like his dad. He believed he got darkness in him and on some instances he got a flaming rage that spook him a lot.
He refused to marry and procreate because he didn’t want to continue his dad’s lineage to another generation and want it to end with him.
After some push and pull they finally slept together and long story short the h fell in love with him. Some ow om drama but nothing crazy.
In the end of the book he claimed he was in love with her for quite some time but didn’t realize it. I didn’t really believe that because he still slept around.
The ending was okay, the h was pregnant.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 12, 2024
Quick Summary: A forbidden romance
My Review: A Diamond for His Defiant Cinderella by Lorraine Hall is a Harlequin Presents romance. It was released in March 2024.
About the Book: A very controlling billionaire pushes the daughter of his deceased mentor to marry. She only wants him, but he refuses to accept her choice, opting instead to steer her towards other men. Will his stubborn rigidity cost him the heart of this beautiful woman who refuses to accept his beastly ways?
My Final Say: This was an okay read. I did not love the characters or how they came together. If I'm being honest, I thought that this romance was a little disjointed. The thing that saved the book was that realization and reconciliation eventually came.
Rating: 2.5/5
Recommend: +/-
Audience: A
Status/Level: 🤔
#libraryread
My Review: A Diamond for His Defiant Cinderella by Lorraine Hall is a Harlequin Presents romance. It was released in March 2024.
About the Book: A very controlling billionaire pushes the daughter of his deceased mentor to marry. She only wants him, but he refuses to accept her choice, opting instead to steer her towards other men. Will his stubborn rigidity cost him the heart of this beautiful woman who refuses to accept his beastly ways?
My Final Say: This was an okay read. I did not love the characters or how they came together. If I'm being honest, I thought that this romance was a little disjointed. The thing that saved the book was that realization and reconciliation eventually came.
Rating: 2.5/5
Recommend: +/-
Audience: A
Status/Level: 🤔
#libraryread
April 22, 2024
"A Diamond for His Defiant Cinderella" is the story of Matilda and Javier.
Very enjoyable!
The hero is the heroine's guardian, ever since their parents married and her father passed away. He is given the responsibility of marrying her off by 25, or he has to marry her. Irrespective of his suppressed feelings, he cannot let that happen due to his past.
So he tracks her down in Scotland, where she lives alone as a botanist, and blackmails her into coming back with him. He shoves suitors down her throat, and wants to wed her off.. What he does not expect is for his repressed feelings to emerge, and for her to challenge him.
I love how brave and caring the heroine was for both of them. Her love for plants was so endearing, and I like that she gave the hero time to heal and understood his fears instead of running away. Also satisfying ending.
Safe??
4/5
Very enjoyable!
The hero is the heroine's guardian, ever since their parents married and her father passed away. He is given the responsibility of marrying her off by 25, or he has to marry her. Irrespective of his suppressed feelings, he cannot let that happen due to his past.
So he tracks her down in Scotland, where she lives alone as a botanist, and blackmails her into coming back with him. He shoves suitors down her throat, and wants to wed her off.. What he does not expect is for his repressed feelings to emerge, and for her to challenge him.
I love how brave and caring the heroine was for both of them. Her love for plants was so endearing, and I like that she gave the hero time to heal and understood his fears instead of running away. Also satisfying ending.
Safe??
4/5
priority
April 1, 2024Ultrarich Spaniard Javier Alatorre’s life is exactly how he wants it—before he’s named guardian of infuriatingly attractive Matilda Willoughby. If she doesn’t say “I do” before she turns twenty-five, he will have to step in as her husband…
Matilda loathes Javier’s plan to marry her off. He can drag her to galas and introduce her to a dozen millionaires, but she won’t accept their diamonds! As she clashes with Javier at every turn, her burning hatred soon turns into scorching need. And Matilda is unprepared for how thin the line between love and hate really is!
Matilda loathes Javier’s plan to marry her off. He can drag her to galas and introduce her to a dozen millionaires, but she won’t accept their diamonds! As she clashes with Javier at every turn, her burning hatred soon turns into scorching need. And Matilda is unprepared for how thin the line between love and hate really is!
May 9, 2024
This is a classic Harlequin Presents story. Not too deep. Not too complex. Just a quick, romantic read with dashes of steam. There are a few times the FMC got on my nerves with her childish reactions but overall, this was an average romance. Not terrible. Not magnificent. Sometimes, you're just in the mood for a Harlequin romance. Romances where the title references a diamond that never actually makes an appearance in the story.
June 18, 2024
This Story Took A Looong Time To Build Up To A Romance, And For A While I Didn’t See How LH Would Do It In The Allotted Pages But She Did. It Did Drag A Lot And With The H Being So Seemingly Flawed I Would Have Liked To See The Epilogue Further In The Future. But It Would A Good Story Of Hidden Beauty.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews