The Arranged Marriage

Kings of Australia #1

by Emma Darcy

Alex King is the eldest grandson of a prestigious family. It's his duty to expand the King empire -- and he must also choose a bride and father a son!

Gina Terlizzi already has a baby son -- she's not looking for a husband! No matter how breathless the chemistry between them, she's simply a guest in Alex's home to attend a wedding -- or is she the intended bride?

Genres: Harlequin, Romance, Harlequin Presents, Contemporary, Hqn, Adult

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published June 1, 2002

About the author

Emma Darcy is the pseudonym created by the married writing team of Wendy (1940-2020) and Frank Brennan (1936-1995). Their life journey has taken as many twists and turns as the characters in their stories, whose international popularity has resulted in over sixty-million book sales. With more than a hundred titles, Emma Darcy appeared regularly on the Waldenbooks bestseller lists in the U.S.A. and in the Nielson BookScan Top 100 chart in the U.K.

Wendy was born 28 November 1940 in Australia. Her sister was the novelist Maureen Mary (Miranda Lee). Her father was a country school teacher and brilliant sportsman. Her mother was a talented dressmaker. She obtained an Honours degree in Latin and initially worked as a high school English/French teacher. She married Frank Brennan, an Australian businessman born in 1936. She changed careers to computer programming before marriage and motherhood settled her into a community life. She was reputedly the first woman computer programmer in the southern hemisphere.

As voracious readers, the step to writing their own books seemed a natural progression and the challenge of creating exciting stories was soon highly addictive. They were published since 1983. In 1993, for the Emma Darcy pseudonym's 10th anniversary, they created the "Emma Darcy Award Contest" to encourage authors to finish their manuscripts. After the death of Frank Brennan in 1995, Wendy wrotes books on her own. She lived in a beachside property on the central coast of New South Wales, and liked to travel extensively to research settings and increase her experience of places and people.

Wendy Brennan passed away on December 21, 2020. She is survived by her children, grandchildren, and sister, writer Miranda Lee.

Reviews

[Juwita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yeee, happy ending 🤗

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are things I loved about this book, and things I hated about this book. I hate when heroes and heroines are in relationships with other people when books begin. And how blind the hero was to his fiancee at the beginning of this book did not bode well. It was taken care of fairly quickly, but left a bad taste in my mouth. The heroine for me was kind of superfluous. There was kind of a journey for her, but not really. In spite of that, though, the chemistry between the hero and heroine was instant, passionate, and fiery, which is what we all come to these books for.

The best character was the hero's grandmother. Normally, family interference is annoying in books, but here it was done well, with the best of intentions. All she did was give the hero and heroine access to one another. Beyond that, it was their choice to act on it or not. And since anyone with half a brain could tell the OW was a nasty piece of work (except the hero, apparently), it made it easy to get on the grandmother's side.

I did enjoy reading this book, so I would recommend, but it's not the best Harlequin/Mills & Boon book I've ever read.

[Tiny Shen 沈帝妮 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alex King udah punya tunangan dan sedang merencanakan pernikahan.
Tapi, neneknya tidak merestui pilihan Alex. Mulailah sang nenek menebar jala, mencari wanita pilihannya sendiri. Lalu bertemulah beliau dengan Gina Terlizzi, janda 1 anak yang juga penyanyi.

Diundanglah Gina ke kastel tempat tinggal keluarga King. Alex langsung panas-dingin ketika bertemu Gina, begitu juga sebaliknya.

Alex segitu gampangnya melepas pertunangannya, diluar memang karakter tunangannya yg dibikin antagonis. Toh, sebelum tunangan pacaran segitu lamanya masa ga ketauan sifatnya ya..

Gina sendiri yaudahlah, memang tak gampang membesarkan anak seorang diri. Tapi terlalu gampang dipengaruhi juga. Kurang berpendirian dan kurang tegas.

[Helen Moulden · Rating 4 out of 5]

The synopsis on the back cover wasn't really like the story. "he must also choose a bride and father a son." He was already engaged to Michelle at the start of the story. The last bit about Gina attending a wedding -"or was she the intended Bride?" No.
Apart from that the story was quite good and I look forward to reading the stories for Alex's two younger brothers.

[ijul (yuliyono) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aku suka gaya menulis Emma Darcy.

"...yang kurasakan denganmu jauh lebih dalam. Rasanya seolah-olah kau ada di dalam darahku, Gina, dan kau membuat darahku bernyanyi."
--pg.215 #PengantinPilihan

"...bahwa ini [menemukan cinta sejati] adalah hadiah, dan kita tidak bisa memesan atau memilihnya. Hal itu terjadi begitu saja ketika orang-orang yang tepat bertemu."
--pg.221 #PengantinPilihan

[Melody · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although it was hot...their time together was to short to be called "love" charets...

[Amee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story, couple of interesting twists and turns. A man who is not afraid to take on a child. HEA.

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Predictable and not too much angst.

[Ayu Wirdha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bberapa bulan ke depan Alex bakal married dgn Michele seorang designer. Tapi neneknya Alex (Isabella) ga suka bgt ama Michelle yg egois walaupun dia cantik & sexy. Jadi Isabella memutar otak utk mencari pasangan yg tepat utk Alex.

Secara kebetulan Isabella bertemu Gina (single parent 1 anak yg lucu - Marco) di tempatnya bekerja (toko bunga). Gina ini kerja sampingannya adalah wedding singer jd kebetulan bgt diajaklah Gina oleh Isabella utk tes nyanyi di castle Isabella dgn ditonton oleh Alex & Michelle.

Pertama ktmu Alex & Gina sudah saling tertarik, Michelle jg lgsung curiga. Jadiii...bagaimana cerita selanjutnya? Apakah alex akan mengerjar Gina atau tetap bertunangan?

[Diamond]

قصر النار
أيما دارسي
اليكس كينغ مالك أكبر الأراضي الزراعية الفسيحة في شمال استراليا والحفيد الأكبر لأسرة مرموقة ... إنه رجل جذاب لامع في دنيا الأعمال يعمل على توسيع امبراطورية آل كينغ لكن عليه أن يختار عروسه وينجب ابنا .
أما جينا ترليزي فأرملة لا تفكر في الزواج بأي شكل خاصة بأليكس فهو من عالم غير عالمها . ولكن بينهما انجذاب مدمر يخطف الأنفاس . وهي الآن ضيفة في بيته لتحضر عرسا ... فهل تراها هي العروس المطلوبة ؟

[Ess · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very eventful but it was a good bedtime read.

[Manga · Rating 4 out of 5]

re-read 2023

[Nishtha · Rating 5 out of 5]

The review will come soon.

[Vikki Andrews]

good