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Amalfi Night Billionaires #4

The Billionaire's Heart

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High School art teacher Sophie Smith is usually the most honest of women. But when her dearest friend and mentor asks her to be her stand-in on a two-week vacation at an Amalfi Coast luxury resort, she won’t let her down… even if it means posing as a rich, pampered socialite. As it turns out, Sophie could get used to this, especially handsome, enigmatic gardener Declan Muldoon who’s strangely more thrilling than any of the billionaires buzzing around. She ends up falling for him—hard. Then Sophie discovers she’s not the only one pretending. Declan’s gardener gig is temporary. He’s actually the black sheep of a very wealthy, powerful family, a man who appears to be in need of an heiress. An heiress exactly like Sophie is pretending to be… *Previously titled The Billionaire's Secret Amalfi Night Billionaires Series Book 1: The Billionaire's Pleasure by Katherine Garbera Book 2: The Billionaire's Touch by Mimi Wells Book 3: The Billionaire's Bride by Nancy Robards Thompson Book 4: The Billionaire's Heart by Kathleen O'Brien Book 5: The Billionaire's Lover by Eve Gaddy Praise for Kathleen O'Brien "This is a heartwarming series with just the right amount of steam and caring." - The Star Angels Review "A sweet romance... [O'Brien] did a great job in the description of the gardens and sights that you felt like you were there. I enjoyed the supporting characters too. A great way to escape for a little while." - Book Snuggle

158 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 13, 2015

1367 people are currently reading
722 people want to read

About the author

Kathleen O'Brien

146 books91 followers
Since the day Harlequin bought her first novel, Kathleen has published more than 30 titles with them- everything from hot, sexy contemporaries to dark, brooding suspense. Read in more than 30 countries and 29 languages, she's a five-time finalist for the prestigious RWA RITA Award, a winner of the Maggie Award, and a three-time finalist for Romantic Times' Reviewer's Choice.

Kathleen comes from a family of writers, poets, and journalists- though she may be the one shameless romantic in the bunch. A true Cancer, she values home and family above everything and wouldn't dream of ditching a single friend, memory, gift, or love letter. Consequently, her office is a mess, full of books, colored cut glass, photo albums, Madame Alexander dolls, and a cockatiel who whistles the theme from "The X Files." She is addicted to Mozart and Elvis, Dancing With the Stars, Dorothy Dunnett novels, and sugar-free Popsicles.

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5 stars
420 (32%)
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413 (31%)
3 stars
330 (25%)
2 stars
117 (8%)
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30 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews
Profile Image for Wendy'sThoughts.
2,670 reviews3,289 followers
September 22, 2022
3.5 Pretending Who You're Not Stars, IT'S FREE!!!
* * * 1/2 Spoiler Free- A 2015 Review
This book is part of a series and of course, such is the Wendy way...I came to it without reading the other books. There were some references to other storylines but I didn't feel as if I was confused or missed out.


What we have is Sophie playing the part of a rich, pampered socialite for her beloved friend stricken with a debilitating disease. Her sculptor friend was the one who was supposed to be on this trip to the Amalfi Coast resort...experiencing all the luxury, refinement, and fortune-hunting men. Although she was much older than Sophia's 26, she still had a young spirit and wanted to see how "the other half lived" before her time had come. Unfortunately, she is just not physically up to it. So the scheme is of Sophia going in her place; being her eyes, ears, and spirit for her and relaying everything back through photos and emails. Although this is not what either of them had wished...Sophie would do anything to put a smile on her mentor's face.

Once on Tuscany land, there is no turning back. As she sits in the limousine taking her to the resort, she goes over in her mind all of the cues she was taught ... how the rich look when dealing with the "help", how to always hold yourself a certain way, and make sure to wear all of the ridiculously expensive clothes stuffed in her suitcases. It is a lot for a woman who is a straight shooter and art teacher. All of this plus the push in her ear of "land a rich one for a little fun, dear, be wild for the both of us", cannot be ignored too.

She pulls up in front of this amazing vision of beauty...the building, lands, and feel are wonderful and cause her to stare for a moment...then she snaps out of it, as that was not what the truly rich do. They are bored by all of it. Sophie shifts her shoulders back and walks in going to the front desk and getting herself settled. Still, in awe, she goes towards the elevator and walks directly into a massive arrangement of beautiful flowers almost knocking them over with petals falling on the floor...in her shock, she reverts back to who she is and apologizes to the flowers.

A voice comes from behind her saying not to worry, really the flowers should have been changed out. As Sophie looks to see who is talking with that slight Scottish brogue, she sees cut muscles from a Greek god, deep dark hair, and a chiseled jaw with a face looking carefully at her. Where did this vision come from just as they are about to introduce themselves, another man thrusts flowers obviously ripped from the resort's garden into her hand.

Sophie looks at the new man, all pumped up and full of himself. As this man is telling her line after line, all Sophie is interested in is this Scottish delight... why are people listening to him about the arrangement... why is he looking at her that way... and then what is this other pompous guy rambling about anyway...

Oh, it finally dawns on her, and Mr. Hunk agrees with a twinkle in his eye... The thrusting flower guy is hitting on Sophie... trying to make his move. As all of this is coming together, Sophie hears from the talker, "and you...what are you doing standing there... who are you..."

Well, Sophie would like to know too...Turns out the vision, the voice, and the only person she would be interested in, is Declan, the landscape architect for the resort...and as he puts the fortune-hunter in his place by suggesting next time use the Hotel's floral shop for his flowers, Sophie silently cracks up.

She needs to get to her suite and settle down. Her room is everything a dream would create and with her artist's eye, she logs onto her email and lets her friend know of all the adventures she just had and will be having.

As Sophie ponders, Declan, Mr. Gardens...Declan is thinking of her too...Something is off... she came into the lobby with wonder and awe in her eyes. It lit her face up and made him thrilled to see someone appreciate all they see... then in an instant, all of the wonder was shut down, snuffed like a match, and a distant, non-caring face appeared.

Who was this woman and why the quick switches like that...

These two do a dance throughout the story and become close and caring for one another...Both have issues about the money they are hiding. Both fall hard but life has a way of causing family to muck things up just when all is going great.

This was a solid read and the lessons of being who you are at all times rang through... own your talents, own your pain... by being true... then you can share yourself with those who are willing to love you for just who you are.

Of course, it doesn't hurt when there are hidden billionaires involved... :DDD
This is a heartwarming series with just the right amount of steam and caring.

A gifted copy was provided by Tule Publishing via NetGalley for an honest review.

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807 reviews
November 26, 2016
First Impressions: 1 star on Goodreads = I didn't like it. With a synopsis like this one has, I did not expect a particularly deep or complex novel. I did, however, expect the synopsis to actually represent the novel. This one does not, and I'll explain more below.

Plot: Sophie travels to the Amalfi coast in place of her friend, Millie, on what they call the Miss Moneybags caper. Sophie empties her bank account to travel like a wealthy woman, and while she's in Italy, she meets several men. Some of those men are gold diggers, except one of them, Declan, who is just a landscape architect. Here's where the synopsis diverges from reality. The synopsis vaguely indicates that there is some disingenuous reason that Declan is interested in Sophie. Nothing could be further from the truth. That piece of the description is an illusion of drama to compel people to read the novel. No such drama exists.

Romance: Predictable, PG-rated. The declarations are not supported by the context.

Characters: The novel is more like an outline of a more complex novel, or the oversimplified children's book. The characters have the potential for depth and intricacy, but they are two-dimensional here.

Technical: The pacing is slow. I kept wondering when something was going to happen. It never does. There were also some glaring editing issues.

Overall: Meh. I'm sad I wasted my time trying to find something interesting that just wasn't there.
1,336 reviews4 followers
June 3, 2018
Sweet clean short

One doesn't get the impression that this story involves a billionaire at all. Surrounded by wealth, yes. Sophie pretends she's rich while on vacation, Declan who we are given the impression that is pretending to not be rich, I didn't feel he pretended at all. He new he had money, he has a love for landscaping and doesn't care if others mistake him for the hired help. Overall writing was good. Sweet story. Falling in love in less than two weeks and not spending all that time together was hard to believe. Could have been more to their story. There is no steam, no cheating or cliffhanger, but you do get a happy ending.
Profile Image for Smitchy.
1,181 reviews18 followers
May 28, 2018
An easy to read romance with nice characters and story. no sex scenes if you are looking for that.
This is part of a series but as each book is written by a different author they can easily be treated as stand alone.
Profile Image for Coco.V.
50k reviews128 followers
Want to read
March 22, 2020
🎁 FREE on Amazon today (3/22/2020)! 🎁
Profile Image for LadyTechie.
784 reviews52 followers
October 10, 2015
The Billionaire's Secret was given to me at NetGalley in exchange for review. I am having pretty decent luck with the books that have this cover/publisher. Sophie takes her close friend's place on a wonderful trip to Tuscany where she pretends to be a wealthy socialite while on her trip. They are interested in seeing if that makes the trip more enjoyable and attracts more single guys to her. She meets the landscape architect, Declan, as soon as she checks into her hotel. Sophie is enjoying her trip and has found that being wealthy truly does make certain men try for her attention. As she dates and spends her days and nights enjoying her trip she also sends daily emails to her friend who is still being treated for her illness back in Boston. Both women are artists so she relays the beautiful art and architecture she sees in both words and pictures to try and help her friend enjoy the trip vicariously through her. As her trip goes on she begins spending time with Declan and they hit it off and have a deep affection for each other, but, Declan has a family secret back in Scotland that he is trying to keep private until it lands on his doorstep in Tuscany. It is interesting to see how they each handle the other’s secret when the truth is disclosed. The Billionaire's Secret tells a great story about how family can put us in terrible positions where we have to choose right from wrong and sometimes it seems like we are choosing between our family members and what we really want to do with our lives. This story does a good job of showing how the hard choices can still come out okay even when it hurts to make them.
Profile Image for Rhiannon Overby.
785 reviews22 followers
September 19, 2018
This book is the 4th book of a series written by individual authors. This was the first book from the series that I read and I was able to read it without feeling like I missed any of the story by not reading the previous three books. This is a romance with all of the bedroom action.

This book was a very quick read, but was way too fluffy without anything really happening. It felt like the author spent more time building up a few scenes than writing a dynamic storyline. I actually quite liked some of the more fluffy descriptions and scene building components but unfortunately it as a sacrifice to the overall storyline. The story just seemed to happen too quickly and felt descriptive but rushed.
Profile Image for Bette Hansen.
5,073 reviews40 followers
September 13, 2015
A wonderful addition to the Amalfi Night series. When Sophie Smith and Declan Muldoon meet on Isola del Sole neither is exactly what they appear to be. She's visiting the luxury resort and he assumes she is a rich socialite. He's working as a landscaper for the resort so she assumes he is a blue collar worker. Both will be surprised when they find out the truth about each other!

This is a good one and I definitely recommend it.
2,115 reviews8 followers
September 25, 2022
Sophie Smith is an art teacher at a private Boston high school. She has an older mentor/friend, Millie Connor, a sculptor, who's currently undergoing Cancer treatment. Millie had planned a two week luxury trip to the Amalfi Coast, that she was unable to take due to her treatments, so Sophie goes in her place. Sophie is pretending to be rich and cultured, but her ordinary sensibilities make her more comfortable with the hotel's landscape architect than the other wealthy people staying there. She and Scotsman, Declan Muldoon, really hit it off. Both have recently broken engagements, and neither is looking for love, but it finds them, despite family issues, differences in wealth, and various other issues.

Fun setting for a mostly realistic, believable storyline. Mostly clean.

2022 - 52 book challenge #8 Involving the art world. Sophie is a painter, Millie a sculptor, and Declan a landscape architect and art plays a large part in the story.
Profile Image for Katherine.
37 reviews
July 30, 2017
***2.5 stars***
The synopsis sounded great, but I found the storyline to be lacking. Every location was very descriptive which made me want to visit those locations. However, I didn't enjoy how the love between Sophie and Declan was too rushed. One minute they are hanging out and a month later they are engaged. There was no depth to their relationship. Sophie's 2-week trip was cut short. They reunited and confessed their love to each other. Then, all of a sudden they were engaged. There were no details of their relationship after then reunited, not even how they got engaged.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Tyerra Chambers.
67 reviews
May 28, 2018
Lovely book

I really liked this book because It was just pure love, a dream come true per se. the book made you wishing for something as magical as the 2 characters shared, have you wanting to experience Italy like they did. Seeing all the beautiful sights gorgeous water and everything else. I really loved the book also for her descriptions, it’s what pulled me in. I could literally imagine every little detail written, envision every part of the book as if I was there. I definitely recommend this book for love to read about innocent romance.
447 reviews1 follower
June 3, 2018
Interesting

As far as a romantic story is concerned this definitely fell short but the descriptive passages were excellent! Amalfi was described in all its glory and you felt as though you were there! Declan and Sophie were never developed properly and left the reader wondering what was happening. The ending was ridiculous and the whole story never gelled. You might wonder how come 3 Stars .....specifically for the beautiful narration of the scenery and gardens in the book.


1,219 reviews
October 30, 2022
This delicious romantic story was set in the stunning Amalfi coast of Italy. Beautiful flowers at every turn, skies and water in amazing shades of blue, and unbelievable architecure created the perfect environment for Sophie and Declan's undeniable growing attraction. Add in a generous portion of personal baggage and heartache for these characters, and you have a very well rounded and extremely alluring plot for this outstanding read. I loved every part of it and couldn't stop thinking about what was going to happen next. Really Great Read!!!!!
Profile Image for Jenny Thompson.
1,512 reviews39 followers
June 27, 2018
My friend described this book to me by saying "the dude doesn't really piss me off, and the girl doesn't piss me off," which given the romance novels we've read lately, is a delightful surprise. It's been a while since I've read a charming little romance with likable characters. The book is a bit short, and a few important scenes were skipped or glossed over (what on earth is going on with his stepbro?). Overall though, it was a cute little story.
550 reviews2 followers
April 4, 2021
Beautiful setting for a story

Pretending to be an heiress at this fabulous resort, she was drawing lots of attention. Some were hoping to snag a rich wife! And then she meets the landscaper and begins to fall in love. But she is living a lie. Writing was ok. There were several timing issues that were off...like he flew to scotland , stayed to take care of family issues, but was in Boston 3 days later. Chemistry was a bit lacking too.
88 reviews
December 6, 2022
Trip of a lifetime

MS O'Brien 's characters were portrayed very distinctly. The plot was to provide for a sick old lady's last days an adventure for her. The young woman relayed all of the sights, sounds, tastes, and adventures by email to her sick friend as she pretended to be someone she was not. During her adventures love was found. I enjoyed this story. Read this book.
Profile Image for Janice.
3,067 reviews
August 4, 2019
Sophie Smith is standing in for her mentor on a vacation on the Amalfi coast, pretending to be ultra wealthy when she is not. There she meets landscape architect Declan Muldoon who is starting a new life after leaving the family business. With the exception of Sophie using email, this book has a hint of being written in the 60's/70's.
152 reviews
May 25, 2018
Pretty Good Read

I was thoroughly charmed by Ms O'Briens story and characters. However, almost halfway through she had to toss in the word ass while the male lead was looking at the female lead. It was so out of character for him and very disappointing.
Profile Image for Nancye.
336 reviews1 follower
May 25, 2018
I must admit, I wasn't entirely sure what I was going to get with this book. I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, it is a romance. But it is a classy romance that actually has a lot of story to it. I really enjoyed the characters and would be interested to read more in the series.
Profile Image for Shaina (ssmbookreview).
473 reviews2 followers
June 9, 2018
The book was ok for a freebie. It should really be marketed as a novella. The story, while interesting, definitely was just surface level with a lot of mentioned backstory, but not enough pages to flush it out. An easy beach read, but not more than a short story.
2,653 reviews10 followers
March 24, 2020
Dreamy

What an achingly beautiful love story, every girls fairy tale come true. I love the vistas that were described, felt like I was there. The people seemed so earthy I loved to meet them.
198 reviews1 follower
December 16, 2020
Two tears

A heart warming story of a beautiful land mixed with an extraordinary group of characters. The story moves along with the sensuality of a silk scarf sliding down a naked arm.
1,215 reviews15 followers
December 22, 2020
Honestly, this book bored me. Lovers of gardening and landscape design will be fascinated. Romance lovers - not so much. I also prefer my romances a little steamier and the steam was not even existent in this book. The romance was hard to buy into.
Profile Image for Terra Boustead.
296 reviews
November 26, 2023
Awesome

So much fun to read, characters are great and with great personalities. Declan and Sophie are made for each other. The wonderful descriptions of Amalfi took my breath away.
Profile Image for Bookworm .
769 reviews6 followers
May 14, 2024
A mesmerizingly delightful story of two good-hearted individuals who knew very little about one another yet courageously expressed their heartfelt devotion to one another in spite of all the obstacles!
Profile Image for Anna.
Author 53 books111 followers
November 20, 2016
Despite the cover, this was sweet and a bit old-school...which is a major plus for me. It did feel short, though, particularly when the story ended at 77%. Still, it was FREE and well worth reading.
360 reviews6 followers
May 28, 2018
The Set-Up

This story has the beginning of a great love affair I can’t wait to buy the next book to find out how it ends.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews

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